Hush-Hush

by Stuart Woods

  “You’re kidding.”

  “I kid you not. Oh, there are a couple of corporate names between him and ownership, but he owns the links, too.”

  “Lance,” Philip said. “My primary worry in all this was getting the Greek to accept a meeting place that we could deal with. Even if this monumental coincidence is true, we have achieved this purpose, and he doesn’t know that we know that he owns the place.”

  “I should think that he believes that you do,” Lance said.

  “And how is that to our disadvantage? If he wanted to kill us, he wouldn’t do it in midtown Manhattan, in a hotel that he owns.”

  Lance paused. “Point taken. All right, we just have to be careful, and try not to kill or capture the Greek on his turf.”

  “We can do that,” Philip replied. Everybody hung up.

  “I don’t know how he does that,” Stone said. “I’ve had this office swept a dozen times, and we’ve never found a bug.”

  40

  Ed Rawls came back from wherever he’d been and joined them in Stone’s office. “Anything new?”

  “We’re on for three o’clock tomorrow at the Crane,” Stone replied.

  “Well, that suits me to a T,” Ed said.

  “I’m not sure I like the sound of that,” Stone said. “What do you have in mind?”

  “Possibilities, Stone, only possibilities.”

  “Do any of those possibilities have anything to do with killing the Greek?”

  “Possibly,” Rawls replied. “But they are only if-then ideas.”

  “As in . . . ?”

  “As in: If the Greek kills one or all of you, then should I kill the Greek?”

  “Most assuredly,” Philip replied. “I shouldn’t like to have him get away with such a horror.”

  “I don’t think even Lance could object to that,” Stone said.

  “Well, then . . .”

  “Well, those are the only circumstances I can think of that would give you such largesse to dispense.”

  “I’m a generous guy,” Rawls said.

  “Not tomorrow, you’re not. If you’re really contemplating that, I’ll leave an ‘in case of my death’ note with Dino, telling him you did it and to arrest you at once.”

  “That’s an extreme tactic, Stone, and not worthy of you.”

  “Nevertheless. I want your word that you will not make any attempt on the Greek while any one of us is still alive.”

  “Oh, all right. You’ve got it.”

  “When was the last time you gave your word to somebody, Ed?” Stone asked.

  “Almost never.”

  “So this is a new experience for you.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “All right, I’ll accept your word. But if you break your promise, I’ll never trust you again about anything.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Something else for you to consider, Ed,” Philip said.

  “What’s that?”

  “If you appear on a rooftop or in any window overlooking the hotel with the sniper’s weapon Rocky is about to give you, you will almost certainly be looking down the barrel of their sniper’s rifle.”

  Ed swallowed hard. “I hadn’t yet got to the point of thinking about that, but I would have, eventually.”

  Everybody had a good laugh.

  “Now that we’ve got that out of the way,” Rocky said, setting a briefcase on the coffee table, “I have this for you.”

  Ed opened the briefcase and laughed aloud.

  “We believe it’s Czech, but we don’t know for sure.”

  “Stone,” Ed said, “do you have a magnifying glass?”

  Stone produced one from a desk drawer.

  Ed removed the major part of the rifle from its case and removed the bolt, then he put the barrel under Stone’s desk lamp and held the glass under it. “What do you see there?” he asked.

  Everybody crowded around and had a look.

  “I see the letters e and r,” Rocky said.

  “Those are my initials. I built this weapon and another just like it. I still have one, and I always wondered what had happened to the other. Now I know the Agency stole it.”

  “More likely,” Rocky said, “you stole the other one from the Agency.”

  * * *

  —

  The group wandered off to dress for dinner, but Rocky stayed in Stone’s office. “Something I want from you,” she said.

  “I can’t think of anything I wouldn’t give you,” Stone offered.

  “I want the Norton.”

  “Except that.”

  “Not forever, just for tomorrow afternoon.”

  “What do you propose to do with it?”

  “To follow you and Lance when you leave the Crane, to ensure no trouble follows you. In Manhattan traffic, following in a car would be very difficult; on the Norton, much easier.”

  “What is your experience with driving Nortons?” Stone asked.

  “You first.”

  “Okay, just the once.”

  “And it needed considerable repair after that?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “I drove my boyfriend’s Norton a couple of dozen times, in city and country, and never put a scratch on it.”

  “Since you appear to be the more qualified driver, you may use the Norton for the stated purpose. Do you have the proper clothing?”

  “Yes, it’s the only thing left of that relationship. I’ll have to run by my apartment to pick it up, though.”

  “Get Fred to drive you there and bring you back. And go armed.”

  “I had intended to,” she said.

  41

  Dino and Viv arrived for dinner, Dino with a cardboard tube under his arm. “I’ve got the plan for the ground floor of the Crane,” he said to Philip.

  They spread it out on the coffee table and had a look.

  “It is as I had imagined it,” Philip said.

