Carnal Curiosity (14 page)

Lance thought about that for a moment. “Possibly the national security adviser,” he said finally, but not with any conviction.

“If you were director of the FBI and you got such a request from the national security adviser, what would you do?”

“Raise hell, probably. The director of national intelligence could do it.”

“But would he? On his own authority?”

“Probably not.”

“If he tried, the FBI and others would be demanding to know who ordered it.”

“Certainly I would.”

“Did you get an order for Teddy’s files to be scrubbed from our database?”

“No, I did not.”

“Then the files should still be there, shouldn’t they?”

“They should be,” Lance agreed.

“But they’re not,” Holly said. “I checked.”

As usual, Lance’s face betrayed nothing, but Holly knew him well enough to know that he was as amazed as she had been.

“The only authority that could have effected this is—”

“Yes,” she said, cutting him off. “You wanted background—here it is. Maybe eighteen months ago, Teddy surfaced in an e-mail to me. I took it to Kate. After some discussion she proposed that we reach a truce with Teddy: if he would stop misbehaving, we would stop hunting him. I passed that on to Teddy, and he agreed. We’ve heard nothing from or of him since.”

“Did Kate say anything about scrubbing Teddy’s name from multiple databases?”

“No, and I don’t think that would have entered her mind.”

“Did you do anything to effect this?”

“Only my e-mail to Scott Hipp.”

“But Scott contacted you first?”

“Yes. Teddy’s name surfaced in a computer scan of satphone and cell phone transmissions. Apparently, the authority who ordered his name scrubbed forgot about our standing watch list.”

“In what context did Teddy’s name turn up?”

“In a satphone conversation between someone aboard an aircraft in the middle west and a New York City landline.”

“Who was on the airplane?”

“Undetermined. I don’t think they have that capability, or they would have found out.”

“Who was on the landline?”

“Lance, please believe me when I tell you, you don’t want to know.”

“Was it Kate?”

“No, Kate had nothing to do with the conversation. But that’s all I can tell you.”

“You mean, it’s all you
will
tell me.”

“If you like.”

“Holly…”

“Please don’t press me on this, Lance.”

Lance squinted at the Pepsi-Cola sign across the river. “Do they still make Pepsi-Cola?” he asked. He was not thinking about Pepsi-Cola.

“They do.”

“Holly, has Teddy Fay received a presidential pardon?”

“I have no information to that effect.”

“Why would Will Lee do that?”

“I have no information to indicate that he has.”

“If it hasn’t been made public, then he must have done it under seal.”

“I have
no such information
,” Holly repeated.

“Where would a sealed pardon be housed?”

“Lance, stop this. Will Lee is still your boss, and there’s at least an even chance that when he leaves office, Kate will be your boss once again. As of this moment, neither you, nor I, nor Scott Hipp has any evidence that such an event has taken place. If such a notion were published or broadcast, a firestorm of speculation would ensue, and that might change the outcome of
a presidential election. If something to that effect should appear, then the only possible source would be you or me. And it’s not going to be me.”

“I don’t like this.”

“Frankly, I don’t care if you don’t like it. I’m not going to allow this to be aired publicly, not even from you.”

“Let me get this straight,” Lance said. “
You
are not going to allow
me
to do something?”

“You’ve got it straight,” Holly said. “Tell me, who would you like to be the next president of the United States?”

Lance didn’t reply.

“Lance, I have worked for you for many years, and I am very grateful to you for the confidence you have placed in me during those years. But I have worked for Kate Lee, and I’m grateful to her, too. I tell you this: I would do
anything
to prevent
anyone
causing damage to Kate’s presidential ambitions.
Anything it takes.
And if I were unable to prevent that happening, then I would do whatever I possibly could to destroy the person or persons responsible for it. Now tell me you fully understand what I just said to you.”

Lance’s shoulders sagged a tiny bit. “I understand you, Holly.” He looked at her. “And you’re right. I fully concur in your instruction to Scott Hipp to remove Teddy Fay’s name from our watch list. I will do nothing to interfere with Kate’s campaign. You have my word.”

