Turbulence (Stone Barrington #46)(24)

“We are not concerned with the check,” Felicity said, “since it was not generated with our funds, and we can’t legally deposit it. We simply want the envelope containing the location of the warhead. Once we have that, there are teams standing by in both the U.K. and in Germany who will execute the recovery.”

“You still haven’t told me what you want me to do,” Stone said.

Felicity and Lance exchanged a glance.

“We have taken every possible precaution for security both inside and outside the restaurant,” Lance said. “We know that Owaki travels with personal security, but we anticipate that his crew will consist of half a dozen or fewer men, and we are prepared to neutralize all of them.”

“Then there’s nothing left for me to do, is there?” Stone asked.

“There is one thing,” Lance said. “I stress that this is a last-ditch emergency move, to be taken only if gunfire breaks out in the restaurant.”

“Gunfire?” Stone asked, appalled. “In La Bonne Nuit? Surely you understand what sort of clientele the place has? There are likely to be half a dozen government officials and a head of state or two dining there. And you’re talking about gunfire?”

“Stone,” Felicity said, patting his hand. “We have scrubbed the reservations list clean of any person of consequence. We even staged a kitchen fire this morning to give us an observable reason for doing so.”

“Ah! So there’ll only be innocent bystanders there, is that it?” Stone asked. “It will be all right if some of them take a little automatic weapons fire?”

“Stone, you underestimate us,” Felicity said. “Every seat in that restaurant will be occupied by a civil servant—police officers, intelligence officers, military officers—even the women. It seats only thirty people, and they will be ours, every one of them.”

“You and Senator Box will be the only true civilians present,” Lance said.

“And, presumably, they will all be armed?”

Lance slumped in his chair. “Alas, no,” he said. “The restaurant has an excellent security system, which includes weapons detectors at all entrances—they had a regrettable incident with a bomb earlier this year. And Owaki’s people will be observing the diners as they enter and are screened.”

“So, only Owaki’s people will be armed? That’s just great.”

“Up until the time they are noiselessly disarmed,” Lance said.

“Suppose Owaki suddenly gets up and goes into the gents’, and the exchange of envelopes takes place there?” Stone asked.

“Stone, we are not fools. The toilet will be well covered, and the attendant will be our man.”

“Tell me about the nuclear device,” Stone said.

“It’s quite small, as these things go,” Lance said. “After all, it fits in an artillery shell of 250 millimeters.”

“And how many inches is 250 millimeters?”

“Christ, Stone, I don’t know!” Lance said. “The metric system continues to defeat me.”

It continued to defeat Stone, too.

“Approximately nine point eight inches,” Felicity said.

“So it’s compact enough to fit into a small container, assuming that it’s not accompanied by the shell intended to house it.”

“Quite,” Lance said, “though it’s quite heavy. Uranium weighs a lot. Is there anything else, Stone?”

“Yes, Lance, there is: Why will I be there?”

“Because you and, of course, Senator Box, are known to Owaki, and your presence will not frighten him.”

“It frightens me,” Stone said. “He’s already tried to kill me twice.”

“Like everyone else in the room, Owaki will be unarmed,” Felicity said. “Except for one person.” She reached out and tapped the leather-bound box on the table next to Stone with a long fingernail. “That’s where this comes in. It will be delivered to the restaurant this afternoon, suitably gift-wrapped, and handed to you, if it should become necessary. Congratulations, Stone: It’s your birthday.”

“And what am I supposed to do with it?” Stone asked.

Lance sat up straight. “If somebody manages to get a weapon past security, and a firefight should, unaccountably, break out, we want you to shoot Selwyn Owaki in the head.”





19



STONE GAPED AT THEM. “You’re insane, both of you.”

“Lance and I thought it rather a good plan,” Felicity said sweetly.

“You both employ merciless assassins,” Stone pointed out. “Why me?”

“I have already told you that Owaki will not bridle at your appearance,” Lance said. “He would be immediately put off by a strange person at his table.”

“But he knows you, even if he doesn’t like you, and that is very much in your favor,” Felicity echoed.

“It would not be the first time you’ve caused the death of a bad person,” Lance said. “It’s all in our file on you.”

“And in our dossier,” Felicity said.

“I have never sat down at a table in a restaurant and shot a man in the head in cold blood,” Stone pointed out. “This sounds like that scene in The Godfather.”