  “As you can see,” Dino said, pointing, “the door to the kitchen leads to a hallway, and there is an elevator at the end of the hall. I think you should let me put a man there, in case the Greek calls for reinforcements to arrive from an upper floor.”

  “An excellent idea,” Philip said. “I didn’t know about the elevator. How many floors does it reach?”

  “All the way to the top, I expect. They’re not going to stop delivering room service orders halfway up.”

  “Good point. We’ll need a man to frisk the Greek and his colleague outside the conference room.”

  “I thought I’d handle that, myself,” Dino replied.

  “Suppose they recognize you?”

  “Then they’ll be impressed that you could deploy the police commissioner to handle a mundane task.”

  “Be sure that no one is carrying a knife, as well as a gun.”

  “That goes without saying. Cops don’t stop when they find one weapon. They get dead that way.”

  “I suggest that you deploy two detectives, a man and a woman, both armed, in the bar across the lobby. The door to the conference room is visible through a glass wall from there, and we haven’t promised not to put armed people there.”

  “Okay. Their first job will be to spot the people that the Greeks have stationed in the bar.”

  “Ah, yes.”

  “And, if the Greek tries to leave the building out the rear hallway and kitchen, have your man in the back hall radio that to us. We want to follow them.”

  “Done.”

  “And you’re going to have a man to watch Rawls’s back on the opposite roof, too?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I don’t have any more questions. Stone?”

  “That covers it for me, but I’d like to know who the Greek is bringing with him.”

  “I’l
l ask.”

  Dino spoke up. “I’ll run his guy through the system to see who we’re dealing with.”

  Dino put away his map, and they went into the study for drinks.

  Lance called.

  “Yes, Lance?” Stone said.

  “Have you run through your task for tomorrow?”

  “We just finished.”

  “Did you forget anything?”

  “If we had forgotten something we wouldn’t know it, would we?”

  “Are you ready for any eventuality?”

  “Any eventuality we could think of. Perhaps you should have made the trip to New York to inspect our plan.”

  “I’m at the Carlyle; invite me to dinner.”

  “Lance, we’d be delighted if you would join us for dinner. Drinks now, dinner at seven-thirty.”

  “I’m nearly there,” Lance said. “May I enter through the garage?”

  “Of course. Ring once when you’re here, then hang up and I’ll open the door.”

  Stone hung up, and his phone immediately rang once, then stopped. Stone pressed the button on his iPhone, then called Helene and told her to add a place for dinner.

  Lance entered the room alone, then said, “I hope it’s all right that I brought another guest.”

  “Of course, who . . .”

  “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.”

  Holly Barker strode in, looking fabulous, and greeted everyone, stopping at Rocky.

  “And who might this be?”

  “I’m sorry, Madam President,” Lance said. “I am remiss. This is Ms. Roxanne Hardwick of the Agency’s New York station. She’s known to everyone as Rocky.”

  The two women shook hands, sizing up each other. “An honor, Madam President,” Rocky said.

  “And a pleasure,” Holly replied, firing a glance at Stone. “Let’s all use ‘Holly,’ shall we? To make me feel more at home?”

  Stone poured her a vodka gimlet, and Lance a single malt Scotch, and they found seats, then he called Helene and added yet another guest at dinner.

  “Well,” Holly said, “is the planning all done for the demise of the Greek?”

  “Ah,” Lance said, “you may recall that we gave up the notion of his demise at an earlier meeting. This one is strictly a peace conference, unless they commit the poor judgment of starting something.”

  “Well, yes,” Holly replied, “there’s always the possibility of that, when dealing with such people, isn’t there? And you are prepared for that possibility?”

  “We are, to the extent that is possible to do so,” Lance said.

  “I met the Greek once,” Holly said.

  The group fell into silence.

  “Really?” Lance finally managed. “Where and under what circumstances?”

  “In Greece,” she replied. “I attended a dinner party hosted by a Greek shipping magnate named Stavros something-or-other, in the company of Aristotle Onassis.” No one interrupted her, so she continued, “I was there for security reasons. My superiors were uncomfortable with the idea of Onassis being in the same room as someone who held the reputation of the Greek for an entire evening.”

  “What were your impressions of the Greek?” Stone asked.

  “He made a considerable effort to remain cool in the presence of the great man, but failed. I expect that part of his failure was wearing the same suit as Onassis’s and from the same tailor.”

  “And how did Onassis react to that?”

  “He seemed amused at the first moment they met, then not. Later I heard an office rumor that Onassis had changed his tailor, and that the name of the new one was held closely by his staff.”

  “Was any business discussed?” Philip asked.

  “Only braggadocio about the tonnage of their fleets. Onassis never rose to the bait. I suspect he was a good poker player.”

  “How did the evening end?” Stone asked.

  “I was dropped off at my hotel, after declining an invitation to stay the night aboard Onassis’s yacht.”

  “That must have been a first for Onassis,” Lance said quietly, getting a laugh from the group.

  Holly smiled. “I was flattered, professionally, by his surprise.”

