Stealth

35

Stone and Holly spent the next day on horseback, taking the horses and a picnic lunch down to the Solent. “This is the body of water that separates the Isle of Wight from England,” he explained. “We’ll be crossing it later on a little trip to Cowes, which is England’s yachting capital, for dinner at the Royal Yacht Squadron.”

“How are we dressing?”

“Black tie, as always, on a Friday night at the Squadron. Felicity Devonshire is hosting a dinner party for us. Fortunately, the weather forecast is good. The Solent can be a choppy place with a strong wind from east or west.”

“What time are we leaving?”

“Five-ish, in order to arrive in time for drinks before dinner.”

“Stone,” she said, changing the subject, “I’ve been thinking about Lance’s offer to you, and I’m inclined to advise you to take it.”

“Yes?”

“Yes, as long as you have a way out. I know that you see your own personal truth as self-evident, but in dealing with Lance you might find that at odds with what he wants you to do.”

“I can understand that.”

“As long as your contract reads that you can opt out anytime you’re uncomfortable.”

“I’ll be sure that’s in the contract. He’s faxing it from London today, so perhaps we can have a look at it together when we get back to the house.”

“You said he mentioned the rank of deputy director? Was there anything added to that?”

“He suggested ‘special operations,’ but he didn’t seem set on it.”

“That sounds too much like you’d be directing actual operations, and you have no experience with that.”

“True enough.”

“I’d suggest something vaguer, like ‘senior adviser.’ A mention of operations might ruffle other feathers.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You’ll want to watch out for the deputy director for intelligence, Hugh English.”

“What’s he like?”

“In his sixties, wears British tailoring, gruff, but he can be charming when he wants something. He’s what the Brits call ‘clubbable.’ The Republicans in Congress love him because he’s been leaking to them for years. If they win the election and Lance gets bounced, Hugh English is likely to get his job. As I said, don’t underestimate him. He’s capable of low cunning.”

“What about the other DD? For operations?”

“That would be Finn McAdoo. He’s the young comer, and because of that, Hugh English hates him. If I’m elected, and if Lance wants to move elsewhere, I’d likely choose Finn to replace him. You’ll like him immediately.”

After lunch they rode back to the house, where Stone found a multipage fax waiting for him in the library. “Here we go,” he said. He read the pages, then handed them to Holly. It didn’t take long to get through them.

“It’s surprisingly benign,” Holly said, “and it doesn’t mention a title, though it mentions the rank.”

“I noticed that.”

“All you need is a sentence allowing you to resign at will, and the title, which should be descriptive of the job. He’s not going to be able to keep this from the top-level people at the Agency, and the title will tell them where you stand.”

Stone made a note about adding the out clause. His cell phone rang, and he answered it.

“Did you get the contract?” Lance asked.

“Yes. My adviser and I have just finished reading it.”

“Is Holly there?”

“Yes, I’ll put you on speaker.”

“Any questions?”

“I want an out clause,” Stone said.

“It will be my job to see that you never want out.”

“Yes, but you may decide to move on to better things, and I don’t want to be at the mercy of a director I don’t know.”

“Done. There’s something else, though,” Lance said.

“What’s that?”

“I had conceived your role as a covert one, but on reflection I think it might be better if it became known. I wouldn’t make a public announcement, just let the word get around.”

“All right. It occurs to me that some people should know from the outset: my secretary, Joan Robertson, and, of course, Dino and Viv Bacchetti.”

“No problem there. Dino and Viv are both consultants already, as you know.”

“I didn’t know about Viv.”

“Now you do. You can tell anyone you like, but be discreet.”

“Lance, will you announce it inside the Agency?” Holly asked.

“I’ll send out a selective memo. The right people will know.”

“I’m sure you’ll guard against Hugh English looking at Stone as a threat.”

“Certainly. I’ll reassure him.”

“What about his title?” Holly asked.

“Did you have something in mind, Holly?”

“Perhaps something like ‘senior adviser to the director’? Give him the rank of a deputy director but don’t broadcast it.”

“I like it,” Lance said. “It won’t rile Hugh English too much. Stone, what do you think?”

“Sure, fine.”

“I’ll get the thing retyped and fax it again in a few minutes.”

“All right,” Stone said, and hung up.

A few minutes later, the fax machine began spitting out pages. Stone read, signed, and initialed them in the appropriate places and faxed them back.

“Well,” Holly said, “you’re on the hook now. That’s what we say about a newly acquired asset at the Agency.”

“On the hook for what?”

“For whatever Lance wants from you.”

“Interesting about Viv being a consultant.”

“And a prized one,” Holly said. “She’s in an ideal position at Special Services to glean business information.”

They were getting dressed for dinner when a package was delivered to the house. Geoffrey, the butler, brought it upstairs to Stone. It was small but hefty for its size. Stone opened it and removed a wallet containing a new ID and a badge, plus a box of business cards and an Apple iPhone. Stone had used one of these, briefly, in Paris. It had scrambling, encryption, and other capabilities At the bottom of the package was a Colt Government .380 pistol with royal bluing, ivory handles, a couple of extra magazines, a box of ammunition, and a soft suede holster. There was also a silencer and a place for it in the holster.

“Looks like you’re in the spy business,” Holly said.