Shoot First(Stone Barrington #45)(76)

“Gee, I’m sorry, I didn’t know this was going to come up. What is it you want in England?”

“Somebody who can go to your house, open the safe, and get the thumb drive.”

“But the thumb drive isn’t there—it’s in my safe.”

“Not that thumb drive, dummy!”

“I don’t get it.”

Dino’s phone rang. “Bacchetti. Okay, I’m calling the number in thirty seconds. He hung up, glanced at his watch, and tapped in Fred’s number. At thirty seconds, he pressed the call button. “Here we go,” he said. “It’s ringing.”





58




Stone watched Dino’s face as the phone rang. It betrayed no emotion.

“Hello,” Dino said. “I’m calling on behalf of Stone Barrington. What is it you want?” He listened carefully, nodding. “Is that all?” He listened again. “I’m afraid there’ll be a delay. That item is not in this country.” He listened. “The item is in a safe in the library of Mr. Barrington’s house in England.”

Stone could hear an angry voice replying.

Dino continued to listen. “Hold on, I’ll find out how it can be opened.” He left the phone near his lips as he talked to Stone. “Who knows how to get into that safe?”

“I do,” Stone replied.

“No, I mean somebody else who can get into it—somebody in England.”

“The manager of the estate, Major Bugg, has the combination. I will instruct him to open it on presentation of a password.”

“And what is the password?”

“Let me think . . .”

“Not too long,” Dino whispered, his hand over the phone.

“The password is Arrington.”

“Did you get that?” Dino asked. He spelled the name carefully. “Now, when will you release Ms. Harmon?” He listened. “Surely Mr. Owaki has someone in England who can pop over to the house and see Major Bugg. Well, how long then? I would like to point out that Mr. Barrington has followed your instructions explicitly. You have no further reason to hold Ms. Harmon.” He listened. “By the way, what is your name?”

Stone heard the click when they hung up.

“Well,” Dino said, “that should be long enough for my people to get a location. By the way, Stone, you’d better call Major Bugg and ask him to put a thumb drive in your safe, and to open it for whoever gives him the password.” Dino dialed a number on his own cell phone.

Stone called Major Bugg, who was probably having his tea interrupted, and told him what must be done.

“What is a thumb drive?” Bugg asked.

“It’s a small computer device about the size of a thumb, hence the name.”

“I don’t have one. Where would I get it?”

“At a computer shop. Is there one in the village?”

“Yes, a small one.”

“It’s a small device. Could you send someone there immediately and buy one of the largest capacity available?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I’ll call you in a few minutes, and we’ll do a data transfer from my computer to the thumb drive.”

“Yes, my assistant knows how to do that, I believe.”

“Thank you, Major Bugg.”

Dino was still on the phone. “Keep that connection alive,” he said to his officer. “Don’t let it get away from you.” He hung up.

“Did they get a location for Fred’s cell phone?”

“Yes. It’s a few feet from your house.”

“What?”

“Apparently in a car, parked in front of your house. They’ll track it, if it moves.” He spoke to his driver. “You can keep the siren on, now. How long?”

“Ten minutes, if the traffic isn’t too bad.”

“Okay.” Dino called his office and ordered a car situated at each end of Stone’s block, then he sat back in his seat and appeared to relax.

“Why are you so relaxed?” Stone asked.

“I’m always relaxed when I’ve done all I can do. Can you think of anything else I should do, right this minute?”

“No, I guess not.”

“Then I’m going to relax. I might even take a nap.” He put his head against the back of the seat and closed his eyes.

“I wish I could relax like that,” Stone said.

“It takes practice.”

Dino’s cell phone rang, and he answered it. “Bacchetti.” He listened for a moment. “Well, shit,” he said. “Call me back when you’ve reestablished— What? Okay.” He hung up. “They lost the signal when the guy hung up. I’ll call it again.” He pressed the button and gazed out the window. “Hello? This is the same person who phoned a moment ago. Do you remember me? Yes, that’s the one. Listen, Major Bugg has left his office for the day, and someone has been sent to his home to get him to return to the house. It’s going to take about an hour, since he lives half an hour away from the house. Have you got that? Okay, then let’s talk again in an hour, unless you’d just like to chat for a while—I’ve got plenty of time.” Dino put down the phone. “Goodbye, Mr. Beria.” He hung up.