Stone Barrington: The Short Forever Part 32

"Apart from the nature of the goods and the name of the buyer, I will require a means of making my share of the profit bankable and spendable, without attracting the attention of any government agency anywhere."

"I quite understand. I have such an arrangement already in place, and you may avail yourself of it."

"When will this happen, and when can you tell me more about it?"

"Once I give the go-ahead, it will take only two or three days to conclude the transaction. The items in question have already been manufactured and will be transported as soon as I transfer the funds to the maker. How soon can you produce your quarter of a million?"

"What do you mean by 'produce'? Where and when?"

"I mean wire-transfer the funds to an offsh.o.r.e bank, which I will specify."

"As soon as I know all the details of what you're delivering and to whom. The funds are currently in a money market fund, awaiting investment. All it will take for delivery is a coded fax to my broker."

"I like your style, Stone."

"All we need to know now is if I like yours."

"I'll talk to some people and be in touch shortly."

They raised their gla.s.ses in a silent toast, then went back to finishing their lunch.

Stone glanced across the small room at Dino. He was enjoying his lunch immensely.

43.

STONE SAID GOODBYE TO LANCE ON the steps of the Connaught, then set off down Mount Street toward Berkeley Square, walking slowly, so that Dino could follow, window-shopping along the way. It was time to see if anyone was following him.

He walked around the square, letting Dino follow from a distance, and, on a whim, walked into Jack Barclay's, the Rolls-Royce dealer. A young man approached him immediately.

"Good afternoon, sir. May I help you?"

"I'd like to look at a Bentley, please." The showroom was a good place from which to spot a tail, with its large windows overlooking Berkeley Square. Stone couldn't see Dino.

"The Arnage-that's the saloon car-or the convertible?"

"The Arnage."

"This way." He led Stone across the large sales floor. "Would this be for UK use or export?"

"UK," Stone lied, thinking that the young man would send him to an American dealer if he said otherwise.

"Here we are," the salesman said, stopping before a gleaming black example of the car. "This one is in black with Autumn upholstery."

"May I see the engine?"

The salesman opened the car's hood to reveal a large engine bay, stuffed with equipment.

"What is the displacement and horsepower?" Stone asked, still unable to spot Dino.

"Six point eight liters, turbocharged; four hundred horsepower and six hundred and fifteen pounds of torque, available at low revs."

"Acceleration and top speed?"

"Zero to sixty miles per hour in five point nine seconds. Unfortunately, the top speed is electronically limited to a hundred and fifty-five miles per hour."

"Very impressive," Stone said, opening the driver's-side door and getting behind the right-side steering wheel. While the salesman droned on about the car's features, Stone was able to sweep the square from his seat, and he still could not spot Dino. Surely he hadn't walked too fast. He got out of the car.

"Would you like a brochure?" the salesman asked.

"Yes, thank you, and your card."

The salesman dropped both into an envelope and handed it to Stone. "We hope to hear from you," he said.

"Thank you." Stone walked out into the square; still no sign of Dino on the busy streets. Had he followed at all? He walked back to the Connaught and went up to his suite. He was relaxing, reading the Bentley brochure, when Dino let himself in from next door. Half an hour had pa.s.sed since Stone returned to the hotel.

"Where have you been?" Stone asked. "Did I move too fast for you?"

"Nope, and not for the four-man team following you, either."

"There were four men following me?"

"Well, two of the men were women. They were very good, too, working both sides of the street, changing places. I don't know if I would have made them, if they'd been following me, but since I was following you, it was easier to see what was going on."

"Any idea of nationality?"

"They didn't appear ethnic, so I'd say English or American."

"What about the shoes?"

"The men wore expensive shoes with thin soles, so they're not cops, if that's what you're asking."

"No thick soles and white socks, then?"

"Nope."

Stone put down his brochure. "My guess is, it's Hedger's people."

"They must want Lance pretty bad."

"Then why aren't they following Lance?"

