Strategic Moves (Stone Barrington 19)

“I’m afraid not,” Lance said. “Pablo has disappeared.”

“Lance, there are eight men from Strategic Services guarding him; he can’t disappear.”

“Nevertheless,” Lance said.

“How did this happen?”

“His wife wanted to go to the market in Washington, and Pablo went with her. They went into the market, followed by two of Mike Freeman’s men, and then straight out the back door, and they disappeared.”

“You’d better check the airport at Newburgh,” Stone said. “It sounds like Pablo has decided to run.”

“Holly is all over that and every other airport in the area,” Lance said. “Run from what?”

“Well, Lance, your very good friend and colleague Moishe Aarons has been trying to find Pablo—God knows why—but Pablo found that disturbing. Somehow—and I’m not making any accusations—Mr. Aarons found out about your meetings with Pablo. How could that have happened?”

Lance was silent.

“Hello, hello? Can you think of any way that Aarons could have found out about those meetings?”

“I’m thinking,” Lance said.

“I’ll just wait while you think,” Stone said, then sa

t there silently.

“All right,” Lance said finally, “he may have inferred that from something I said to him.”

“Lance, we had a firm and very clear agreement that the existence of those meetings would be kept within a very tight circle of your people.”

“Yes, we did.”

“Did you intend that very tight circle to include the Mossad?”

“Of course not, Stone. It was just a slip of the tongue over lunch.”

“It must have been a very big slip of the tongue, since Aarons knew that the meetings took place at my house and that I was in touch with Pablo.”

“I have to go now,” Lance said. “There are people waiting to see me.”

“Lance—” But Lance had hung up.

Stone looked up to see a man he didn’t recognize standing in his doorway. He was tall, with a dark, heavy beard and black horn-rimmed glasses.

“Good morning, Stone.”

“Yes? Have we met?”

The man came across the room and sat down in the chair opposite Stone. “My disguise is better than I thought.”

“Pablo?” Stone said with astonishment.

“Don’t make me take the beard off; it took me too long to get it right. You were talking with Lance?”

“Yes, just now.”

“I heard you mention his name.”

“He called to tell me you had disappeared.”