Hush-Hush

by Stuart Woods

  Charter opened the van door and let them out. “We’re on schedule and tail free,” he said. “The only moment I’m worried about is wheels up. That’s when they could fire on the airplane from someplace out in a field off the airport.”

  “Thanks for mentioning that,” Rocky said.

  Rawls and Sally were waiting in their seats, drinking coffee.

  “You do travel in style, Stone,” Sally said.

  “We do our best.”

  Charter, who’d been checking that everything was as it should be on board, came to bid Stone farewell. “I’m off,” he said.

  “Thanks for all your efforts to keep us safe, Philip,” Stone said, shaking his hand. Charter left the airplane, and the stewardess immediately closed and secured the door. A tractor began towing them out of the hangar. Once free and clear, Faith started the engines one by one. Apparently, all the checklists had been run in the hangar, because after a couple minutes of taxiing, the airplane turned onto the runway without stopping and accelerated.

  Rocky closed her eyes. A moment later the airplane rotated, and the landing gear could be heard coming up. “Are we dead, yet?” she asked.

  “We’re free and clear,” Stone said. “Next stop, Teterboro.”

  The stewardess came back to where they sat. “There’s a call for you on the satphone,” she said, handing it to him.

  “Hello?”

  “It’s Mike,” Freeman said. “I understand you’re still alive.”

  “That’s what they tell us. I’m looking forward to Teterboro, though.”

  “Only if we’re sure it’s viable,” Mike said. “We’ve got people on the ground. If there’s any doubt, we can divert to JFK or Newark.”

  “Whatever you say,” Stone said.

  “Talk to you later,” Mike said, and hung up.

  Stone picked up a two-day-old New York Times and looked for the crossword.

  * * *

  —

  They were three hours into the flight when Stone got another satphone call.

  “It’s Philip,” Charter said.

  “Right.”

  “I want you to know, up front, that the next time you see the Porsche, the damage will have been repaired.”

  “Say again?”

  “I’m afraid that the Greek’s boys took our little feint a bit too seriously, and gunfire was exchanged.”

  “Were any of your people hurt?”

  “No, just your car, and one more of the Greek’s people is down.”

  “Well, at least we’re outscoring them.”

  “I’m afraid that will just make him angrier.”

  “What was the damage?”

  “As I said, when you see it again it will be perfect. That’s all you need to know.” Charter hung up.

  “What was that about?” Rocky asked.

  “Wrong number,” Stone said, and started a new crossword.

  * * *

  —

  Sometime later, the stewardess woke Stone from a deep nap. “We’re twenty-five minutes out,” she said.

  “From which airport?”

  “Teterboro. The coast is clear.”

  * * *

  —

  The plane touched down gently. When they made the turn for the hangar, Stone could see that the door was open. Just short of it, Faith cut the engines, and they were towed inside.

  The aircraft door opened, and Mike Freeman came aboard. “Transportation awaits,” he said, shaking Stone’s hand. Stone introduced everybody, and when he could, he leaned close to Freeman’s ear and whispered, “Don’t mention the Porsche.”

  Mike nodded.

  Fred was there with the Bentley, and there was one of Strategic Services’ armored SUVs waiting for Ed and Sally. Forty minutes later, they all pulled into Stone’s garage, and the door closed behind them.

  “You can exhale now,” he said to Rocky.

  35

  Stone walked into his office with Rocky trailing and, instead of Joan’s sunny face, he was confronted by the mien of Lance Cabot, not so sunny.

  “Welcome back, Stone. Rocky, we’ve missed you,” Lance said.

  Ed Rawls followed them in and took a seat.

  Joan finally made an appearance. “Coffee, anyone? Snack?”

  Everybody gave her a negative grunt or shook their heads.

  “Then I’ll leave you to the tender mercies of Mr. Cabot,” she said, and disappeared into her office.

  “How do you tolerate that woman, Stone?” Lance asked.

  “Don’t make me choose between you and Joan, Lance. You’d be dead in the water.”

  Lance took a deep breath and let out a noisy sigh. “We have to talk,” he said. He opened his briefcase, took out three iPhones—red, white, and a deep blue—set them on the coffee table, and slid each phone toward its intended recipient. “Red for you, Stone. White for you, Rocky. And blue for you, Ed. They all have the identical content to their predecessors, but they are each loaded with a new variation on the operating system and an all-new encryption system that we’ve been working on for a year. One that the Greek and his tech people couldn’t penetrate even if they had a decade to work on it. I won’t explain why, because you wouldn’t understand it anyway. Just know that it works, and you can trust it. I’ll have your old phones back, please.”

  Everybody slid their phones across the table toward him, then put away their new phones.

  “Now,” Lance said, as if to rivet their attention. “We have gone through two or three phases of this business with the Russians, and we’re essentially down to two choices. The first is that we continue to kill as many of the Greek’s people as we possibly can. He’s already down five, and he seems to have an unlimited supply, but that can’t be true. Also, we’ve lost one man, and we don’t want to lose any more, especially one of you. The second choice is that we come to an accommodation with the Greek.”

