Wild Card (Stone Barrington #49)(19)

“You have a point,” Rawls said. “Sherry, how did you get to this house?”

“I was staying at another house down the coast, one owned by my employer, who is suspicious of me. I felt uncomfortable with the circumstances there, so Bob and Stone arranged for me to come here.”

“How did you travel?”

“I left Teterboro in a private plane, was met at Rockland Airport and taken to the house. This morning, I hit the man guarding me with a rock and stole his van. I abandoned that outside Rockland and got a taxi to Camden, where I met Stone’s yacht, Breeze, which brought me here.”

“Have the police taken an interest in you?”

“They have, but I avoided them.”

“I think we have to assume that you’re traceable,” Rawls said, “if your employer is willing to make the required effort to locate you. Is he?”

“Maybe, but I doubt it. I’m a small fry to him.”

“Bob, how about you?”

“I abandoned my residence and workshop a few weeks ago. I lived in Brooklyn for a while, then at Stone’s house in Manhattan. We flew to Rockland in Stone’s airplane, then flew a small Cessna to Islesboro.”

“Then you are traceable,” Rawls said. “There’s no cutout.”

“What’s a cutout?” Sherry asked.

“That’s a point where you disappear before you continue to your destination. You both have traceable paths. Sherry, a taxi driver and, no doubt, a person or two at the Camden marina saw you. Bob, Stone’s airplane is traceable to Rockland, and you were no doubt seen leaving Rockland in the Cessna, which is known around here. A good private detective could find you both in a couple of days.”

“That’s depressing,” Sherry said.

“Maybe not,” Rawls replied. “Now all we need to know is how badly your pursuer wants you. I expect we’ll find out before long.”





15


They were just saying good night to Ed Rawls and one another when Stone’s phone rang. “Hello?”

“It’s Jamie. Where are you?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier, but I’ve been traveling. I’m at my house in Maine.”

“You’ve abandoned me?”

“Only for a few days. Would you like to join me here?”

“Is it a business or pleasure trip?”

“You could turn it into a pleasure.”

“Well, that’s enticing. How do I get there?”

“I’ll arrange a flight for you from Teterboro. It’ll take an hour, a little more, if I can find a single-engine plane. It’s a short runway, too short for a jet.”

“What do I do?”

“Ask Fred to drive you to Jet Aviation, at Teterboro tomorrow morning at nine. You’ll take off at about ten and land on Islesboro an hour or so later.”

“What clothes will I need?”

“I like you in as little as possible.”

“On the occasions when I’m not naked?”

“Casual stuff. A sweater for the evenings. I’ll see you for lunch, then.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” she replied, then hung up.

Stone called the Strategic Services hangar and learned that an old airplane of his that he had sold to them was available, and so was a pilot. He scheduled it, then went upstairs to bed.



* * *



? ? ?

Stone drove to the airport, arriving a little after eleven and waited. A few minutes later his old JetProp, a single-engine turboprop, set down and disgorged Jamie and a couple of bags. He got her into the station wagon and headed for the house.

“Have we got time for a tour of the island?” she asked.

Stone glanced at his watch. “Sure, lunch isn’t until one.”

“Are there other guests?”

“Bob Cantor and a woman who’s on the run from the Thomases.”

“Why?”

“She worked there, near where the bomb went off, and she was suspected of being involved. She was not, but they shipped her up to a Thomas house near Rockland. I think she might have disappeared if she hadn’t escaped and called Bob.”

“Did Bob set the bomb?”

“We don’t ask that question. When you know the answer to an awkward question, sooner or later somebody you don’t want to lie to will ask you about it.”

“Got it,” she said.

Stone drove her around the periphery of the island, showed her the lighthouse and where a couple of movie stars lived, then took her home and installed her in the master suite. “Lunch in half an hour,” he said, leaving her to unpack.

Stone settled into a chair in the living room and answered his cell phone.

“It’s Joan.”

“Hi, any calls of importance?”

“Maybe. I’ve followed instructions and said you were unavailable. You might want to call Dino back.”

“Dino has my cell number. Anybody else?”

“Somebody who said he was a stockbroker—sounded like a cold call. He called twice.”

“Give me the number,” he said, and wrote it down. “Talk to you later.”

Jamie came down, then Bob appeared with Sherry from the direction of the hidden office. He introduced Sherry to Jamie.