During all the time Holly had worked for Lance, she had never heard him use those last words. And she believed him.

“Can I give you a lift to the office?” she asked.

“Yes, thanks.”

They walked back to her car.

29

S
tone and Ann got to Patroon first and ordered drinks. They clinked glasses.

“How’s it going?” Stone asked.

“I think you mean, how is Marty Stanton’s libido playing in the polls?”

“That’s what I mean.”

“Marty has developed a chink in his otherwise impressive armor.”

“Is this incident going to make a difference?”

“Not unless somebody decides to openly criticize him for it, and I don’t think that will happen. No Democrat is going to raise the issue.”

“How about Republicans in the primaries?”

“It could come up in, say, a Republican debate, but it’s problematical for them. They know it could either help or hurt them, but they don’t know which. If you don’t hear about it in a debate, then it means they’ve all agreed ahead of time not to bring it up.”

“But in the general election?”

“If Marty is the nominee, he will be fair game for Republicans. Even if their candidate doesn’t raise it, some super PAC or other will. There’ll be commercials, and they’ll be to the point.”

“And could it cost Democrats the election?”

“In a tight race, it could.”

Stone looked up to see Dino and Viv enter the restaurant, and he got up to greet them, then made the introductions. Scotch was set before them, and the subject changed.

“We got a lead on the Dragos,” Dino said. “It’s being run down now.”

“How good a lead?”

“I’ll let you know before dinner is over,” Dino said.

“These are the guys you think were among the robbers?” Ann asked.

“Two and the same,” Stone replied.

“Will they implicate Don Dugan?”

“That’s our hope.”

“I wish Dugan was a Republican,” Ann said.

Everybody laughed.

“Dino,” Stone said, “have you checked to see if any other of Dugan’s security system clients have been robbed?”

“Yeah, but he’s new to the alarm business, and there are fewer than a dozen of them. Mostly, he’s installing new equipment on existing wiring. That was true of the Coulters’ installation.”

“It would be stupid of him to raid other clients’ homes right now,” Stone said. “I think the Coulter robbery must have been an opportunistic thing—Dugan heard about the party, maybe even saw the guest list.”

“That’s a very good theory,” Dino said. “You were always good at theory, Stone. But practice? Well…”

“I practiced as well as you did, pal.”

“Now, boys,” Viv interjected. “Stop being boys.”

Menus were brought and food ordered. A perfect Caesar salad was whipped up at tableside.

Dino’s phone rang, and he answered it. “Bacchetti. Yeah? Good work! Well, that was to have been expected. Get hold of an ADA and work up something to offer them. I’m here if you need me.” He hung up. “We bagged the Dragos, both of them.”

“Hoorah!” Stone half yelled. “Let me guess: they lawyered up.”

“Sure they did, but that won’t prevent us offering them a deal they might not be able to refuse.”

“Are you willing to let them walk to get Dugan?”

“That’s not my call—the DA makes that one, thank God.”

“Are you going to press for it?”

“I may have to, seeing that we don’t have a hell of a lot of evidence against them. It’s not like they were arrested holding a suitcase full of jewelry.”

“Why don’t you bring in Dugan?” Stone asked.

“What for? Unless the Dragos fold, we don’t have a damned thing on him.”

“Walk him through the precinct, let him see the Dragos and vice versa. Worry him, and worry them even more.”

“You think squad room theater is the way to go?”

“It couldn’t hurt.”

“It might. I’d wager that Dugan already knows about the bust, if he’s any good at all, so he’ll be ready for us, lawyer standing by. In fact, I don’t think he’d even lawyer up. I think he’d
brazen it through and enjoy making asses of us. I don’t want to give him that pleasure.”

“You could be right,” Stone admitted.

“The robbery was beautifully planned, and it went off without a hitch. I’ve got to think that he planned for a bust, too, and that everybody has already learned their parts.”

“You think he’s that smart?”

“So far, I don’t have any reason to think he’s stupid,” Dino said.

“Where did you find the Dragos?”

