Foul Play

Fifty-Two

Stone got back to his office to find two phone messages waiting from him, from Lance Cabot and Dino. He called Lance first.

“Ah, there you are,” Lance said.

“Where else would I be?”

“I was told you were at a partners’ meeting at Woodman & Weld.”

“I was.”

“You sound a little down, Stone. What’s wrong?”

“Lance, I have a feeling that you are the one with the bad news. What is it?”

“Well, Kronk is still alive, but then, so are you.”

“I would already have killed him, if I thought I could get away with it.”

“Is there something I can do to help?”

“You mean, send out an Agency assassination team and do away with Kronk?”

“I wouldn’t put it in such naked terms.”

“What would you clothe it in?”

“You might ask if there’s anything I can do to keep Kronk from harming anyone else.”

“Are we talking about me?”

“If you like.”

“Lance, please don’t order any hits on my behalf.”

“You mean, you are going to do it yourself?”

“I wouldn’t know how or where to find him, and if I did, I don’t think I could walk up to him and put two in his head.”

“That’s unfortunate, because I know where he is.”

“Where?”

“Aboard his yacht in Edgartown Harbor.”

“I believe I requested F-16s to deal with that, and you declined.”

“Don’t be silly, Stone, I’m not going to blow up half a dozen innocent yachts in a crowded harbor, just to get at Kronk.”

“If you were me, how would you go after him?”

“I have planners who deal with that sort of detail.”

“Okay, how would they do it?”

Lance sighed deeply.

“I’m an amateur, Lance, I don’t know how the pros accomplish this sort of thing. Give me some tips.”

“You seem determined to make an accomplice of me.”

“Actually, I do have an idea, but I’m going to need professional help.”

“From what kind of profession?”

“Electronics and computer programming.”

“I can help with that.”

“I may call on you later,” Stone said. “Let me give it some thought.”

“As you wish,” Lance said, then hung up.

Stone’s phone rang immediately. “Hello?”

“It’s Dino.”

“Oh, hi.”

“You sound desolate. What’s wrong?”

“I just inherited nearly half a billion dollars that I don’t deserve.”

“Why do you think you don’t deserve it?”

“I can’t explain. It wouldn’t make any sense.”

“Tell you what, I’ll take it off your hands and spend it gleefully. Would that help?”

“Not much.” A green light on his phone began flashing. “I’ll have to call you back.” Stone hung up and pressed the button. “This is Stone Barrington.”

“Will you accept a call from the president of the United States?”

“Yes.”

“Hello, Stone?”

“Yes, Holly.”

“I just heard about your flying accident. Are you all right?”

“It wasn’t an accident, it was murder.”

“Of whom? You’re walking and talking, aren’t you?”

“Of my client, Shepherd Troutman. He and his father were sitting in the back of the airplane when it exploded. They didn’t survive.”

“Oh, my God. You must feel awful.”

“I do.”

“You can’t blame yourself for a murder committed by someone else.”

“It turns out that I can.”

“Oh, baby.”

“There’s an upside in this for you.”

“How? What?”

“You remember the Malibu house?”

“Of course.”

“My client bought it, then he made a will, leaving it to me, so I’m now the owner.”

“But how...”

“I’m going to make you a two-pronged offer,” Stone said. “If you decide not to run again, I’ll give you the house. If you decide to run, I’ll establish a political action committee and contribute ten million dollars to your campaign. You choose, at your leisure. I have to run now.”

He then became one of the few people known to have hung up on a president. He called back Dino.

“Was that Holly?” Dino asked.

“Yes. Just between you and me, she told me when she was in L.A. that she is considering not running again. I went with her to look at a Malibu house.”

“Did she buy it?”

“No, but Shep Troutman did. He left it to me.”

“What are you going to do with a house in Malibu?”

“I offered it to Holly as a gift, should she decide not to run again.”

“But not if she decides to run?”

“No, in that circumstance I offered her a ten-million-dollar campaign contribution.”

“So you’re not attempting to sway her either way?”

“That was my point.”

“What would you really like her to do?”

“We talked about that while we were house hunting. She wasn’t ready to make a decision.”

“But you were.”

“I made her my best offer, but she stalled me.”

“Do you blame her? That’s a tough decision.”

“I don’t blame her, I’m just trying to make it easy for her, either way.”

“I think that was a good move.”

“I hope so.”

“So what are you going to do about Kronk?”

“I’m going to try to do what I told him I would.”

“And what is that?”

“We’ll talk about it when I see you. I’m not really sure it can be done.”

“Dinner, Clarke’s, six-thirty?”

“See you there.”

They both hung up.