The door opened and a tall, very slim woman with shoulder-length red hair wearing a striking evening gown entered the room. “Hello, Stone,” she said. Stone and Lance got to their feet.
It took Stone more than a moment to absorb the change. “Holly?”
“Amazing what losing a little weight, a dye job and a tan will do, isn’t it?”
“You look gorgeous.” Stone had hardly noticed the man who had followed her in, but now he did. “Dino? What the hell are you doing here?” He had never seen Dino in a tuxedo before.
“I got the same invitation you did, pal.”
Lance spoke up. “I forgot to mention that Dino will be going along, too.”
“I believe we’re due at dinner,” Holly said.
“That we are,” Lance replied. “There’ll be a further briefing for you and Dino tomorrow, Stone, but right now, the president awaits.” He led the way out of the Oval Office and from the West Wing to the White House proper, where they joined a receiving line. When Stone was introduced to the president and first lady, they greeted him without reference to their earlier meeting.
Shortly, they were seated at one of many tables in the East Room, sipping California champagne. Stone looked around. “Who are all these people?” he asked Lance. “I don’t see any familiar faces.”
Lance smiled. “In fact, this is probably the most anonymous group ever to dine at the White House. These are the approximately hundred and fifty highest-ranking people at the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and their spouses. This is the first time such an event has occurred, and it appears on the White House daily schedule as a personal dinner party given for friends of the president and first lady.”
“Wow,” Dino said. “If a bomb went off here…”
“Don’t even think that,” Lance said.
4
Stone woke slowly, momentarily disoriented by the strange surroundings. He lifted his head and saw a naked, red-haired woman coming out of the bathroom.
“Good morning,” Holly said. “You’d better shower and shave; Lance and the others will be here in forty-five minutes. I’ve ordered breakfast.”
Stone continued to watch her; he liked the changes. “Why red hair?” he asked.
“You’ll find out at the br
iefing; now get moving!” She goosed him in the ribs, then dodged his grasp and started dressing.
Stone and Holly were just finishing their coffee when there was a knock on the door. Holly let them in: Lance, Dino and Genevieve James.
Stone gave Genevieve a kiss. “You’re in on this, too?”
“I would do anything for a vacation on a tropical island,” she said. “And don’t worry, I’ve been sworn to secrecy.”
“Genevieve just came to say hello,” Lance said. “She’s going shopping now.”
“I believe I’ve been dismissed,” she said, and with a little wave, left the suite.
“Anybody want coffee?” Lance asked.
Nobody spoke.
“Good. Now, let’s get started; you have a plane to catch this afternoon.”
Everybody took a seat.
“Stone, let’s begin with you: tell us-briefly, if you will, since there’ll be time to fill in details later-about your experience in St. Marks, and especially, about the people you know there.”
Stone took a deep breath. “I was on vacation there several years ago, when a yacht entered English Harbour, sailed by a woman alone, causing something of a kerfuffle. The following day, she was charged with killing her husband at sea and shoving his body overboard. I somehow got involved and defended her at her trial. I lost, and she was hanged-or at least I thought she was. She turned up later, alive in Florida, but that’s a different story.”
“Tell us who you know on St. Marks,” Lance reminded him.