Fast and Loose

48

Stone was at his desk the following morning when Joan buzzed him. “Dr. Carlsson is on line one for you.”

“Okay, I’ll bite — which Dr. Carlsson?”

“Oh, sorry, the patriarch of the clan.”

Stone picked up the phone. “Paul, good morning.”

“Good morning, Stone. I’ve been talking with my sons, and we think it’s time to return our security status to normal. They find the presence of guards uncomfortable, and some of our patients have commented on it as well.”

“Well, Paul, the worst seems to be over for the clinic, so a return to normal might be all right, but there are still risks. What if we reduced the presence by half? That could still give you a margin of safety. Then, in a week or two, we could end it.”

“All right, then,” Carlsson said, “a fifty percent reduction immediately, and in another week, we end it.”

“I think that’s a good move. Have you heard from Marisa?”

“Ah, yes,” Carlsson said, seeming to hesitate.

Stone had had two e-mails, and she sounded cheerful enough. “Is everything all right in Sweden?”

“Everything is always all right in Sweden,” Carlsson said, laughing. “Stone, I’m not sure you understand how strong our bond is with that country and its language.”

“Perhaps not,” Stone replied.

“We all feel at least half Swedish, and we make a point of visiting our ancestral home as frequently as we can find the time. We even have a smaller version of our clinic in Stockholm.”

“I didn’t know that,” Stone said. “Marisa never mentioned it.”

“Perhaps she should have,” Carlsson said. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’d better get back to work. Will you speak to Mike Freeman on my behalf about reducing the security presence?”

“Of course, Paul. Thank you for calling.” Stone hung up and called Mike Freeman.

“Good morning,” Mike said. “I suppose you’re calling about Erik Macher’s continuing presence in New York.”

“No, but Dino spoke to me about it. Macher is apparently living at the Lombardy.”

“That’s our information. You should keep that in mind when moving around the city.”

“I’ll do that. Mike, Paul Carlsson just called me, and he wants to reduce the security presence at the clinic.”

“And what’s your opinion on that?”

“I suggested a fifty percent reduction immediately, and if the week passes with no problems, then an end to it — unless a new threat develops.”

“All right, I’ll get that done right away.”

“Paul would appreciate that.”

“Anything else?”

“Keep me posted if there’s anything new on Macher.”

“I will, certainly.” The two men hung up.

Stone checked his e-mail and found one from Marisa.

That news wasn’t good and he was concerned by the lack of expressed affection in the letter. He found it businesslike, and not much more, except for the perceived invitation to have as much sex as he wanted.

Joan came in. “Are you having lunch at your desk? Shall I order you something from Helene?”

“Yes, thanks, a sandwich will do.”

“What kind of sandwich?”

“Tell Helene to surprise me.”

“Boss, is something wrong? You look a little unwell.”

“No, I’m just fine, thanks.” He was a bit surprised to find that he wasn’t.

Jake Herman rang the bell to Erik Macher’s suite and was admitted.

“What’s up?” Macher asked.

“Not much, I’m afraid. I saw my girl from accounting at St. Clair last night, and she tells me that Charley Fox and his girlfriend have redecorated the upstairs suite and moved into it. She also says that all the locks have been changed and the security system revamped.”

Macher had no response, just glared at him.

“I tell you this because it means that the mansion is not as good a target as it might have been in the past.”

“I still can’t figure out how they discovered my bomb in the library,” Macher said.

“Oh, she told me about that. The new corporate counsel has a Labrador retriever, and he brought the dog to the board meeting. The animal is a retired sniffer dog at the airports, and she smelled something that led Barrington to open the wood box.”

“Well, shit!” Macher yelled.

“I know it’s a blow, but if the thing had gone off, we would now be up to our asses in investigators. Perhaps it’s just as well it didn’t.”

“You have a point there,” Macher said.

“And about the yacht. Our man on the crew volunteered to check the hull that morning, and shortly after that, he was fired and sent ashore in Edgartown. He says that the bomb was still in place when he left the yacht, and he doesn’t know what went wrong.”

“Barrington is the luckiest bastard I’ve ever known,” Macher said.

“Maybe we should go back to D.C. and tend to business there. I’m hearing that not much work is getting done in our absence.”

“Oh, all right,” Macher said. “We’re certainly not getting anything done here, and I’m running up a hell of a hotel bill.”

“I’ll go get my things together. What time do you want to depart?”

“Call for a bellman in half an hour, and ask him to bring the car around.”

“Certainly,” Jake said. He went to his room, relieved that there would be no more attacks on Macher’s enemies, at least for a while.

Macher, if he had known what Jake was thinking, would not have agreed with him.