Standup Guy

by Stuart Woods

  “And you, Agent Griggs.”

  Kate opened the door and pulled him inside. She gave him a big hug. “Exciting news,” she said. “We’d like to tell you together.” She took his hand and pulled him into the living room, where Will Lee already had a glass in his hand. He stood up to greet Stone with a warm handshake.

  “The usual?” Kate asked.

  “Please.”

  She handed him the drink, and they all sat down. “The others will be here in a little while,” Will said, “but we wanted to see you first.”

  “Oh?”

  “First, there’s this.” He picked up a white envelope and handed it to Stone.

  “What’s this?”

  “Read it, then forget about it. I have.”

  Stone opened the envelope and extracted a heavy sheet of paper. Across the top were emblazoned the words PRESIDENTIAL PARDON. And under that was printed the name THEODORE THOMAS FAY.

  “The pardon is sealed, as you suggested,” Will said. “It will not be released to the press. And I have seen that his name has been removed from every law enforcement and intelligence database.”

  “Thank you, Mr. President. I’m very grateful to you.”

  “And we are very grateful to you, Stone, for your friendship and good advice over the years. Now, I will trust you to see that the document is delivered into the right hands at an early date, and we’ll say no more about it, ever.”

  “Now, our other news,” Kate said. “I have decided to run now, not later, for the Democratic nomination for president, and we’re making the announcement tomorrow. The others of the Group of Twenty-one will be joining us for dinner shortly.”

  “What changed your mind about the timing?” Stone asked.

  “A reporter for the Washington Bureau of the New York Times got somebody—who cares who?—to talk. Confronted with the impending publishing of the story, Will and I talked it over and decided to go now, even if we have missed some primaries.”

  “This is going to be very exciting,” Stone said. “I congratulate you, and I promise you my vote and as many more as I can muster up for you.”

  “We’ll be handing out other envelopes for everybody after dinner, outlining my positions on just about every issue in detail. If you have time to read them, they will give you much ammunition for mustering those votes and, especially, for fund-raising.”

  “I’ll start phoning my unsuspecting friends tomorrow,” Stone said.

  The doorbell rang again, and people began to file into the penthouse apartment. The Lees and Stone joined them, and Stone folded the envelope and put it into an inside pocket.

  61

  Stone was at his desk at ten AM, and his first call was to Mike Freeman.

  “Good morning, Mike.”

  “Good morning, Stone. Good weekend?”

  “I haven’t decided yet, but now I’d like to make one more attempt to make a bank deposit.”

  “I’ll send my people immediately.”

  “I’d be grateful if you’d come with them, if you’re free. I have something to pass privately to you.”

  “I can manage that. Half an hour?”

  “Perfect.” Stone hung up and buzzed Joan. “Now, please get me Eduardo Bianci.”

  Peter, Eduardo’s butler, took the call, ascertained that Stone was Stone, then put the call through.

  “Good morning, Stone.”

  “Good morning, Eduardo. I hope you are well.”

  “Better than I have any right to be,” the old man replied.

  “I understand you have sent me a new client.”

  “That is so. Hillary is the widow of my good friend Thomas Foote, and she has told me that she is uncomfortable with being represented by the firm that handled Tom’s affairs. Naturally, I thought of you and Woodman & Weld. I think your experience in handling your own late wife’s estate will stand you in good stead with Hillary’s case.”

  “As always, I’m grateful for your good thoughts, Eduardo.”

  “I hope that when you meet with her you’ll like her—and her new husband, Jack Coulter, who I found to be bright and very good company at dinner last evening. I believe Jack’s intentions are only for his wife’s welfare. He seems to wish nothing of hers for himself.”

  “He sounds like a good fellow. I’m seeing them in just a few minutes, so perhaps I’d better go.”

  “May I call you for dinner one night soon?”

  “Of course. By the way, Kate Lee will be speaking to the press on television today. I think you would find it interesting to watch. We can talk more about that when we meet.”

  “I shall look forward to it. Goodbye, Stone.”

  “Goodbye, Eduardo.”

  Stone hung up and watched as Joan wheeled in a little folding cart, holding three legal boxes. “What’s that?”

