Severe Clear (Stone Barrington 24)

“Call Jasmine from the airport,” Harp suggested.

“How do you know about Jasmine?”

“Oh, Jasmine Shazaz is famous at a certain level of the tech world,” Harp lied again. “You’re not the first hotshot techie she’s lured away from a great job with promises of billions. You don’t want to see her again.”

Jimmy stared forlornly at his keyboard.

“Just close the laptop, put it away, and come with me.”

“I’ll need to stop at the hotel and pick up my clothes.”

Harp shook her head. “Time is of the essence, Jimmy. You have to be back in your office at High Cotton at nine tomorrow morning, if you’re going to have a chance to make this right. I’ll arrange for the hotel to ship your luggage back to New York, and I’ll see that your bill is paid.”

“I need to call Mo Shazaz,” he said.

“He won’t answer his phone. Has he ever answered his phone?” She was taking a chance here.

“No, now that you mention it. He always calls back the next day.”

Harp stood up. “Come on, Jimmy, let’s get out of here while you still can.”

Jimmy stood up, closed his laptop, yanked the cord from the receptacle, and shoved it into a canvas briefcase.

They were in the car before Harp spoke again. “Let’s use the time to the airport,” she said. “Tell me what Mo wanted you to do for him.” She listened while he talked for a while, then she spoke again. “Jimmy, you’re well out of this. You were about to get mixed up in something that would have ended in disaster for you.”

Jimmy took out his cell phone.

“Don’t,” she said. “Don’t let anyone know where you are. I’ll put you into a good hotel in New York, and then I’m going to get you the help you need to get out of this mess.”

—

In the airline’s VIP lounge, she waited for Jimmy to go to the men’s room before she called Herb.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“On my way home,” she said, “and with Jimmy in tow.”

“How did you convince him to come back?”

“I lied some, but mostly I told him the truth. Then he told me what his new employer wanted him to do.”

“What was that?”

“You mentioned to me your friend Stone Whatshisname . . .”

“Barrington.”

“Yeah. You said he had some connections to the intelligence world.”

“Yeah.”

“Arrange a meeting with you, Jimmy, and Stone for tomorrow morning. Both of you will get an earful. Uh-oh, here comes Jimmy. Gotta go.” She broke the connection.

“Who were you talking to?” Jimmy asked.

“To the guy who’s going to get you out of this,” she replied.