Distant Thunder

11

That was a nice evening,” Vanessa said, when they had returned to Stone’s house for a nightcap. “Interesting people and conversation, even if it did seem to keep returning to John.”

“I’m told that, at NYU, he was always called Jack by those who knew him.”

“That was shortly before my time,” she said. “He introduced himself as John, so I always called him that.”

“Did you know a lot of people he knew at NYU?”

“No, I met him after he had gotten his law degree.”

“How did you meet?”

“Through one of his old professors, a man named Samuel Bernard.”

“Who was an active recruiter for the Agency over the years. Still is, for all I know. Is he how John was recruited?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me to hear that. He was Bernard’s great admirer.”

“So is everyone who knows him. He made a pass at recruiting me, but I had fallen in love with police work and was no longer a prospect. So John was already an Agency officer when you met him?”

“Yes, he had just completed his training at the Farm, which he wouldn’t talk about much. His first assignment was something at the UN — I never knew exactly what.”

“Probably something to do with the Russians,” Stone said, then he stopped himself with an idea.

“What?” she said. “You seem to have hit a roadblock.”

“Nothing much,” Stone said. “Anyway, I find you a more interesting subject than CIA recruitment.”

She kissed him lightly, and Stone’s index finger somehow came into contact with a nipple. “Now that was a good idea,” she said.

He did it again, and this time with more intent. Everything was a little blurred, until they were naked in bed and had already achieved an orgasm.

“Now I feel more comfortable with you,” Vanessa said.

“I should hope so. Is there anything else I can do that would make you even more comfortable?”

“As a matter of fact, there is,” she said, pulling him down to her.

The following morning, they had breakfast in bed and read the Times and watched Morning Joe. Stone’s phone rang, and somehow he knew who it would be. Vanessa excused herself for the bathroom, and Stone picked up the phone. “Good morning, Lance.”

“I hope I haven’t caught you during an awkward moment,” Lance said.

“It’s all right. The awkward moment just went to the bathroom.”

“Something occurred to me about your old and dear friend and classmate Collins,” Lance said.

“Funny, something occurred to me about him, too, though he was neither an old nor dear friend, nor a classmate.”

“You first,” Lance said.

“Russians,” Stone said. “Killing Collins sounds like something they would do, and pretty much the way they would do it.”

“Funny you should mention that,” Lance said. “The same thing occurred to me.”

“Why are we singing the same song so early in the day?” Stone asked.

“Because we often think alike. Haven’t you noticed that?”

What Stone had noticed was that if he had a good idea, Lance would adopt it as his own. “Not really,” he said.

“Did your dinner with the widow produce anything new?”

“Only that she met him shortly after he had completed his training at the Farm, and that his first assignment was at the UN. It was the mention of the UN that made me think of the Russians.”

“A logical leap,” Lance said, “if you thought of the off-campus Russians instead of the officials.”

“I did, but what would the Russians be doing in Maine?”

“Looking for Collins or, more likely, looking for you.”

“That had not occurred to me, and it’s an awful thought.”

“They have long memories,” Lance said. “I don’t suppose their presence could have anything to do with your houseguest at the time?”

“That was, as you know, a top secret event.”

“Except maybe over drinks at the Tarratine Yacht Club.”

“Certainly the summer people would gossip, if they caught wind of her presence.”

“Could Holly have been spotted on a boat with you, perhaps?”

“She always wore her hood up with sunglasses and no makeup, so probably not.”

“Let’s put that into the hopper and let it age for a bit. Let’s not forget the Russians, though. I’ll see what connections I can turn up.”

Vanessa returned from the bathroom.

“You do that,” Stone said, then hung up.