Felicity nearly choked on her Rob Roy. “Then we’re blown?”
“Not exactly; the airplane is blown. Jim has a locator on it, and he knew about the house. I told him about it when we visited his place on Mount Desert Island.”
“My God,” she said, “if Hackett knows where we are, then what’s the point in coming up here?”
“To keep Dolce from killing you,” Stone said. “Remember?”
“Well, there is that, but if Hackett can find us, maybe she can, too.”
“She is not acquainted with Hackett, and she doesn’t have the resources to find us. She doesn’t even know of the existence of the house here.”
“Well, if Hackett knows, then Stanley Whitestone knows.”
“We don’t know that Hackett is Whitestone, but I have to tell you I have underestimated Jim Hackett. He knows of your people’s difficulties in confirming his identity. He knew that you were running his fingerprints.”
“That’s impossible.”
“He told me he’s sending a package that will be here tomorrow that will be helpful.”
“How could he possibly get a package here tomorrow?”
“That part is easy; Federal Express delivers five days a week.”
“He told you he was going to help confirm his identity?”
“I’ve told you exactly what he said. After all, as he pointed out, he owns one of the largest private security companies in the world; he has access to all sorts of information.”
“He knows too much,” Felicity said. ?
??If he knows about my running his prints, then there’s a leak in my service.”
“From what little I know about him,” Stone said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he has one or more of your people on his payroll and maybe some CIA employees, too, as well as the FBI and the NYPD. He knew about Dolce’s attack on you, and the department is the most likely source of that information.”
“Good God! Next, he’ll have sat shots of us in bed together.”
“I doubt that; Dick’s house was built to be very, very secure. He does, however, have a sat shot of his airplane sitting on the tarmac at the airport here.”
She made a small moaning noise.
“That’s my fault; I could have as easily flown my own airplane, but I wanted to fly the jet.” He managed a rueful grin. “I wanted to impress you with my newly acquired skills.”
She laughed. “Well, you certainly did that with your landing. Frankly, I thought you were mad.”
“No, as part of my training I practiced short-field landings, so I was pretty confident we wouldn’t end up in the trees.”
“I think you’re the most confident man I know,” she said, taking his hand across the table.
“I don’t always feel that way,” he admitted. “Only when I know what I’m doing, which is only some of the time.”
“If you were British, I’d be trying to recruit you, just as Hackett is.”
“You mean, I’d have to be British to be recruited as a spy? You have a very narrow view of the work of espionage, don’t you?”
“Oh, we have an American or two on the payroll, but they’re not on the inside, just as you couldn’t be.”
“It has occurred to me that, if the American government knew what I’m doing for you now, I might be arrested for spying for a foreign government.”
“Should I conceal your payment for this job?” she asked. “I can, easily.”