Near Miss

Chapter 66

Stone woke up on Friday morning to the touch of Carly’s hand bringing him to attention. He returned the gesture until she could stand it no more and rolled him onto his back to show him how much she appreciated his efforts.

Later, as they lay blissfully beside each other, Stone said, “Is it just my imagination, or was that particularly enjoyable?”

“I hope so,” Carly said. “I put in extra effort.”

He turned on his side to look at her. “Are you saying you don’t usually put in the effort?”

“Not at all. I always put in the effort. This was just extra.” She swung off the bed and stood, giving him a view he appreciated.

“I’m not ungrateful,” he said, “in fact, I’m just the opposite, but is there a reason why?”

She stopped in the doorway to the bathroom, looked back, and said matter-of-factly, “If things don’t go well tonight, this could be our last time.”

She disappeared through the doorway, and Stone rolled onto his back, feeling suddenly less relaxed than he had a moment before.

Yesterday, he had received a short message from Teddy Fay, confirming that their plan had worked, and he was indeed going to be targeted at some point Friday evening. What Teddy hadn’t said was when the attempt would be made. The only other thing in Teddy’s message was: remind Carly that she should be armed. You, too, if you can bring yourself to do it.

Carly walked out of the bathroom twenty minutes later, a towel wrapped around her hair and nowhere else. She tilted her head when she saw him. “What’s wrong? You look unhappy.”

“I don’t know. Perhaps I wasn’t expecting the woman I’d just slept with to remind me that I might die tonight.”

“Oh, should I not have said that?”

“I could have gone without hearing it, especially in the way it was presented.”

“I’ll remember that for next time.”

“The next time I might die?”

“In my experience, it’s not a rare thing.”

He couldn’t argue her point.

Later that morning, Joan appeared in the doorway of his office, holding up a piece of paper on which was written: Dino on 1. The bugged clock was still on his bookshelf, so caution needed to be taken in its presence.

He relocated to the room Carly was using as her office, where she was engrossed in something on her computer. “I need to use your phone,” he said.

Without looking at him, she waved at it. “Help yourself.”

He picked up the receiver and punched line one. “Hi, Dino.”

“Thought you’d like to know, I had the bomb experts sweep the hotel, and they didn’t find anything.”

“Strike explosions off the list.”

“Don’t be too hasty. He could always fire an RPG at your car.”

“Are you purposely trying to up my anxiety level, or is there some other reason you called?”

“I wanted to remind you to make sure you’re carrying this evening. It’s not a night to forget that kind of thing.”

“So I’ve been told by other sources.”

“Other sources would be correct,” Dino said.

“I’ll see you tonight.”

“Here’s hoping.”

Stone hung up and noticed Carly was still staring at her computer. He leaned over so he could see the screen. On it was the website for the CIA.

“Carly, did Lance Cabot contact you?”

“No. Was he meant to?”

“Quite the contrary. He promised me he wouldn’t.”

“Then he’s living up to his word.”

“Why are you on the CIA website?”

“Research.”

“What kind of research?”

“You did say Lance would talk to me eventually. I want to be prepared for when that happens.”

“That site will only tell you one side of the story, and not a complete one at that.”

“Which is why I have also read four books and twenty-seven magazine articles, from differing viewpoints.”

“Carly, you are not seriously considering accepting an offer from Lance, are you?”

“No offer has been given, so there is nothing to consider yet.”

“When it is given, what are you supposed to do?”

“Say no, and then talk to you.”

“Please, do not forget that.”

“My brain wouldn’t let me, even if I wanted to.”