Shoot Him If He Runs

43

The phone was answered by a young man. “United States Embassy,” he said.

“I don’t suppose you would connect me with the CIA station chief, would you?” Dino asked.

There was a brief silence. “Sir, what is the nature of your business?”

“Please give him or her a message,” Dino said. “Virginia Heller and Stone Barrington have just been arrested by a Colonel Marcel duBois of the Home Office, presumably in connection with the murder of Colonel Croft.”

“And your name, sir?”

“Dino Bacchetti; I am traveling with Ms. Heller and Mr. Barrington.” He gave the man the phone number at the inn. “I believe this to be a secure line,” he said, “since we disabled the bugs in the telephones. I can’t speak for your end.”

“I will pass on the message,” the young man said, then hung up.

James Tiptree’s phone rang, and he picked it up. “This is James Tiptree.”

“Scramble,” a voice said.

Tiptree pressed the button. “Scrambled.”

“Jim, this is Lance Cabot; we met some years ago in London.”

“Yes, Lance, I remember.”

“Have you received cable traffic regarding the replacement for Hugh English?”

Tiptree sat up straighter. “Not yet.”

“You should shortly. The cable will say that I have been appointed to replace Hugh.”

“Ah, well, congratulations, Lance.”

“Thank you. I’m calling to brief you with a situation on St. Marks.”

Tiptree immediately wondered what Cabot could know about St. Marks that he, himself, did not. “Yes?”

“I have an operative in St. Marks who is investigating the possibility that Teddy Fay is alive and on the island.”

Tiptree nearly laughed but decided silence was the better move.

“Are you acquainted with Teddy Fay?”

“I’ve heard about him, of course, but we never met.”

“My operative’s name is Holly Barker; she is using the cover of a real person named Virginia Heller, called Ginny, who operates a flying school in Florida, and she has a passport and other identification in that name.”

“Right.”

“She is traveling with two men, Stone Barrington and Dino Bacchetti, and a woman, Genevieve James. The two men are contract consultants to the Agency; the woman is just for color. They are traveling as vacationers and staying at the English Harbour Inn.”

“I understand; do they require my assistance?”

“Not at the moment, but I wanted you to be aware of their presence on the island. Barker and Barrington have already met with Bill and Annie Pepper. I had hoped to remove them all from the island tomorrow, but, as you know, travel restrictions have been imposed since the murder of Colonel Croft.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that; I was sitting on a bench next to Croft when the bullet struck him.”

“That must have been an interesting experience,” Lance said drily.

“Indeed; my clothes are at the cleaners.”

A young embassy officer knocked, entered Tiptree’s office and placed a sheet of paper on his desk. Tiptree nodded, and the man left.

“Lance,” Tiptree said, “it appears that Barker and Barrington do require my assistance. I’ve just received a telephone message from Bacchetti, saying that the two of them have been arrested by Croft’s successor, Colonel duBois, in connection with Croft’s assassination.”

“That’s preposterous,” Lance said. “They had nothing to do with it, but we suspect that Teddy Fay might have. Their only orders are to locate Teddy and verify his identity, then to report back to me.”

“Then I had better get over to police headquarters and see what I can do about shaking them loose before Colonel duBois gets too enthusiastic in their interrogation. I regard the man as worse than Croft, a loose cannon.”

“I understand,” Lance replied. “Do not, repeat, not bring State into this. Call me when you know more.” He hung up.

Tiptree hung up and buzzed his secretary. “Have my car brought around immediately,” he said, then hung up. He turned to his computer and began entering the names of Virginia Heller and Stone Barrington. In less than a minute he was printing out color copies of their U.S. passports. He put them in his briefcase, closed it and walked out of his office.

“Your car is waiting,” his secretary said.

“I’m going to police headquarters to try and obtain the release of two American citizens who have been detained, Virginia Heller and Stone Barrington. Alert the ambassador and tell him they are my good friends. If you haven’t heard from me in an hour, get him moving on it, but tell him Langley says not to involve the State Department.”

“Right.”

Tiptree set off on his second journey of the day to police headquarters. He hoped to God no more blood would be spilled. Blood only complicated his life.