Strategic Moves (Stone Barrington 19)

“No. I think he’s expecting me to call him today. I’ll do that, and I’ll say, while we are interested in doing work for the Agency, we don’t want to participate in the sort of mission he mentioned.”

“I think that’s a good move, Mike.”

“Let’s have lunch next week sometime.”

“I’d like that,” Stone replied. They said goodbye and hung up.

Stone was already at his desk when Milton Levine called.

“Morning, Milt.”

“And to you, Stone. Thanks for the referral of Peter Collins.”

“You’re very welcome. How did it work out?”

“We’re pretty much squared away. Turns out Collins had a permit for the gun, and the man who was shot agreed it was an accident. I pleaded him to one count of unlawful discharge of a firearm and he got probation and community service.”

“Nothing for the hostage-taking?”

“None of the people involved wanted to press charges, and the hostage negotiator testified to Collins’s cooperation, so the whole thing pretty much went away. He’s back at the office this morning.”

“I’d like to be a fly on the wall at the first meeting between Collins and Jack Gunn,” Stone said.

“So would I, but my guess is they’ll put it behind them, and it will be business as usual. I owe you a good dinner for the referral.”

“Anytime, Milt,” Stone said, and they hung up.

Stone felt a sense of relief that all the problems that had cropped up in the past few days seemed resolved. Now he could leave for the weekend with nothing on his mind, and he relished that prospect.

“Hi, Stone.”

Stone looked up to see Herbie Fisher leaning against the door-jamb.

“Good morning, Herbie.”

“I hear you and Adele hit it off last night.”

“We had a very pleasant evening,” Stone replied.

“And I hear you’re off to some surprise place this weekend, too.”

Stone frowned. “You certainly hear a lot, Herbie.”

“The women in the family are constantly talking to one another,” Herbie said. “Don’t tell one of the family, unless you want them all to know. Where are you taking Adele?”

“I’m going to take your advice, Herbie, and not tell you. Otherwise, it won’t be a surprise, will it?”

“You heard that Jack is off the hook? David too?”

“I heard.”

“Jack’s spending the day calling clients and telling them everything’s okay.”

“Good idea.”

“Say, Stone, would you like to invest some money with Jack? He doesn’t take a lot of new clients, but Stephanie could have a word with him.”

Stone thought about the unaccustomed large chunk of cash sitting in his accounts, from his Woodman & Weld bonus and the sale of his old airplane to Strategic Services. “That’s an interesting idea, Herbie. Let me get back to you on that, will you?”