Hot Pursuit

47

Stone let himself into the suite at Cliveden and found himself alone in the sitting room. He shucked off his jacket, pulled his bow tie loose, unbuttoned his collar, poured himself a glass of sherry, and collapsed into a chair.

Dino appeared from his bedroom, clad in pajamas and a silk dressing gown.

“I can see that Viv has visited Turnbull & Asser,” Stone said.

“Yeah, she insists that I be well dressed, even in bed.” He poured himself a sherry and occupied the sofa, putting his feet up. “So, what took you away from us this evening that you couldn’t tell us about?”

“When we got back here this afternoon I found a note waiting for me from Felicity Devonshire, commanding my presence at dinner at her house, and it was top secret.”

“Commanding?”

“She’s like that on her home turf. It was a glittering party, if small: only the prime minister, the foreign secretary, the home secretary, and the director of MI5, and their wives. Also, Millie Martindale — Holly’s assistant — and one of Felicity’s minions.”

“That’s pretty rich cream. What was the occasion?”

“I never really found out. When the ladies excused themselves after dinner, Felicity invited me to join them. All I heard about was the appalling prices of ladies’ designer clothing these days.”

“I could have told you about that,” Dino said ruefully.

Stone laughed. “I expect you could. Anyway, when I returned to the table for port and Stilton, the beans had already been spilled to those authorized, and nothing more was said about it.”

“I’m fascinated by the makeup of the party,” Dino said. “That would be like Viv and me having the president, the governor, the secretary of state, Lance Cabot, and the Bureau director at our table. That could never happen.”

“I suspect that whatever was discussed is so hot that Felicity didn’t want the meeting to take place in a public building, so as not to raise questions.” Stone looked at his watch: “I guess it’s a little late to call Holly and ask her what the hell is going on.”

“Not that she’d tell you.”

“You have a point.”

“I had a stroll around the grounds before bedtime,” Dino said. “I even circumnavigated this house, which took a while. Nothing going on.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Stone said, “although I wish Reeves would get over with whatever he has planned for me. I mean, he could have easily had me shot on Dartmoor, if he wanted me dead.”

“And why would he want that?”

“It’s something to do with Pat, but I don’t know what. She says he made a couple of passes at her a while back, but who’s that jealous?”

“Her former boyfriend Kevin Keyes?”

“Then why didn’t he shoot us both? He had a silenced rifle and it was foggy and pouring with rain. Nobody would have seen or heard anything, and we wouldn’t have been found until the next day.”

“Maybe more important, why would Keyes have a silenced rifle? Nobody has those, except military snipers and pro hit men.”

“Maybe he has a sideline in contract killing,” Stone ventured, “with Reeves as his employer. Certainly Reeves is dirty — probably drugs.”

“What is Reeves’s legal business?”

“Pat says electronics — surveillance equipment, or something like that. He may be in oil, too.”

“If he’s in oil, why would he bother with drugs?”

“Maybe he hit a dry well.”

“He just bought a new jet airplane,” Dino pointed out.

“Maybe, but one of the smallest on the market, so he’s not a kingpin at whatever he’s into.”

“Maybe, like you, he wanted one he could fly himself. You could certainly afford a bigger airplane.”

“I’m just working my way up the tree,” Stone said. “Cessna is revamping their CitationJet 3, installing the identical avionics I have in my M2, so I could step into it with very little retraining. The cockpits are identical. I’d want High Definition Radio to go oceanic, instead of the Blue Spruce route.”

“Why would you want it?”

“Because it has range of a little over eighteen hundred miles. We could have flown nonstop from Newfoundland to Shannon, obviating Greenland and Iceland, and flown home via the Azores, where the weather is very nice most of the time. I’m already worried about what the weather will be like on our return trip.”

“Gee, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear — thanks a lot.”

“Oh, I always worry about the weather, until I break out of the clouds and see the runway dead ahead. We’ll be okay.”

“Until we’re not.”

“The weather forecasts are very good these days.”

“Until they’re not.”

“I’m just a worrier — you’re an out-and-out pessimist.”

“Life has taught me that if something bad can happen, it will.”

“I take the view that if something bad can happen, I need to be ready to handle it.” Stone tossed off his sherry and stood up. “I’m going to bed, before you get me worrying.”

“Sweet dreams,” Dino said sweetly.

“Yeah, sure.” Stone went to bed.