Shoot Him If He Runs

12

Lance Cabot sat in his borrowed office at Langley, sifting through his notes. The phone rang. “Lance Cabot.”

“Mr. Cabot, this is Eileen, in the director’s office. The director would like to see you.”

“Of course. When?”

“Right now, if you’re available.”

“I’ll be there shortly.”

Lance closed his notebook, checked his hair in the mirror and slipped into the jacket of his pinstriped suit. He walked swiftly down the hallway, across the building to the director’s office, which was on the same floor, and presented himself to her secretary.

“Go right in, Mr. Cabot,” she said.

“Please, Eileen, it’s Lance.” He flashed her a smile, rapped lightly on the door and opened it.

“Come in, Lance,” Kate Lee said. She rose and walked to a seating area on the other side of her large office and waved him to a chair next to her.

“Good morning, Director.”

“Please, call me Kate, when we’re not in meetings. It makes me more comfortable.”

It made Lance more comfortable, too. He wanted to be on an informal basis with her. There was an office down the hall that he very much wanted to fill. “Thank you, Kate.” Lance liked the idea of working for a woman; he got along very well with women.

“Lance, I believe you’re the best-dressed man at Langley,” she said, smiling.

Lance laughed. “It’s all those years of working out of London.”

“I’m sure if you’re here long enough, you’ll raise the sartorial level among the other gentlemen in the building.”

“I doubt it,” Lance said.

“So do I. Where are we on the Teddy Fay matter?”

“Moving along. Holly and her group are ensconced in St. Marks, and they’ve already made contact with Irene Foster.”

“How did they go about that?”

“It turned out to be quite easy. They’re staying at an inn that has the best restaurant on the island, and Irene came in for dinner. Her companion introduced himself, and Stone invited them for drinks.”

“Her companion?”

“Yes, but it’s not Teddy; it’s someone she knew in Virginia before she retired, a building contractor named Harry Pitts.”

“Tell me why you believe he is not Teddy.”

“A different physical type, and he has hair, which Teddy was short of.”

“Are there any photographs of Teddy when he was younger, when he had more hair?”

“There are no photographs of Teddy at all.”

“Oh, yes, I knew that.”

“Have you checked out this Pitts fellow?”

“Yes, and he’s who he says he is. He was well known in the area for remodeling work-kitchens, that sort of thing. He sold his business last year and took up sailing. He sailed into St. Marks earlier this week and is staying at Irene’s.”

“As long as you’re satisfied.”

“If Teddy is on St. Marks-and I’m inclined to believe he is-then he’s not going to be very visible, and he’s certainly not going to be living at Irene’s house, not this soon. He would not just show up, but go to some lengths to insinuate himself gradually into the landscape.”

“I suppose. What has Holly learned about Irene?”

“That she’s lonely and probably drinks a little too much.”

“She didn’t when she was still here.”

“She’s acquired a reputation for picking up men and taking them home. She didn’t do that here, either.”

“Not that we know of.”

“It’s my assumption that if she did, you’d know it.”

“Well, she went through the usual periodic vetting and polygraph; we didn’t spend a lot of time spying on her. She was a trusted member of the Company for a long time, and she was bloody good at what she did.”

“That means if she was helping Teddy, she was good enough to hide it.”

“Certainly.”

“Holly and her crew are having dinner at her home tonight; perhaps they’ll turn up something new there.”

“I’m impressed,” Kate said.

“Holly’s a very bright girl; what she lacks in formal Agency training, she makes up for in her personal experience in her military and police careers, and her ingenuity.”

“You think she’ll make station chief someday?”

“She’s smart enough; I think it will depend on whether that’s what she wants. She seems happiest in the field right now.”

“What about you, Lance? Do you think you’d make a good deputy director for operations?”

Lance hadn’t expected that, but he didn’t hesitate. “I believe I would, Kate.”

“Certainly, everything in your career points to that; you’ve done very well.”

“Thank you, Kate.”

“There’s an attitude among the older hands here that makes them suspicious of younger men who seem to want things a little too much. It’s almost British; the Brits don’t like naked ambition.”

“I’ve tried to keep my ambition very well clothed,” Lance replied.

Kate laughed aloud. “Yes, well, there is that.” She rearranged herself in her chair. “During the next four years-assuming my husband is reelected-I want to replace retiring senior people with very high quality younger people who will set the tone at the Agency for years, perhaps decades to come.”

“I’ve no doubt that he will be reelected, and I think there’s ample talent here for you to do that.”

“I must tell you that Dick Stone’s murder knocked a big hole in my plans. I thought he had it in him to be the best DDO in the history of the Agency, and that, after some time had passed, he might replace me when I go.”

“I’m in complete agreement on Dick’s brilliance; I worked for him for seven years, and I saw it at first hand. I learned a lot from him.”

“I believe you did, Lance, and that’s one of the main reasons you’re under consideration for the job he never had a chance to fill.”

“Thank you, Kate.”

“I know it’s difficult working for Hugh English, but he was kind enough to postpone his retirement and keep doing the job until our vetting procedure is complete. Be nice to him, won’t you?”

Lance had always found Hugh English grating, but he had been smart enough to keep it to himself and not join in the chorus of complaints from the other, younger men in his former station. “Of course; he’s a good man.”

“Lance, are you going to leave in a huff if you don’t get the job? Go out and make some money as a consultant for the networks and the oil companies?”

Lance was considering doing just that, if he didn’t get the job. He took a deep breath. “No,” he said. “I’m a career officer; I’m here for the long haul.”

“Good,” Kate said, getting to her feet. “Thank you, Lance; keep me posted on progress in St. Marks.”

“Certainly, Kate,” Lance said. He returned to his office more slowly than he had come. Could Lee really be considering him, or was that just a ruse to keep him pumped on the business in St. Marks?

The balance could tip either way, he thought. He’d have to do something to get a thumb on the scale.