Hell's Corner

CHAPTER 29

They left a message for Gross and grabbed some Chinese takeout on the way back to Stone’s cottage. The weather was nice so Stone carried his little round kitchen table and two chairs out to the front porch. He laid out two plates and utensils and pulled two beers from the small refrigerator in his kitchen.

They sat down and Chapman held up her beer and clinked it against Stone’s.

“Cheers. You know how to treat a lady.”

“You bought the food. And I have no idea how old the beer is.”

She took a spoonful of wonton soup, extra spicy that made her eyes water, and retreated once more to her beer.

“Too hot for you?” said Stone as he eyed her with some amusement.

“Actually, I’m into pain. One of the reasons I do this job, I reckon.”

“I worked with MI6 back in the day. Didn’t know any female agents then.”

“Still aren’t that many. Testosterone world plain and simple.”

“Clear career path or did you stumble onto it by accident?”

“Bit of both, I suppose.” She took a mouthful of chicken and rice. “My dad was a copper and my mum was a nurse.”

“That still doesn’t explain the MI6 connection.”

“Sir James McElroy is my godfather.”

“Okay,” said Stone slowly as he lowered his fork.

“He and my grandfather were in the army together before Sir James went to the intelligence side. I guess he took a fancy to me. Really became a father figure to me when my dad was killed.”

“How did your father die? In the line of duty?”

Chapman shrugged. “That’s what they said. I never really found out the exact details.”

“And that’s how you came to be part of law enforcement?”

“I guess Sir James was grooming me all that time. Right schools, right training, right contacts. It seemed inevitable.”

“In spite of what you wanted, you mean?”

She took a sip of the beer, holding it in her mouth a moment before swallowing. “I ask myself that from time to time.”

“And what’s the answer?”

“It changes. And maybe I’m right where I need to be. Maybe I can even find out what really happened to my poor dad.” She pushed her plate away and sat back, put her feet up on the porch railing. “What about you? You and Sir James obviously go way back. And he knows things about you I guess I never will.”

“They would mean nothing to you.”

“What did it feel like, to do what you did?”

Stone rose and stared out at the tombstones in the fading light. The weather in D.C., miserably hot and humid in the summer, and uncomfortably raw in the winter, could suddenly evolve to times like this, when the climate was perfect and you wished the day would never end.

She stood next to him. “Look I won’t push it,” Chapman said quietly. “It’s really none of my business.”

“It got to the point where I didn’t feel anything anymore,” Stone said.

“But how did you get out?”

“I’m not sure I ever did.”

“Was it your wife?”

Stone turned to her. “I thought your boss was more discreet.”

“It wasn’t him,” she said hastily. “I just made a guess based on my own observations.”

“What observations?” Stone said sharply.

“Of you,” she answered simply. “Of things that matter to you. Like friends.”

Stone turned away. “Good guess,” he said.

“So why did you come back in the fold? After that?”

“I guess I could say I had no choice.”

“I think someone like you would always have a choice.”

Stone didn’t speak for a long time. He just kept staring at the graves. A breeze rippled over them and Chapman wrapped her arms around herself.

“I have a lot of regrets,” Stone said finally.

“So this is about making amends?”

“I don’t think I can ever make amends, Agent Chapman.”

“Please, just call me Mary. We’re off duty now.”

He glanced at her. “Okay, Mary. Have you ever killed anyone? Intentionally?”

“Once.”

Stone nodded. “And how did you feel?”

“Happy at first. That it wasn’t me dead. And then I felt sick. I’d been trained to do it, of course, but—”

“No training can prepare you for it.”

“I guess not.” She clenched the porch railing. “So how many people do you reckon you’ve killed?”

“Why does it matter to you?”

“I guess it doesn’t. And it’s not morbid curiosity. I… I don’t know what it is, exactly.”

Before Stone could answer his cell phone buzzed. It was Tom Gross.

“We’re back on duty, Agent Chapman,” said Stone.