Severe Clear (Stone Barrington 24)

“Is she staying with us?”

“No, she’s staying at the residence of the British ambassador to the U.N. He has quite a nice house.”

“Dad,” Peter said gravely, “I want you to know that it’s all right for you to have sleepovers when I’m here.”

Stone didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Thank you, Peter, that’s very kind of you.” And he meant it.

30

Stone hired a driver and picked up Felicity Devonshire at the ambassador’s residence. “You look radiant, as always,” he said, holding both her hands and looking her up and down.

“And you are a great flatterer, as always,” she replied. “Where are we having dinner?”

“At a place that’s new to me, called Patroon. It’s not all that far away.”

“Then why did you bring your car?”

“I would be nervous taking you out on the street, since the last time you were here someone was gunning for you. The car is armored, so you will be protected.” He led her out and down the stairs.

“Oh, you have a new car, a Bentley?”

“Yes,” Stone said. “My Mercedes came to a bad end last year. Mike Freeman at Strategic Services had this in his fleet and sold it to me. Their armoring division had done a lot of work on it.”

“Why do you have armored cars?” Felicity asked, getting into the rear seat.

Stone got in beside her. “Accidental in both cases. I went into the Mercedes showroom to buy the first one, and they had it on the floor. It had been ordered by someone of shady reputation, and it arrived one day late. Somebody got to him, so I bought it from the widow. When I smashed it up, Mike was there to help.”

“You are the most fortunate man,” she said.

“If I were more fortunate I wouldn’t have totaled the Mercedes. By the way, thank you for your kind note after Arrington’s death.”

“It was the least I could do,” she said.

They arrived at the restaurant and were seated.

“This is very nice,” she said, looking around.

Stone ordered them drinks, and they were visited by the owner, Ken Aretsky. They chatted briefly, then the drinks arrived and he moved on to another table.

“Is this your new Elaine’s?” she asked.

“It’s one of them. Dino and I have learned that Elaine’s cannot be replaced—there is just no other place like it.”

“To a better future,” Felicity said, raising her glass.

“I’ll drink to that.”

“So you have a son now?”

“You’re keeping up, aren’t you?”

“What is the point of being in the intelligence game if you can’t spy on your friends?”

Stone laughed. “You’ll meet Peter and his girlfriend, Hattie, as well as Dino’s son, Ben, and Dino’s new girlfriend, Viv. They’ll all be on the airplane.”

“Why are you going out there in advance of the actual opening?” she asked.

“Well, I’m an investor and on the board, as is Mike Freeman. We both want to have an opportunity to look the place over before the guests swarm in.”