Shoot Him If He Runs (Stone Barrington 14)

“I’m afraid so. The reason I came to you about this is that Bill Pepper doesn’t work for me. He did me a favor and met briefly with Holly Barker to tell her what he knows about Pemberton. She was also interested in the evil Colonel Croft, né Benet, of Haiti.”

“Why?”

“Their cottage is bugged, and she suspects Croft, a logical assumption.”

“Have they blown their mission?” Kate asked.

“No, they’ve been careful. But as I was saying, Bill Pepper reports to Hugh English, through one of his deputies, and should you decide to mention this Robertson to the Brits, I don’t want to ruffle Hugh’s feathers by having him know that I’ve talked to Pepper without going through him.”

“Why didn’t you go through him?”

“Because I don’t think he would have given me permission. This was a benign contact, nothing that would jeopardize Pepper’s work down there. Also, Hugh English doesn’t know about our looking for Teddy, and I didn’t think you’d want him to.”

“Yes, well, there is that. Pepper has cracked the government computers down there, hasn’t he?”

“Yes, that’s how he began his background check on Robertson; he checked the info on his application to buy a house.”

“One thing about Robertson that doesn’t sound like Teddy: he has no paper in Britain,” Kate said. “It doesn’t sound like Teddy to create a legend with no paper behind him. All his experience is in new identities with a lot of depth.”

“I’ll grant you that, but Teddy can’t have the resources he did when he was at home, here. He may have taken a certain amount of paper with him-passports, that sort of thing-but to build an identity in depth, he’d need more than just an Internet connection. He’d need British passwords and codes that he couldn’t get without the Agency’s people and equipment. That may be why this identity is so shallow.”

“So what do you want me to do?” Kate asked.

“Nothing. But if you decide to pass Pemberton on to the Brits for a more thorough investigation, I’d like you to conceal your source from Hugh English.”

“Hasn’t Pepper already reported his suspicions to Hugh?”

“Not yet; his hunch is only a day or so old. I could tell him, on your instructions, not to report it until you’re ready.”

“I think that’s the best course for now. I’ll get back to you. And Lance, thanks for bringing this to my attention, even though it’s outside your purview.”

Kate watched Lance leave, then sat and thought about this. She should probably discuss it with her husband, since he and the British prime minister were close. He would not want to withhold anything from the British. Well, not for very long, anyway. She’d think about it later.

26

Lance went back to his office and sat at his desk, gazing out at the Virginia landscape. He had covered his ass with Kate, but he was still worried about Hugh English.

The longtime deputy director for operations would have been gone now, retired to some gated Florida golf community, had it not been for the very inconvenient murder of his chosen successor, Dick Stone. English was not a favorite of the director, since he had opposed her promotion to that office. He had been subtle, having many contacts on Capitol Hill, and, since he had removed himself from the succession, his opinion carried real weight there, but she had been confirmed anyway because of the depth of influence in the Senate of her husband. Still, English’s long history with the Agency gave him broad and deep support internally, and Lance, hoping for promotion to his job, didn’t want to run afoul of the man. Now, however, he had, almost inadvertently, tossed a potential hand grenade under Hugh English’s chair, and he was worried that it might go off at an inopportune moment.

His phone rang; Holly Barker was reporting in. He picked it up. “Lance Cabot.”

“It’s Holly.”

“What have you to report?”

“Nothing; you told me to stay away from Robertson, and that’s what I’ve done. I don’t know why you’d send me down here to find Teddy, then hold me back when we’ve developed a hot lead.”

“Robertson is not your concern, Holly, until I tell you he is. Here’s what I want you to do.”

Holly punched off the satphone, then walked through the house, stripped off her clothes and joined the others on the beach.

“What?” Stone asked, seeing her face.

“Lance still won’t let us go near Robertson.”

“Then what are we doing here?”

“Lying on the beach, apparently. He wants Pepper to check him out further.”