Distant Thunder

34

Felicity and her guests arrived on time, being driven up from Stone’s dock in a golf cart that was manned by a staffer.

Stone and Vanessa received them in the library and introductions were made.

Sir John Parker and his wife, Hillary, were a bit younger and more attractive than Stone had expected. He recalled that, not long before, Felicity had been in bad odor with the Conservative Party and thus with Sir John, but all seemed well now. And Felicity, apparently, more fragrant. Stone was not surprised that Felicity, who looked and was dressed gorgeously, had surreptitiously inspected Vanessa during the introductions and was impressed. Stone liked the idea of the two of them in bed with him.

Geoffrey, the butler, tended bar and filled orders, and finally, they were seated before the fireplace, with a cheery blaze going.

“Has the rain stopped?” Stone asked nobody in particular.

“It has,” Sir John replied, “and according to the radar, for the evening.”

“So you won’t get wet either coming or going,” Stone said. They continued in that vein until Lance Cabot joined them. He already knew everyone present.

“Ah, the widow Collins,” he said to Vanessa.

“No, the divorcée Morgan,” she replied. “I had begun the process before John was dead. We had nearly reached a property settlement, and so after he was resurrected, I allowed it to play out to the end.”

“Clever girl,” Lance said, careful to say it so that the others didn’t hear. Stone read his lips.

“Good evening, Lance,” Stone said.

“Ah, Stone! So good to find you hale and hearty. Any problems?”

“I thought you might know better than I.”

“I noted that the front lights of the house were ablaze.”

“They are on a timer and were ablaze the night before last, too, if anyone was interested.”

“I parked my rental behind the house, so nothing will seem amiss to the casual observer.”

“I’ll avoid turning on the strobes and playing loud music,” Stone said.

“Good idea.”

“Stone,” Sir John said, “the ministry is still buzzing with the tale of you driving Dame Felicity’s brand-new Aston Martin into a river.”

“I’m afraid that what you’ve heard is only the half of it.”

“Details, please. I have much curiosity to satisfy back at Whitehall.”

“Well, the ostensible reason for my being there was to drive the car back to Beaulieu for her, and someone there had suggested we do some timed driving around the place. I was doing quite well as I approached the river, when the car suddenly commanded itself to make a sharp turn to the right, driving us both off the bridge and into the river, finishing upside down, underwater.”

“My goodness, what could have caused that?”

“A bullet from a Russian sniper into the right front tire did the job. I believe he was tracked down and dispatched a bit later. There will be more in your ministry’s files than I know.”

“And what became of the car?”

“I believe your ministry replaced it immediately.”

“Well, that was before my time. I might not have been so generous.”

“I’ll keep that in mind whenever I drive one of Dame Felicity’s cars.”

Geoffrey called them to dinner at the other end of the room. Later, when they were done with cognac, Stone saw Felicity and the Parkers to their cart and joined Vanessa and Lance inside.

“Vanessa,” Lance said, “could you excuse us for a moment, please? I’d like to speak to Stone about something.”

“Of course,” Vanessa replied. “I’m going to turn in.”

When she had gone, Lance waited a moment, apparently to be sure that she was not listening at the door. “Stone,” he said finally. “I want to bring you up to date on Jack Collins.”

“Please do.”

“Someone took a shot at him at the rear of your property, down by your dock.”

“To any effect?” Stone asked.

“Well, yes. The shooter slipped up and made his presence known to Ed Rawls, who was on your boat, and Ed shot the man in the head, as is his wont.”

“Any ID on the shooter?”

“No, before we could establish that, Ed had made the body disappear into Penobscot Bay. I would not have known about the incident had Jack not told me.”

“So Jack is now on the alert?”

“Yes, but elsewhere. He took off in his Bonanza at dawn the next morning and flew God-knows-where.”

“Well, at least he’s safe, and Ed has another notch on his rifle stock.”

“Yes, well, all’s well that ends well, isn’t it?”

“I expect that whoever sent the shooter may not think so. He might go on looking for Jack.”

“Or you,” Lance said.

“Why me?” Stone asked. “I was nowhere near there.”

“But the shooter’s employer doesn’t know that. I expect he’s curious to know.”

“That’s comforting,” Stone said.

“I just want you to remain alert,” Lance said, rising. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to bed.”

Stone followed him as far as the top of the stairs, then let himself into the master suite. Inside, it was pitch dark.

Stone groped his way to his bedside lamp and switched it on, finding Vanessa and Felicity in flagrante delicto in his bed.

“I lost an earring and had to come back for it,” Felicity said.

“Quite all right,” Stone said, working on his buttons.

“Will you join us?” Vanessa asked.

“Continue as you were,” Stone said, “while I shed some clothing.” He left the lamp on, so he could find his way back.