Turbulence (Stone Barrington #46)(48)
“Thank you, Henry,” Stone said, pocketing one of the keys. “You keep the other key.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is Ms. Smith in the house?”
“She’s just back from a bit of shopping,” Henry replied.
“Would you ask her to join us in the library?”
“Yes, sir.” Henry trotted off upstairs while Stone and Lance went into the library, in search of fortification against the elements.
* * *
—
AH, THERE YOU ARE,” Kelly said, entering in a new dress. “Did you have a good lunch?”
“Excellent in every respect,” Lance said. “Sit down, Kelly, Stone and I wish to talk to you.”
“Correction,” Stone said. “Lance will do the talking, and you may direct any questions or objections to him.”
“Well, Lance,” she said, “what is it?”
“I’ve come to tell you that I’m authorizing a block of time off for you. Take a month.”
“That’s very kind of you, considering that the Agency owes me nine weeks of vacation time.”
“Well, ah, take whatever you need. Where and with whom you spend it are entirely up to you, though I encourage you to stay with Stone.”
Stone interjected, “Lance thinks Owaki may not be through trying to kill me and that he may be interested in doing the same for you.”
“And,” Lance said, “it is my opinion that the two of you might be safer in each other’s company than apart.” He stood up. “There, I’ve said my piece. You two sort it out.” He turned and left.
38
STONE POURED KELLY a glass of chilled sherry.
“Do I need fortifying for this?” she asked.
“I doubt it, but it couldn’t hurt.”
“Please tell me what has transpired in my absence.”
Stone gave her an account of his day and of his conversation with Lance.
“Well,” she said, after he finished. “Lance is not a sucker for a conspiracy theory, so you might have something there.”
“The other thing is, I am very fond of you and enjoy your company,” Stone said, “so I am happy to have it for at least the foreseeable future.”
“‘The foreseeable future’? I rather like that. It’s longer than my nine weeks off and readily extendable, if conditions permit.”
“‘If conditions permit’?” Stone said. “I rather like that—it gives you a way out.”
She laughed. “I can just pick up and go whenever I feel like it.”
“Yes, you can. It’s my task to see that you never feel that way.”
“Well, I certainly don’t feel that way right now,” she said, getting up and sitting in his lap. She kissed him. “Maybe I have something to thank Mr. Owaki for.”
“I don’t think Owaki is the sort of person one would wish to be in debt to.”
“I can thank him for the introduction,” she said. “The rest is my own doing, so I guess I don’t owe him a thing.”
He picked her up in his arms, stood, walked into the hallway and began a Gable-esque climb up the stairs, two at a time.
“I’m impressed,” she said at the top, kissing him on an ear.
He staggered into the bedroom with her and kicked the door shut behind him, finally laying her on the bed. “I hope the Agency gave you CPR training,” he puffed. “I have the feeling I may need it at any moment.”
There was a brief, frenzied undoing of buttons, zippers, and hooks, then they fell into bed together.
The rain outside beat an accompaniment to their rhythms.
* * *
—
IT HAD BEGUN to get dark outside by the time they had finished. They lay on the bed and watched the shadows of a swaying tree outside, projected by a streetlamp.
“So,” she said, “where will we go to be safe?”
“I have homes you haven’t visited yet.”
“Where are they?”
“One in Los Angeles, at the Arrington Hotel, another in Key West, another in Maine.”
“Key West sounds fun,” she said.
He found his pants and retrieved his cell phone. “We have to consider transportation,” he said.
“What’s wrong with your airplane?”
“Owaki knows my tail number; he can track me too easily.”
“We could always fly the airlines,” she suggested.
“Certainly not. I’ve grown unaccustomed to the airlines.”
“Strategic Services seems to have a lot of airplanes; maybe they’ll loan you one.”
“Funny you should mention that,” Stone said, dialing a number. “Michael Freeman, please.”
“Hello, Stone. Are you looking for a ride home from London?”
“I am, Mike, and I’m looking for more than that.”
“What do you need?”
“I need an airplane that doesn’t have my registration number painted on it or listed in the FAA database.”
“For how long?”
“A month, maybe.”
“Are you suggesting a swap?”