  “Ha!” Stone said.

  “I vote for both choices, simultaneously,” Rawls said.

  “I’m not voting,” Rocky said.

  “Your votes don’t matter in the least,” Lance said, “but your opinions may. Stone, any thoughts?”

  “I’m too baffled to think. How the hell would we arrange for a meeting, just run up a white flag and ask them to trust us, while not trusting them?”

  “That’s close,” Lance said. “I think the Greek would be intrigued enough to sit down and listen, at the very least.”

  “I think we should lure them into a meeting, then kill them all,” Rawls said.

  “Crude, but possibly effective,” Lance said. “But word would eventually get out that we can’t be trusted, and if you add that to the fact that hardly anybody trusts us, already, it could harm other efforts. Rocky?”

  “My opinion,” she said, “is that everything I’ve heard so far is crazy, and none of it would work.”

  “Perhaps you can come up with a different option,” Lance said, as if he knew she couldn’t.

  “I like one where a lot of them end up dead, and none of us does. Although I haven’t heard any details,” she said, looking askance at Stone, “I think I liked the move in London, where Philip lured them into following the Porsche. They killed at least one, while losing no one, with the exception of some paint and glass off the Porsche.”

  “That puts you in Ed’s camp, then,” Lance said.

  Rocky shook her head. “I’m not camping with Ed, though I’m sure he knows how to rub two weapons together and whip up a conflagration.”

  “I do,” Ed replied, giving her a little salute.

  “Stone, let’s hear from you.”

  “I miss Philip Charter,” Stone said. “As you said, under his leadership, the score is the Greek five, us one. Apart from Ed’s work as an assassin, which seemed to pour gasoline on the fire, Charter’s ap
proach seems to be the only thing that’s working.”

  “I don’t like losing even one to the Greek,” Lance said.

  “Who does? But maybe Philip can get the score down to zero for us, from here on.”

  “That’s a ray of hope,” Ed said, “and so far, the only one we’ve had.”

  Stone saw one of Lance’s eyelids flutter a bit, and he took that to mean that he was extremely uncomfortable with the notion of bringing Philip Charter back onto the team. “Lance, what are your objections to bringing Philip back to the lineup?”

  Ed spoke up. “Asking Lance that is like asking the owner of the Patriots to bring back Tom Brady for more money.”

  That was apt enough to make Stone laugh, but he took care to laugh softly. It surprised him that Lance seemed to be actually considering the idea of Philip. That plan would have the virtue of having someone to blame if it all went wrong, and he guessed Lance would be attracted to that.

  “All right,” Lance said, confirming Stone’s suspicion, “I’ll ask Philip to rejoin our numbers.”

  “With full authority resting with Philip?” Rawls asked.

  “Let’s not go entirely mad,” Lance said.

  “It’s the only way Philip takes all the blame if we come a cropper,” Ed said. “Surely that’s attractive.”

  “Also,” Stone said, “Philip is not employed by the Agency, to the best of my knowledge, and even if he fails, he can go back to a very nice job at Strategic Services.”

  Lance saw a crack in the exit door, and he went for it. “All right,” he said, “I’ll phone Philip and make him an offer. If he accepts, we could have him here by tomorrow night. All of you just sit tight here and try to still be alive when he arrives.”

  Without further ado, Lance rose and left the room, and the outside door to the street was heard opening and closing.

  Joan stuck her head in. “He’s gone. Anyone like coffee or a snack?”

  “I’d like a drink,” Rawls said.

  “Then let’s all get settled in and meet in the study at six for alcoholic beverages,” Stone proposed.

  His proposal was accepted.

  “Joan, ask Helene to have dinner at seven for the four of us, and we’ll be joined tomorrow evening by another stay-over guest.”

  “Right,” Joan said. “Care to offer a name, rank, and gender?”

  “Colonel Philip Charter, Royal Army, retired. Male. Alone, as far as I know.”

  “Will do,” Joan said.

  Stone directed Rawls to his room, where Sally was already waiting.

  “Listen, Stone,” Rawls said.

  “I’m listening, Ed.”

  “We’re going to need weapons and New York City licenses.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Stone said.

  36

  Upstairs, Stone closed the master suite door. Rocky was in her dressing room, unpacking.

  “Rocky?”

  “Speak.”

  “Can you persuade your Pod to loan us some weapons?”

  She came out of the dressing room and sat on the bed. “What sort of firepower are we talking about, and for what purpose?”

  “A handgun and a riot shotgun each—and ample ammo—for self-defense against those who would kill us.”

  “No hand grenades or automatic weapons?”

  “We’re in my house,” Stone said. “I don’t want to reduce it to rubble.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Stone hung up his jacket and trousers, stretched out on his bed, and pressed the button that sat him up. He made a call.

  “Bacchetti,” Dino said.

  “Hey, there. We’re back in civilization again.”

