Stone gave him the dead phone. “Maybe it can be resurrected.”
“Don’t leave the mews except in the company of the two men on guard,” he said. “We’ll talk later.” He left by way of the garage.
Stone walked into the house and found himself in a small kitchen. He continued into a living room where there was a fire going. Holly sat in a chair beside it, sipping something from a cup.
“All right,” she said, “let’s have it. I’m looking forward to your explanation.”
45
Stone sat in water up to his chin, a glass of Knob Creek resting on the rim of the tub, the heat soaking into his bones, Holly’s foot in his crotch, doing things with her toes.
She took a sip of her martini. “A likely story,” she said. “Do you really expect me to believe that?”
“Go take a look at my suit and trench coat,” Stone replied. “And remember, what you see is after they were cleaned and pressed.”
“You have other suits,” she said. “I packed your things and brought your luggage here. Everything is in the master dressing room. Are you sure you jumped and were not pushed?”
“In another few seconds I would have been dumped. I just took the shortcut and stayed alive.”
“Why did you pass out?”
“I’ve wondered about that. I think it was just exhaustion, both times.”
“And this woman who took care of you—she was beautiful, wasn’t she?”
“In her way, yes, but not the way you mean.”
“I’m trying not to be jealous.”
“You, jealous? I don’t believe it.”
“Somewhere along the way, you seem to have forgotten that I’m a woman.”
“I have never lost sight of that fact—I just thought you were a more liberated woman.”
“I am entirely liberated, right up to the point where another woman enters the picture.”
“Like the ambassador?”
“That’s different—that was just funny.”
“I like this house,” Stone said, waving his bourbon at the beautifully tiled, old-fashioned bathroom.
“A station chief once owned it. The Agency bought it from him, furnished, when he departed for Afghanistan. What with the mews and the big doors, it makes a good safe house.”
“How many bedrooms?”
“Four—three of them are on the top two floors. There’s a little staff flat on the other side of the garage.”
“And the master?”
“Takes up the whole second floor. There’s a nice study, too, that you haven’t seen, yet.”
“I want to live here.”
“Make Lance an offer.”
Stone sighed. “I’m dreaming. I’m an American, and I live very well in New York. And anyway, you’re in New York.”
“No, I’m in Agency purdah. I can’t think of anything else but work when I’m in New York. That’s why it’s so much fun being in Paris: I’m free!” She sighed. “Except for the phone.”