A Safe House

35

Stone’s aircraft touched down at Key West, then taxied to his hangar, where, by prearrangement, everybody, including Bob, deplaned into two waiting cars. Fifteen minutes later they spilled into the courtyard of Stone’s house and were assigned to their rooms, while Bob, nose to the ground, searched the property for small, furry creatures and iguanas, then settled for one from a basket of stuffed animals.

Stone showed Jenna her half of the dressing room and the rest of the master suite, which was in its own cottage.

“So this is my prison,” she said.

“For the duration,” Stone replied. “You may not break cover, unless disguised and escorted.”

“ ‘The duration,’ ” she said aloud to herself. “That was how long World War II took, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. But this duration will be much, much shorter than that one.”

“So you say,” she said.

“Do you feel fully briefed by Charlie Cole?”

“I feel overstuffed — sated, you might say.”

“She knows whereof she speaks,” Stone said.

“Oh, I know that, but I don’t have to like it, do I?”

“It will be a lot more fun if you can learn to like it.”

“How long can you stay?” she asked.

“One, perhaps two nights The ruse will only work if I’m seen to be at my regular station, while you are not.”

Jenna started to remove clothing.

“We have no curtains in here,” Stone said. “You have to remember to close the blinds.” He demonstrated, then started working on his own buttons.

Soon he was introducing her to the bed, which helpfully was exactly like the beds in his other houses.

After they had consumed each other, they lay panting on their backs.

“I forgot to tell you, Stone. This is a very lovely place, perhaps the nicest prison I have ever occupied.”

“I’m glad you find it so.” His phone rang, and he picked it up. He covered the phone with a hand. “It’s Dino. I’ll have to take this.”

She rolled out of bed and wandered into the large bathroom to explore the plumbing.

“Hey,” Stone said into the phone.

“You landed safely? No small-arms fire?”

“Yes, no. No Hellfire missiles, either.”

“When are you back?”

“Tomorrow, the next day.”

“Are you going to the Yacht Club for dinner tonight?”

“Nope. Jenna must remain unknown and unsighted here. We’ll cook or order in.”

“When does Charlie’s bombshell hit the airwaves?”

“In three days. I want to be back in the city by then to personally deny all the rumors. That’s Charlie’s idea. She thinks it’s better than just issuing a statement.”

“Charlie knows.”

“She does.”

They grilled steaks that night. The next night Anna cooked a large Polish stew of some sort for Stone’s last night in town.

Jenna was even more demanding on that last night. The following morning, Stone hobbled to the car and was delivered inside his hangar. A half hour later, he and Bob were on their way back to New York.

On what Charlie had designated the “pub date,” Stone’s phone started ringing very early, but he threw a blanket over it while he got himself together and had breakfast.

Joan was waiting for him downstairs. She handed him a typed sheet of paper. “These are the ones who can’t be denied. You want to start with Henry, at Page Six?”

“Nah, the Times, then the Wall Street Journal, then Page Six.”

He got through the first two quickly, then gritted his teeth for Henry.

“She’s in Key West, right?” Henry asked.

“Henry, three days ago I delivered her into the hands of persons unknown to me, and they delivered her to God knows where. I mentioned Key West, but she said it was too hot for her there. If I were guessing, I’d start a lot farther north.”

“You’re just trying to confuse me.”

“Why not? I’m confused. I don’t expect to see her again until her ex-husband has expired or gone gaga, which a lot of people think he is doing as we speak.”

“Can I quote you on that?”

“Henry, you’re going to quote me no matter what I say. And you’ll probably make up most of it. Gotta run, your competitors are on the phone.”

“Tell them to go fuck themselves.”

“Can I quote you on that?” Stone hung up and took the next call. By noon they were down to a trickle, and Joan put everybody on hold while he had a corned beef sandwich. At mid-afternoon he told Joan to tell callers he was no longer available, then went to take a nap, rubbing his neck where the phone had been cradled. He had to get one of those headsets, he thought.

“How was your day?” Dino asked Stone over the phone.

“Don’t ask. I ran out of smart-ass answers pretty quick. It was hard slogging, let me tell you. There isn’t enough money to get me to do what Charlie Cole does.”

“Do you think anybody knows where Jenna is?”

“Henry from Page Six rattled me when he guessed Key West right at the start. I told him she was too hot-natured for the Keys. I’ve no idea if it worked.”