  “About time. Anybody try to kill you today?”

  “Only once—this morning. Somebody else was driving my car. No harm done, except to the car.”

  “Okay. You sound like you want something.”

  “I want to invite you and Viv to dinner tonight, here.”

  “We accept. What else?”

  “You’re such a cynic, Dino.”

  “No, I just know you too well.”

  “Well, I need two NYC carry licenses, one for Ed Rawls, whom you know. The other is for Dame Sarah Deerfield, recently retired chief of the London Metropolitan Police. They’ll both be at dinner.”

  “I can do that, as long as nobody knows, and if I can have the licenses back when they’re no longer needed by those parties. The licenses will also have thirty-day expiry dates.”

  “Agreed. Drinks at six, dinner at seven, just a jacket and tie will do.”

  “Okay.”

  “Bring the licenses.”

  “It sounds as though I should come armed.”

  “It couldn’t hurt. You and Viv both. Enter via the garage, and leave your vehicle there.” Stone hung up, then called down to the kitchen to inform Helene of their new dinner count.

  Rocky finished a call and hung up, too. “Done. The firearms will be delivered in half an hour. Let Joan know.”

  Stone made that call.

  * * *

  —

  Dino showed up early, alone. “Viv is on the way,” he said. “Now, tell me what the fuck is going on and why you’re arming your guests.”

  Stone gave him the two-minute version and finished before Viv arrived. She gave Stone a kiss on the cheek. “First time I’ve been asked to come armed to dinner.”

  Dino gave her the one-minute version of events. “Where are the guns coming from?”

  “They’re in a case behind the door,” Stone said. “Loaned by the New York station of the Agency.”

  “Does Lance know?”

  “Lance knows everything.”

  “Or thinks he does,” she said.

  “He’s usually right.”

  “I’ve heard about the Greek,” Viv said. “Are you sure you have enough firepower?”

  “Pretty much. I’ve got one of your people on the way to run things.”

  “Philip? Lance called me. He’s our contribution. You don’t have to pay him.”

  “Lance will be delighted to know that. Did he ask for house protection, too?”

  “They’re already in place, two inside, four outside.”

  “Bill Lance for those.”

  “Already done.”

  * * *

  —

  They had drinks in the study, then moved to the dining room.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Rawls said, “about this truce idea.”

  “What do you think?” Stone asked.

  “I think it could work, if Lance puts enough threat behind it.”

  “Wouldn’t that constitute bad faith on Lance’s part?”

  “Not if he gives them the opportunity to do the right thing. If they don’t, they need to know that the worldwide reach of the Agency will be fully employed. At least, that’s what Lance has to tell them. I honestly don’t think he’s up for that kind of fight.”

  “The threat should be enough,” Stone said. “From what I’ve heard, the Greek is murderous, but not stupid. And he’s already lost five men—seven if you count the Pentkovskys.”

  “Yeah, and it’s not good for organizational morale if your coworkers are dropping like flies. The Greek can’t maintain control if his worker bees are unhappy about the odds.”

  “Everything you’ve said is rational,” Stone said, “unless the Greek isn’t. If he pops his cork, then . . .”

  “I don’t want to think about that,” Rawls said. “We have to have hope.”

  Sally spoke for the first time. “Hope is Philip Charter,” she said. “Failure is unknown to him.”

  “I like the sound of that,” Stone said.

  37

  Stone woke up the following morning and reached for Rocky. Instead, he f
ound cold steel. He opened both eyes and located the two 12-gauge, short-barreled (18½ inches) shotguns between them. After ascertaining that they were both on safety, he gingerly set them on the floor beside the bed.

  “What are you doing?” Rocky asked, suddenly awake.

  “Disarming you. You don’t need two shotguns to handle me.”

  She snuggled closer. “I guess not.”

  “Did you put them in bed with us?”

  “Last night. Didn’t you notice?”

  “Not until this morning, when I made my move—or tried to.”

  “I’m unarmed now,” she said, feeling for him. “But you’re not, and that’s the way I like it.”

  They did what came naturally, then ordered breakfast.

  * * *

  —

  Rocky took a bite of a breakfast sausage. “What time are you expecting Philip?”

  “I haven’t heard. Flights from London usually leave late morning or early afternoon, so I reckon he’ll be here in time for drinks.”

  “I didn’t order him any weapons.”

  “Let’s deal with that after we’ve heard that he didn’t bring any.”

  “If you say so.”

  “It’s just a suggestion.”

  “I accept.”

  Stone’s new red iPhone rang.

  “Hello, Lance.”

  “How did you know it’s not one of the others?”

  “I always know when it’s you. I get this queasy feeling.”

  “Nonsense. I hear you’ve armed yourself at our expense.”

  “We borrowed a few and will return them in due course.”

  “What about ammunition?”

  “We’ll return what we haven’t fired at somebody.”

  “Well . . .”

  “Lance, why did you call? Do you remember?”

  “Of course, I remember.”

  “Would you like to share it with me?”