Distant Thunder

32

The following day it rained, off and on, and they contented themselves with a good lunch and reading from Stone’s library. At mid-afternoon, Stone’s cell phone rang.

“Yes?” he said cautiously, ready to hang up.

“It’s Lance. That phone I gave you tells me where you are, but not with whom.”

“I think it better not to mention it on the phone.”

“I have a pretty good idea, anyway, and I approve.”

“Thank you, Your Holiness,” Stone replied.

“I’m glad that’s how you think of me. Your sins, whatever they are, are forgiven.”

“No Hail Marys?”

“About ten thousand, but we won’t press the matter.”

“Thank you again.”

“The person you are hosting in a distant land has arrived, has parked his camels, and has been made comfortable by the reception committee.”

“Oh, good.”

“Our mutual acquaintance watches over him.”

“Good luck to both of them, but I’m concerned only with my own ass and that of my companion. The others are on their own.”

“I’ll tell them you said so.”

“Tell them whatever you like. I didn’t get them into this mess.”

“Sometimes a friend is a person who shares your enemies.”

“I have no enemies, until they start shooting at me again.”

“That event is not out of the question. I hope you realize that.”

“Of course I realize it. Why do you think I’m here, instead of there?”

“You’re a bit testy these days, aren’t you?”

“You’re lucky you’re not here, where I could take a swing at you.”

“Funny you should mention that: I’ll be there for dinner tomorrow evening and a few days’ stay. You might ask our mutual friend across the river to join us. Dinner is so much more fun when there are women about.”

“Then I will supply them. I must return to my previous activity now.”

“Of course, you must. Good day.” Lance hung up.

Vanessa looked up from her book, something on décor, by Susan Blackburn. “Who was that? You didn’t sound very happy to hear from him/her.”

“That was Lance Cabot. He’ll be here for dinner tomorrow night and for a few days’ stay. I’ll invite my neighbor to join us.”

“Is he in the same business as Lance?”

“It’s ‘she,’ and yes. Her name is Dame Felicity Devonshire, and she’s the director of MI6, the British foreign intelligence service, which is analogous to the CIA.”

“Oh, won’t that be fun!”

“It may be. I think Felicity will find you attractive company.”

Vanessa raised an eyebrow. “What are you suggesting?”

“Nothing, but Felicity might well suggest something. How do you feel about the attentions of other women?”

“That depends.”

“I won’t ask on what, but if you enjoy that sort of thing, the opportunity may present itself.”

“Are you going to watch?”

“I would hope to do a great deal more than that, but I will follow your lead and Felicity’s.”

“Well, I’m glad you warned me. We’ll see how it goes.”

“Suffice it to say, I have no expectations, so I cannot be disappointed. And I’ve no objections to having you all to myself.”

“As you have demonstrated so nicely, as recently as last night.”

“And will continue to do so.”

“Where does Lance come in, in all this?”

“He does not.”

“What are his sexual preferences?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t think anyone else does, either, so you should not concern yourself. He can be good company at dinner, though, if he feels like it.”

“I’m a good reader of people,” Vanessa said. “By the end of dinner, maybe even after the soup, I will very probably be able to tell you what his preferences are.”

“All this from across a dinner table?”

“Don’t worry, I don’t have to assault him to read him.”

“Well,” Stone said, “this could be fun.” His cell phone buzzed, and he looked at it. “We may expect Dame Felicity at six-thirty tomorrow,” he said.

“How am I dressing?”

“To kill. It will be black tie.”

“Oh, good.”

“I’m sorry you can’t go shopping for a dress, but them’s the rules.”

“Fear not, I’m sufficiently stocked.”

Stone’s phone vibrated again, and he glanced at it and sent back a reply. “It seems the foreign minister, Sir John Parker, and his wife, Hillary, will be joining us for dinner. Felicity is putting them up at her house, so I should think that will put a damper on her intentions for after dinner. Sir John is, after all, her boss.”

“Perhaps another time,” Vanessa said.

“I believe that’s what Felicity is thinking, too.”