“A little,” Stone said, sipping the strong coffee. A large shot of caffeine was what he needed.
“Yesterday you seemed to absorb quickly what Mike and I had to tell you.”
“Thank you. I found it extremely interesting.”
“This company’s activities are a lot to absorb in a single day,” Hackett said, “but you’ll have other opportunities to learn more.”
“Jim,” Stone said, “yesterday you spent a lot of time telling me about the company’s personal protection services.”
“I suppose I did. Do you require personal protection?”
“No,” Stone said, “but I’m afraid you do.”
“I don’t have even one bodyguard,” Hackett said. “I travel alone or with an assistant. The only times I’m guarded are in combat zones, like Iraq and Afghanistan. What do you know that I don’t know, Stone?”
“The odd thing is, I don’t know anything. I only suspect, but I suspect that you should be in a place, at least for a while, where you can see a threat coming from more of a distance than you can on a New York City street.”
Hackett crossed his legs and stared out the window at the city skyline. “Felicity has been talking, has she?”
“No,” Stone replied, “she hasn’t. She’s said absolutely nothing. This morning I was privy to one side of a transatlantic telephone conversation, and while I couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end, I was alarmed by her reactions.”
“Can you tell me any more than that?”
“I don’t know anything more than that.”
“All right, then,” Hackett said. “I accept that. I don’t suppose your relationship with Felicity precludes you from offering advice, does it?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Then what would you advise me to do?”
“I believe I would advise you to disappear for a while, to go to someplace-Maine, perhaps-no, some place not known to me, so I can’t inadvertently give you away. I think you should abbreviate your communications with this office to the bare minimum or communicate through third parties, and I don’t think you should use a cell phone or any landline known to anyone else. I think you should stay indoors, not in view of the sky, and that you should post armed guards around you.”
Hackett did not respond for a long moment, then, finally, he said, “It’s as bad as that, is it?”
“I hope I’m wrong,” Stone replied, “but I believe it is as bad as that.”
47
Stone got back to his office and found Herbie Fisher waiting for him. Stone tried not to groan.
“Can I talk to you, Stone?”
“Yes, Herbie. Come on in,” Stone said.
Herbie followed him into the office and closed the door behind him.
“What’s wrong, Herbie?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Herbie replied.
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
“I want you to go to Sheila’s funeral with me,” Herbie said.
“Why, Herbie?”
“Because I don’t want to go by myself. There might be people there who would try to hurt me.”