"Maybe they are."

"Maybe they are, at that; it's something to keep in mind. What did you think of Lance?"

"What struck me," Dino said, "was how much alike the two of you are."

"How do you mean?"

"Jesus, Stone, didn't you see the guy? He's waspy, blondish, beautifully dressed. He has that languid look that only very confident people have."

"Or very good actors."

"Well, you're not that confident, and you're not that good an actor; from my view of the conversation, you were the guy who wanted something, and he was the guy who was going to decide whether you get it."

"Just the opposite," Stone said. "He wants a quarter of a million dollars from me, and I'm demanding full disclosure; he's not ready to tell me yet."

"Do you have a quarter of a million dollars?"

"Yes, but I'm not about to give it to Lance; he doesn't know that, of course."

"You better be careful, Stone; you start promising people money, and they're liable to get very upset if you don't come through with it."

"You have a point."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to make a couple of phone calls."

"And the first one will be to Arrington, won't it?"

"Oh, shut up and get out of here; I'd like some privacy."

"I'll go to my room and see if there's a cricket game on TV."

"Cricket match."

"Whatever." Dino went to his own room.

Stone picked up the phone and dialed the number of the Carlyle hotel in New York, which was lodged in his memory, and asked for Mrs. Calder. The phone rang several times, and then the voice mail kicked in.

"Arrington, it's Stone. I want to apologize for the other evening; it was inexcusable leaving you like that, but I really didn't have a choice. I tried to catch up with you at Heathrow, but you got through security before I could. I'd like to explain, if you'll let me. I'd also like to see you again, but I won't be back in New York for at least a few more days. Please call me at the Connaught." He left the number and hung up, then he got out his address book and called Samuel Bernard at his home in Washington Square.

"Good morning, Stone," the old man said, "or good afternoon, if you're still in London."

"I'm still in London, sir, and I wanted to ask for some more advice."

"Go right ahead."

"Bartholomew is Hedger, as you suspected, and he and I have parted company."

"Why?"

"I've come to the attention of the local police on a related matter, and that put him off."

"I can see how it might," Bernard said.

"I had thought that Hedger was working outside his agency, for personal reasons, but today I was followed by a four-man team who seem to be either British or American, probably American."

"It's unlikely that he would have so many people at his disposal, if he were working on his own," Bernard said.

"That's what I figured. Now I have another problem: I've learned about something that I think should be brought to the attention of some authority, but I don't trust Hedger. Is it possible that you could connect me with someone at your former employer's that I could talk to without Hedger finding out?"

"I think that would be very dangerous, Stone; I don't know what's going on internally at the Company at this moment, so it's difficult to ascertain how much official support Hedger has. Even if I found someone for you to speak to, there's no guarantee that he wouldn't go straight to Hedger. And he wouldn't be in London, either. If anything happens in the London station, Hedger is going to know it, because if he's not actually station head, he'll be very close to whoever is. Why don't you want to go directly to Hedger?"

"I just don't trust him; he's lied to me a lot."

"That's what agents do; it's not surprising."

"I don't yet know enough about what's going on to know whether I might be hurting someone who's innocent of any wrongdoing."

"Can you give me a general idea of what's happening?"

Stone recounted his conversation with Lance, without mentioning names.

"It sounds as if your acquaintance is going to sell something important to a foreign government or more informal organization, that our government, or at least Hedger, doesn't want them to have. Are you actually going to put up this money?"

"I don't know."

"I warn you, if you do, you may involve yourself in this matter in an inextricable way."

"I'd much rather contact some agency that could support me in this."

Bernard was silent for a moment. "If you don't trust Hedger, then I think you should go to the British."

"Can you give me a name?"

"I'll give someone yours," Bernard said. "If you get a call from someone who says he's a friend of Sam's, see him."

"Thank you, sir," Stone said.

"Keep me posted," Bernard replied. "I'm beginning to enjoy this."

Stone hung up the phone, laughing.

44.