  “What did the Greek call himself on that occasion?”

  “He called himself Gromyko, his own name. I expect he knew that Onassis, if he chose, could learn who he was, and he didn’t want to be caught in a lie.”

  “Anything else?” Stone asked.

  “Gromyko had impeccable table manners, but was awkward enough to make me think he had been trained by an expert just for the occasion.”

  “That’s an astute observation,” Lance said.

  Then Fred announced dinner, and they made their way to the dining room, where Joan had thoughtfully placed Holly at the head of the table, with Philip and Lance to her left and right. Stone was at the other end, bracketed by Viv and Rocky.

  Stone raised his glass and said, “Bon appétit,” and dinner began.

  42

  They were on port and Stilton when, from the study, came the muffled but discernible sound of a cell phone.

  “Excuse me,” Holly said, rising, “I believe that’s mine.” Everyone rose with her, and she waved them down. “I won’t be a moment.” She went into the study and closed the door behind her.

  “I hope this isn’t about our little foray tomorrow,” Lance said.

  Holly came back into the room and sat down. After everyone had been reseated she said, “That call was about tomorrow afternoon’s meeting at the Crane.”

  “What news?” Lance asked.

  “Gromyko’s colleague at the meeting will be named Pentkovsky.”

  Dead silence ensued.

  “Relax,” she said, “not that Pentkovsky, nor the other one, either. This one is called Egon, the youngest of three brothers.”

  “He is no less unwelcome,” Lance said. “The other two brothers’ reputations were as assassins.”

  “This one is said to be an accountant, one his colleagues call ‘The Greek’s Brain.’” Holly looked around the table. “Does this change your plan?”

  “I’ll be across the street,” Rawls said, “so it doesn’t change mine.”

  “Lance,” Stone said, “why have we never heard of this third brother?”

  “The president’s sources are better than mine,” Lance replied.

  “Ah,” Stone said.

  “I don’t see why this news should cause us any great concern,” Lance said. “Some concern, perhaps, but not great concern.”

  Several cell phones went off, nearly simultaneously, and their owners dug them out.

  Stone looked a photograph that he had just received. He held it up for the table to see, and everyone else held up their phones; they all had the same photograph. It was of a young man, perhaps early thirties, handsome and wearing a sharply tailored business suit.

  “The president’s sources are to be complimented,” Lance said.

  “And her telephone operators,” Stone added. “Anyone recognize him?”

  “He looks like a Pentkovsky,” Rawls said, “but I’ve never seen him.”

  “Nor have I,” Lance said. “Anybody?”

  Heads were shaken.

  “Dino,” Stone said. “I suggest you pay particular attention to frisking him tomorrow.”

  “Duly noted,” Dino replied.

  “Then our meet tomorrow will proceed as planned,” Lance said. “Unless anyone can give me a good reason why it shouldn’t.”

  Heads were shaken.

  “Well,” Stone said. “If we’re agreed, I suggest we adjourn to the living room for cognac and coffee.”

  They trailed into the room next door and everyone waited for Holly to choose a seat before distributing themselves about the ro
om and sitting down.

  “Would you like us to walk you through tomorrow’s plan, Holly?” Lance asked.

  “I think not,” she said. “I would be too nervous if what actually happens deviates from the plan.”

  “Something usually happens,” Lance said. “The Prussian general Helmuth von Moltke the Elder once said that ‘No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.’”

  “That’s comforting, Lance,” Stone said.

  “It’s the sort of advice that keeps one on one’s toes,” Lance replied, somewhat smugly.

  “And makes presidents nervous,” Holly said. Her phone rang once again, and this time it was within reach. She answered it and pressed a button. “I think I’d better take this one in the car, on the way to the Carlyle. Lance, are you coming?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Lance said, and they both said their good nights. Stone escorted them to their car, then returned to the living room.

  “Well,” Rocky said, “that was interesting.”

  It occurred to Stone that she was unaware of his continuing relationship with Holly Barker. “Yes, it was. It’s good to know that our president takes an interest in what we’re doing.”

  “Yeah,” Dino said, “but officially she knows nothing about it.”

  “Sometimes it’s best if it’s that way,” Stone said.

  Dino got out his phone and gazed at the photo of Egon Pentkovsky. “He looks so innocent,” he said.

  “You don’t believe he’s just an accountant, do you?” Ed Rawls asked. “The two guys in the plumber’s truck looked innocent, too, until they thought about shooting at me.”

  Stone grimaced. “Ed, let’s not.”

  Rawls looked at the faces around the room and realized he had put his foot in it. “Aw, shit,” he said.

  “Maybe you should tell us about the plumber’s truck, Ed,” Rocky said.

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “I already know about the truck. Now I need to know what happened in it and how it affects tomorrow.”

  Stone tried to intervene. “I think we need to keep that on a need-to-know basis, Ed.”

  “I just said I need to know,” Rocky replied.

  “No, you want to know, and that’s a different thing,” Stone said.