“No, nothing.”
“You didn’t boot poor James Cutler off that yacht, did you?”
“No.”
“That’s what I heard; heard you did your damnedest to save the poor chap.”
“I got wet.”
Mason leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and his voice changed, lowered, became friendlier. “Relax, Stone,” he said. “We’re here to help. Start at the beginning, now.”
Stone took a deep breath and, once more, started at the beginning.
Chapter 45
WHEN STONE HAD FINISHED TELLING them everything, Mason just stared at him for a long moment. “Extraordinary,” he drawled.
Stone looked at Carpenter; she nodded.
“Rather,” she said.
He wasn’t sure whether this meant they didn’t believe him. “Do you have any questions for me?”
“Well, let me tell you a few things: First, David Beth Alachmy is the new Mossad station chief in London; old Stan was right about that; second, the two chaps in the car were Beth Alachmy’s men; third, the abduction and interrogation of you by Beth Alachmy and his thugs was way, way out of bounds, and I will see that he is suitably punished for it.”
“Thank you, but I don’t really care about that,” Stone replied. “I just want to get this thing over with and get back to New York.”
“Our sentiments exactly,” Mason said. “I hope we can have you out of here in just a few days.”
“Thank you.”
“We’re aware of Lance Cabot and his little consulting business, but this is the first we’ve heard of Ali and Sheila; we’ll be looking into them.”
“Fine.”
“Oh, I assume you do actually have the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars that Cabot wants for his project?”
“Well, yes, in a brokerage account in New York.”
“I think the very first thing you’ll want to do is have that transferred to the offshore account, as Cabot requested.”
“But—”
“Oh, don’t actually give it to him; just let him confirm that you’ve got it in the account. When we’re done, you can wire it back to your brokerage account.”
“I suppose—”
“Now, the first thing we’ve got to do is to get you out of this hotel.”
“Why?” Stone asked plaintively. “I like it here.”
“Because Stan’s people know where to find you, and they can follow you anywhere from here,” Mason said, as if he were explaining things to a child. “Do you have somewhere you can go?”
Stone thought for a moment. “Let me make a phone call.”
“Of course.”
He picked up a phone and called Sarah at her London flat.
“Hi.”
“Well, hello; I was wondering when I was going to hear from you.”
“Have our mutual acquaintances cleared out of James’s house?”
“Yes, all gone.”
“Do you mind if Dino and I move in there for a few days? I’ve got to get out of the Connaught; they’re booked up, apparently.”
“Dino’s in London?”
“Yes.”
“Well, of course you can stay there; when do you want to go?”
“Immediately.”
“All right; why don’t I cook us all some dinner over there? James has a decent kitchen, and I can pick up some things on the way.”
“That would be wonderful.”
“See you in an hour?”
“That’s good. Bye.” He hung up and turned to Mason. “We can go to James Cutler’s house in
“Ah yes, good,” Mason said. “Who is Dino?”
“Dino Bacchetti, my old partner at the NYPD. He got into town yesterday.”
“All right, then; you go and get packed up, and I’ll send someone for your luggage. I believe your bill is going to Stan Hedger?”
“Yes.”
“Good, that solves that. We’ll be taking you out of the hotel by a rear exit.”
“Fine.”
“Oh, by the way, Sam asked me to ask you if Hedger ever gave you any sort of electronic device—a radio, a pager, a clock—to carry around with you?”
“Yes, he gave me a satellite telephone.”
“You’ll want to give that to me; he’s been using it to track your whereabouts.”
Stone felt like a complete ass. “All right.”
“I’ll come and get you in, say, three-quarters of an hour.”
“Good.” Stone left the suite and went back to his own.
Dino was still watching cricket. “You know, I think I’m beginning to get the hang of this game.”
“It’s an illusion; no American will ever understand it.”
“You ready for some dinner?”
“Yes, but Sarah is cooking it for us; get packed, we’re moving out of the hotel.”
“But I like it here,” Dino said. “It’s nice—you push a button and somebody comes to take care of you.”
“I’ve just had a meeting with some British intelligence people, and they want us out of here; they say it’s the only way we’ll ever lose the tail that Hedger put on us.”
“We’re going right now?”
“Very shortly; just get your luggage ready to go.”
Dino switched off the cricket match with reluctance.
At the appointed time, the porter rapped on their door. “Good evening, Mr. Barrington. I’m to take your bags down to the kitchen.”
“There they are,” Stone said, pointing to the pile. “Mr. Bacchetti’s, too.”
“There’s a lady waiting for you at the lift.”
Stone and Dino walked to the elevator, where Carpenter was waiting for them, the door open. He introduced Dino.
Once in the elevator, Carpenter inserted a key into a lock and turned it. “This will get us to the lower level,” she said.
Stone watched her on the way down; she really was very attractive, in her muted way. The