“In Brooklyn, sleeping at their mother’s apartment.” Dino’s phone went off again, and he answered it. “Bacchetti.” He listened for a minute or two. “Then why did they run?” He laughed a little. “Has the ADA showed? All right, keep me posted.” He hung up. “Their lawyer told them to answer questions, so they did—denied everything, of course.”

“Why were they at their mother’s apartment, then?”

“They said their place is being painted.”

Everybody laughed.

“Is it?”

“We’re checking. If it is, then the planning is very, very good.”

30

S
tone and Ann spent much of their night making love, sleeping, then waking and doing it again.

“You have a lot of pent-up sexual energy,” Stone said to her at one point.

“Not anymore,” she replied. “I’m good for another year of celibacy.”

“Don’t count on it,” Stone said.

—

W
hen Stone reached his desk a little later than usual, Joan buzzed him.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Lance Cabot called and invited you to lunch. You didn’t have anything on your calendar, so I made the date.”

“And where did you decide we should lunch?”

“At the Harvard Club, twelve-thirty, Lance’s idea.”

Stone arrived at the august club on time, and asked for Lance. He was directed to the main dining room, an impossibly
high-ceilinged chamber worthy of a cathedral. Lance greeted him politely—Lance was always polite, never warm. There was a bottle of Meursault in a bucket beside the table, and Lance already had a glass. He poured Stone one.

“How is your life these days, Stone?” Lance asked.

“It could hardly be better,” Stone replied truthfully.

“I hear you’re seeing one of Kate’s girls.”

“Really, Lance, is the Agency troubling itself with my social life these days?”

“Not really, but a lot of gossip comes my way. I understand, too, that you’ve been seeing a lot of Will and Kate Lee—especially Kate.”

“Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet, Lance. I hear Martin Stanton is behind that rumor—anything to take the eye of the press off his own ball.”

“That would not surprise me, knowing what I do of Stanton.”

“And what do you know of Stanton, Lance?”

“Everything,”
Lance replied, almost with relish. “The man’s a swordsman: he’s fucked his way from one end of California to the other, not missing much along the way.”

“Is he really that bad?”

“Oh, I hear he’s very good, thus, his success.”

“Do I hear a note of admiration in your voice?”

“That was contempt—please don’t confuse the two.”

“How do you feel about the possibility of having Kate as your boss again?”

“Kate and I always got along very well,” Lance said. “I expect we would again. She’s smarter than Will, you know.”

“That’s what Will always says,” Stone chuckled. “I think Will’s the better politician, though.”

“Will’s better with Congress and the various governors. Kate is better on policy.”

“Defense policy, you mean.”

“All sorts of policy: defense, foreign, even domestic. I’ll bet you didn’t know that about her.”

“No, I didn’t, and it’s an interesting observation.”

“Will has never put any policy forward that he didn’t run by Kate first. And she has often reworked things before they were announced or went to Congress.”

“How do you know these things, Lance?”

“Never ask me how I know things, Stone, just believe I do.”

“I expect that’s good advice.”

“The best thing about being in my position,” Lance said, “is that I know almost everything there is to know. And if I don’t know something, I know who does and I know how to find out.” Lance saw a waiter approaching and glanced at the menu. “I’ll have the halibut,” he said.

“So will I,” Stone said without looking at the menu. The waiter departed.

“Teddy Fay’s presidential pardon, for instance,” Lance said.

Stone was caught off guard but tried not to show it.

“Who?”

“That fellow you helped Holly chase all over the island of Saint Marks,” Lance said. “That fellow who took out Yuri Majorov last year. Very nicely done it was, too.”

“Oh, that fellow. How could he possibly get a pardon out of Will Lee?”

“Teddy knows people,” Lance said. “He knows you, for instance. And you owe him.”

“I can’t deny that,” Stone said, “and I’m grateful to him. But that does not translate into a presidential pardon.”

“You haven’t denied it yet, Stone.”

“Denied what?”

“That you got Will Lee to pardon Teddy.”

“Well, just so you won’t interpret silence as confirmation, I deny having anything to do with any such thing as a presidential pardon. I deny asking Will to issue one. Is there anything else you’d like me to deny, Lance? Just tell me what, I’m in a denying mood today.”