Strategic Moves (Stone Barrington 19)

“It’s Mike.”

“Hello, Mike. It must be a beautiful day on Lake Waramaug.”

“I’m in New York,” Mike said.

“A pity; it’s gorgeous up there.”

“You know, don’t you?”

Stone now had to decide between his two clients. “Lance called,” he said, avoiding the decision.

“I’m embarrassed,” Mike said. “I’ve already fired the two men who let it happen.”

“I wouldn’t be too hard on them,” Stone said. “After all, we have to assume he’s still safe, just not in custody, so to speak.”

“We checked all the airports in the area,” Mike said. “No sign of Pablo.”

“I wouldn’t try too hard to find him,” Stone replied. “He doesn’t seem to want protecting anymore.”

“I can’t argue with that,” Mike said. “We’ll stand down.”

Stone hung up. Now, he thought, if I could just be sure that the Mossad and Al Qaeda have stood down.

FIFTY-NINE

Stone was at Elaine’s with Dino when Lance Cabot walked in and, without a word, sat down, waving at a waiter. He did not speak until an icy martini sat before him.

Stone and Dino exchanged a glance.

“Good evening, Lance,” Dino said.

“Is it?”

“It was until a moment ago,” Stone said. “What do you want?”

“Peace on Earth,” Lance replied, speaking into his martini, “or at least in this little corner of the earth.”

Stone had never seen Lance so dejected, and he fought the tendency to feel sorry for him. “All right, what has disturbed the peace of your corner of the earth this evening?”

“I did it to myself,” Lance said.

Dino spoke up. “This man is an impostor. The real Lance Cabot would never say a thing like that.”

“I agree,” Stone said. “Are you feeling bad about sending that nice young fellow Todd Bacon off to the Aleutians?”

Lance brightened visibly. “No, I didn’t send him to the Aleutians after all,” he said. “Instead, I sent him back to the Farm for torture-resistance training. That way, he will actually be tortured.”

“Oh,” Stone said, reluctantly admiring the way Lance’s mind worked.

“I’m feeling better,” Lance said, downing the remains of his martini and waving for another.

“I’m glad we could be of help,” Stone said.

“Where is Pablo now?” Lance asked.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Frankly, I thought I had overreacted to the idea of a threat against him when I assigned those Strategic Services people to protect him, but it turns out there really is a threat.”