  “Mrs. Coulter has sent these over.”

  “I hope she doesn’t expect me to read them before her arrival.”

  “No, I don’t think so. And I hear someone at the front door.”

  “That would be Mike Freeman and his merry men.”

  He shook Mike’s hand and excused himself for a moment. He went to the wine cellar, unlocked it, and rolled out the first suitcase, then returned for the second. “There you are, Mike. Mr. Crockwell is expecting your men. Have them tell him the load is ten percent lighter than when he last saw it.”

  When the men had gone, Stone poured Mike some coffee and gave him the white envelope. “I was asked to see that this reached the appropriate hands as soon as possible. Those would be yours, then his.”

  Mike opened the envelope and looked at the pardon. “How on earth did you do this?”

  “I asked, God help me, and it was delivered in secret and sealed from the eyes of all. You may tell the gentleman that his name and any record have been expunged from all law enforcement and intelligence files, at his benefactor’s order. He is, today, a new man. Tell him to wear it well and that I am grateful to him for my son’s life and mine.”

  “I’ll do that,” Mike said. “I’m flying to L.A. this afternoon, and I’ll deliver it personally.” He drank the last of his coffee. “Joan tells me you have an eleven o’clock, so I’ll run. Dinner?”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Done.” Mike left.

  Joan buzzed him. “Mr. and Mrs. Coulter are here.”

  “Please send them in.”

  She came in first, and Stone saw an attractive, stylish woman in her late forties, then he saw her husband, who was very tall, slim, and wore a mustache and thick, salt-and-pepper hair, and a very good suit. He didn’t know the man, and when he spoke that didn’t help either. But why was he familiar?

  “Mr. Barrington, I am Jack Coulter, and this is my wife, Hillary, until last week, Hillary Foote.”

  “How do you do, Mr. Barrington,” she said.

  They arranged themselves in the chairs provided, and Stone took one, too. “Please tell me how I may help you,” he said.

  Coulter spoke up. “We dined last evening with Eduardo Bianci, who, I understand, is your old friend, as well as Hillary’s. Hillary feels the need for new representation.”

  “Yes, Eduardo called this morning, and I have just received the records of your old representation.” Stone nodded at the legal boxes.

  “That is everything I have in the way of records, Mr. Barrington,” Hillary said, “and they go back some years before my late husband’s death. I hope you will find the time to go through them, and afterward, that we may meet again to discuss my needs.”

  “Of course, Mrs. Coulter.”

  “Hillary, please.”

  “Hillary, I and Woodman & Weld will be very happy to represent you and your husband. If you will write a letter to the head of your old firm, announcing your having obtained new representation, and asking him to turn over his
firm’s records of your account to me, that would be very helpful. When I have received everything, I and my associates will go through everything, then send you a letter outlining our firm’s services and fees, and if you will be so kind, sign a copy and return it to me. When we have done that, I will phone you and arrange another meeting.”

  “You are very brisk, Mr. Barrington, and I appreciate that. By the way, I knew your late wife, Arrington. We were quite good friends, to the extent that people who live on different coasts can be good friends.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t know you when she was still alive,” Stone said. “One evening soon, perhaps you and Jack will come to dinner and we can get to know each other better.”

  Hillary stood, and Stone and Jack stood with her.

  As he walked them to the door he took Jack’s elbow. “Jack, have we met before?”

  “Yes, but only briefly,” Jack replied. “When I next see you I’ll tell you more.”

  “I’ll look forward to it.” Stone waved them out.

  Joan came into his office. “Do you know who that is?”

  “Which one?”

  “The woman. She’s Hillary Foote! Very wealthy, very high-society.”

  “I guess I don’t read those magazines,” Stone said. “Tell me, was her husband familiar to you?”

  “No, not at all.”

  “He said we’d met briefly, but I can’t place him.” Stone pointed to the legal boxes. “Bring the first one over to my desk, and let’s start going through them and separating the wheat from the chaff.”

  She did so, and Stone began to learn about Hillary Foote Coulter. Later, he would make a point of learning about her husband.

  • • •

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