“Seem to be related to his work?”
“There’s evidence to suggest that and no evidence to suggest otherwise.”
“Am I going to find his wife’s clothes in my closet?”
“All their personal effects have been removed. It’s my house now.”
“Why is Dino sleeping upstairs instead of in the guest house?” Arrington didn’t miss much.
“There’s no security system in the guest house.”
“And why do we need a security system on this tiny island?”
“It’s only a precaution. Another man, this one a retired CIA officer, was killed in a fashion similar to the way Dick was killed a couple of days ago.”
“Has anyone tried to kill you yet?”
“No, and there isn’t the slightest reason to suppose that anyone might.”
“Stone, every time I see you somebody is trying to kill you or trying to kill me.”
“Those incidents were not my fault.”
“No, it’s never your fault; it just seems to happen to you.”
“I have that history, but I believe we’re all quite safe here.”
“How good is the security system?”
“It was designed and installed by the CIA. By the way, don’t go downstairs at night before I disable the system. There are motion detectors downstairs.”
“I’m relieved to hear it.”
Peter came running back into the house.
“Peter, don’t run indoors,” his mother said.
“I’m sorry. The boats are neat, Stone. Can we go out in one of them?”
“Sure, we can. Which one would you like to go out in?”
“The sailboat.”
“All right, we’ll go out after lunch.” Stone glanced at Arrington. “I think there’s a life jacket just your size on board, Peter.”
Arrington nodded approvingly.
AFTER LUNCH IT TOOK an hour for Stone to get familiar enough with the yacht to be comfortable, and to get the engine started and check the chart for deep water and hazards to navigation, before they were skimming smoothly over small waves in a good breeze, with Peter steering the boat from Stone’s lap. Dino stretched out in the cockpit and went to sleep, a beer still clutched in his hand, while Arrington sat quietly next to Stone and Peter, taking in the scenery.
Stone felt eighteen again, except that his son was along for the ride. He and Arrington had had an affair years before, when she had chosen to marry Vance Calder, the movie star, not knowing that she was already carrying Stone’s child. It had taken a long time for her to admit to Stone, if not to herself, that Peter was his son.
Stone wondered if Peter would ever know. He saw a small island coming up and showed the boy how to tack the boat. He hoped to show him a lot more while they were here.
As Peter was turning the boat and Dino was hauling in on the jib sheet, a motorboat appeared from nowhere, dousing them with spray and making their ride bumpier.
Dino laughed. “I think you’ve just had sand kicked in your face, Stone.”
Stone watched the boat disappear toward the yacht club. The two occupants were Caleb Stone’s twin sons.