Near Miss

Chapter 37

Joan buzzed Stone. “Lance on one.”

Stone picked up the phone. “Why do you bother being announced?”

“Sometimes it’s convenient.”

“What can I do for you?”

“I want to meet Carly Riggs.”

“Why?”

“She sounds interesting.”

“She is interesting. That’s why you can’t meet her.”

“Don’t be that way, Stone.”

“You’re recruiting, and she’s not currently available.”

“When will she be available?”

“After she’s made partner at Woodman & Weld.”

“That’s too long to wait.”

“She’s done Yale, Yale Law, and she aced the bar exam.”

“That’s why I want to meet her.”

“She has a career in the law planned, and I don’t want you to screw it up for her by shipping her off to the Farm, then to God-knows-where.” The Farm was the CIA’s training facility in Virginia.

“That would be a good career for her.”

“It would be good for you, not her. Carly needs protecting from all that for a while, maybe for a long while.”

“Why don’t we let her be the judge of that?”

“Because I don’t know yet how good her judgment is.”

“We like them when they’re still a little malleable.”

“Lance, I can’t stop you from trying, but I’ll do everything I can to keep her where she is and doing what she’s doing.”

“Can you protect her from the Russians?”

“Yes.” Stone wished he were as confident as he sounded.

“We can protect her at the Farm.”

“We can protect her here, too.”

“You didn’t protect her last night,” Lance said.

Why did Lance know everything? “A minor slipup. It won’t happen again.”

“And how will you prevent that?”

“By shooting everybody who tries.”

“You might be able to trade her for peace with Gromyko,” Lance said.

“I already have peace with Gromyko. He’s being arrested this morning for income tax evasion.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I’m expecting a call momentarily.”

“He’ll just bail out and disappear.”

“He won’t get bail.”

“You think he can’t get bail out of Tiffany Baldwin?”

“Yes.”

“And what happens if Tiffany doesn’t play?”

“I’ll shoot her myself,” Stone said.

“Bravado doesn’t suit you, Stone.”

“It’s courage, not bravado.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Content of character.”

“You don’t have it in you to shoot anybody.”

“I’ve done it before. I’ll do it again.”

“Face-to-face? In the head?”

“Twice.”

“Are you going to shoot me, if I recruit Carly?”

“Not you.”

“Why not?”

“Because, if I shoot you, there are too many people who would care. Nobody cares about Gromyko.”

“That’s true, I suppose. All right, I’ll give you a little more time with Carly.”

“You’ll stay away from her at all times, or you’ll make me mad,” Stone said.

“And why do you think I would fear you mad?”

“Because, if you think about it, you’ll realize how many ways I could screw you.”

“Such as?”

“Do you like your job, Lance?”

“Of course.”

“Would you like to keep it?”

There was a silence. “You’re threatening me with going to the president?”

“If I do, you’ll have a hard time working anywhere, ever again.”

“That’s a serious threat,” Lance said. “Can you back it up?”

“Try me.”

Another long silence, then Lance hung up.

Stone hung up, too, and his hand was trembling. Nobody had ever talked that way to Lance. Maybe he had gone too far.