Shoot Him If He Runs (Stone Barrington 14)

“I hope not.”

“I know that my capture would endanger your prospects for forming a government, and I will not put you in that position, I promise you.”

“Thank you, Teddy; I’m glad you understand what’s at stake for the future of St. Marks.”

“I do. Give me as much time as you can; I’m nearly ready now.”

“Good-bye, Teddy,” Thomas said, and he meant it. One way or another, this would be their last conversation.

Thomas left his office and went to pick up Stone and Holly.

Stone and Holly were waiting outside their cottage for Thomas to pick them up when her satphone rang again.

“Yes?”

“It’s Lance. Harold Pitts’s house is less than ten miles from the front gate here; I sent two men to look it over, and Pitts answered the door. He returned home last night after six weeks of touring the country in an RV.”

“So our Harold Pitts is Teddy.”

“No doubt about it,” Lance said. “Holly, you’re not going to be able to bring him back with you, and you can’t allow him to be caught.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that if the St. Marks police get their hands on him, they’ll torture him until they know everything; I mean that he’s not going to get onto that airplane with you; he just won’t. He knows exactly what that would mean when he’s back in the States, and he’ll kill you rather than allow that to happen.”

“I’m armed; Dino had brought a weapon with him.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Lance said. “It means that you won’t have to kill him with a knife or your hands.”

“Lance, I’m going to try to take him alive.”

“It can’t be done, Holly. The very best outcome of such an effort would be that he might kill himself, but he very likely would kill you first. He will be armed to the teeth, and he’s not going to have a conversation with you before he starts shooting.”

“We don’t know that.”

“I don’t want to lose you, Holly. Quite apart from my personal loss, the Agency would be left holding a very large bag.”

“That’s not what I’m thinking about,” Holly said.

“It’s what you must think about. You can only prevent a horrible mess for the Agency, and perhaps for the country, by remaining alive, and that means killing Teddy at the first opportunity, do you understand?”

“I suppose so.”

“These are your orders, Holly: Kill him on sight; do not wait for him to threaten you or run. Do you understand?”

Holly heaved a deep sigh. “I understand.”

“I’ll meet you at Manassas airport. Good-bye.” Lance hung up.

Stone was staring at her. “Are you going to do it?”

“Yes,” she said.

57

Lance had hardly hung up the phone when it rang again.

“Yes?”