“The only one,” Holly said. “Find yourselves hotel rooms, then be there at six sharp tomorrow evening, freshly scrubbed and pressed. If you’re lucky, you’ll get dinner, but don’t count on it.”
“Is it black tie?” Stone asked.
“You’re not that important,” Holly said. “Just wear one of your nice suits.”
“The blue or the pinstripe?” Stone asked.
“Your choice, sweetie. By the way, I’m very so"3"’m verry for your loss.”
“Thank you. I got your very nice letter. I’m afraid I haven’t responded to all those yet.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“How are you and the boyfriend doing?” Dino asked.
“He’s running a big trauma center in San Diego,” she replied. “He didn’t take to the agency life—not enough blood and guts, I guess. It’s been a couple of months. It was amicable.”
“Let me get you a drink and a menu,” Stone said.
“Love to, but can’t,” she said. “There’s a chopper waiting for me at the West Side heliport, and I’ve got a briefcase full of work to keep me awake on the flight home.” She stood up, and both men stood up with her.
“See you tomorrow evening,” she said, then walked briskly out.
They sat down again.
“Why did you ask her about the boyfriend?” Stone asked.
“Because I knew you wouldn’t,” Dino re
plied.
2
STONE PACKED A BAG THE FOLLOWING MORNING, THEN, ON second thought, packed a second bag. The last time he had consulted for the CIA, he, Holly, and Dino had spent a couple of weeks on a tropical isle, pursuing a federal fugitive named Teddy Fay, who gave them the slip. Who knew how long this one would take or where they would end up?
He took the elevator down to the garage and put his bags in the car, then he went to his office and wondered what to put in his briefcase.
Joan Robertson, his secretary, appeared in the doorway. “You off to someplace?”
“To Washington—for a few days, I think.”
“Could be longer?”
“It’s one of those things for Lance Cabot and Holly Barker. Who knows?”
“You’d better take your passport,” she said, opening his safe and tossing him the document.
“I’d take my vaccinations, if I knew which ones to take,” he replied.
“You don’t look very happy about this,” Joan said, pouring him a cup of coffee.
“I’m not unhappy about it,” Stone replied. “If I’m unhappy at all, it’s about Peter’s being off at Yale.”
“How did yesterday go?”
Stone shrugged. “Bittersweet. I’m happy for Peter, getting what he wants, but I miss him already.”
“So do I,” Joan said. “It was a nice change from it being just you all the time.”