A Safe House

27

Seth came into the living room. “Miz Jacoby asked me to come get her luggage and put it into her sister’s car, when she gets here.”

“Please do as she asks, Seth.”

“Do you want me to ride shotgun?”

“No. Apparently, Ms. Jacoby feels that she is perfectly safe now.”

“Okay.” Seth started up the stairs and nearly ran into Jenna, who was on the way down.

“You all packed, ma’am?” Seth asked.

“No, Seth. I won’t be going.” She went and sat by the fireplace with Stone. “I’ve told my sister I won’t be going with her,” she said.

“And how did you communicate that to her?”

“I called her on...” She stopped.

“Your cell phone?”

“I’m sorry, yes.”

“Seth,” Stone said. “Would you please go to the village store and buy two throwaway cell phones? Put them on my account.”

“Yes, sir.” Seth left.

Nothing was said for a while. Finally, Jenna said, “What’s a throwaway cell phone?”

“It’s self-defined,” Stone replied. “Each one has its own number. When you call your sister or anyone else, they see an unidentified number. When you’re finished with it, you throw it away.”

Seth was back in a minute with a paper bag. “Give them to Ms. Jacoby, please.” He did so.

“Now,” Stone said to Jenna. “You plug them in to charge, and after a couple of hours, they’re ready to use. Give me your old phone, please.”

She handed it over.

Stone removed the SIM card and returned the phone to her. “This won’t work anymore. When you get back to wherever, you can get a new SIM card and number, or just trade in your phone for the new model.”

“I can’t make calls now?”

Stone pointed. “Sit in that chair and plug a phone into the wall, then you can use it while it charges. Use the other as a backup.”

“I was inconsiderate. I’m sorry.”

“All right.”

“That wasn’t a very forgiving response.”

“It wasn’t much of an apology.”

The doorbell rang.

“I expect that will be your sister, but use the peephole before you unlock the door.”

Jenna went to the front door, checked the peephole, and let in her sister.

“Lock the door,” Stone said.

She did so. “I’m sorry. This is my sister, Jamie Jacoby. Jamie, this is my host, Stone Barrington.” The two resembled each other strongly, almost like twins.

“How do you do?” Stone said, half rising.

“I do pretty good,” Jamie said. “Jenna, are you ready? Where’s your luggage?”

“I’ve decided not to go, Jamie.”

“Why not?”

“Because Stone feels that I’m still in danger and leaving this house would put both you and me in jeopardy.”

“Nobody’s trying to kill me,” Jamie said.

“It would be very easy for you to become collateral damage,” Stone said.

“How?”

“If someone makes an attempt on Jenna, you could both be killed. Jenna has already withstood two attempts on her life, after she was tracked to this house when she used her cell phone to call you.”

Jenna wrote down the throwaway’s number and handed it to her. “Use this number if you want to reach me. My old number doesn’t work anymore.”

“Why doesn’t it work?”

“Because I disabled it,” Stone said. “And don’t use your own phone, please, until you’re off the island.”

“Jamie,” Jenna said. “Let’s go sit on the back porch until it’s time for your ferry. We’ll have some iced tea.” She took her sister by the elbow and propelled her out the door. Stone called Mary and asked for the tea to be taken out to them. He could see from their animation that they were arguing about Jenna’s decision. Their tea arrived, and their discussion continued. Finally, Jamie set down her glass and walked through the living room to the front door. Stone let her out and locked the door behind her.

“Does she understand now?” Stone asked.

“Not really. Jamie believes that events occur on her own schedule.”

“I hope she’s correct — at least, until she’s back on the mainland.”

They heard the car start and spew gravel on the way out. A few seconds later, as Stone and Jenna watched, Jamie’s car exploded.

Another two minutes passed until Ed Rawls arrived. Stone was outside near the car, holding a shotgun.

“What the fuck?” Rawls asked.

“It’s Jenna’s sister.” Stone nodded toward her car.

“Did you call nine-one-one?”

“Of course,” Stone replied.

“How did this happen?”

“Jamie, her name was, preferred to make her own security arrangements — that is, none to speak of. She had been intending to take Jenna with her off the island.”

“Well,” Rawls said, “she’s gonna miss the ferry.”