Стюарт Вудс - Cut and Thrust

“All right, is she fifty yet?”

“I’ll give you that much — no.”

“Has she been through menopause?”

“No. I would know about that.”

“Then it’s possible she could be pregnant.”

“It’s extremely unlikely. I mean, she has the son, Peter, from her first marriage to Simon Rule, but that was a long time ago. I happen to know that she and Will have one hell of a good sex life — that’s classified, too — but I always thought Will might be sterile. On the other hand, she could have been on the pill all that time.”

“Well, it would certainly be a first,” Stone said. “A pregnant presidential candidate.”

“The first that we know about,” Ann said.

“Have you thought about the ramifications?”

“I’ve thought of nothing else all day. All week, really, but my suspicion has been growing.”

“Are you going to ask her?”

“Certainly not — that would limit her options.”

“How do you mean, options?”

“Well, she could choose to have an abortion,” Ann said. “She’s strongly pro-choice, and I assume for herself as much as for other women.”

“If she decided to do that, do you think she would reveal it — either before or after the fact?”

“Certainly not before the fact, but after, who knows? I mean, there are more people in this country who favor a woman having the option, if polls are to be believed.”

“And most of those who are opposed to it would be opposed to Kate anyway, wouldn’t they?”

“Among Republicans, yes. Among independents, maybe. It’s not a political calculation I’d want to have to make.”

“Then suppose she decides to have the baby? That would pose wardrobe problems, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t think so. After all, Kate is tall and slim, and she told me once that when she was pregnant with Peter, she hardly showed at all. She was an analyst at the Agency then, and she wasn’t sure how her superiors would react, since they were all men at that time.”

“Then she might be able to keep a pregnancy secret, until after the election?”

“Conceivably,” Ann said, “pun intended.”

“All right, suppose she announced it, or that the news leaked? What effect would it have on the campaign?”

“I believe,” Ann said, “not to put too fine a point on it, it would cause the biggest fucking uproar you could possibly imagine. Think of the royal baby, and multiply that by a hundred.”

“What kind of uproar? Favorable or unfavorable?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. It’s the sort of thing we’d need to do a poll on, and we certainly can’t do that.”

“What about the opinion of women?”

“My guess would be, supportive, at least most women.”

“And men?”

“Horrified. But maybe I’m wrong, who knows?”

“What are you going to do, Ann?”

“I’m going to wait until Kate decides to tell me.”

“And what will you do then?”

“Punt.”

Stone called Dino.

“Commissioner’s office,” a gruff male voice said.

“This is Stone Barrington. May I speak to the commissioner, please?”

“Who?”

“He’ll know the name.”

“Tell me again.”

“Stone... Barrington. Would you like me to spell it?” He was put on hold without comment.

After a count of about forty, the voice came back. “Commissioner,” he said, “the Barrington guy is on.”

“Stone?” Dino said.

“I think so,” Stone replied. “After talking with your new secretary, I’m not sure.”

“Oh, that guy. Tom liked an all-male presence on the phones. He thought it sounded more official.”

“You need some women in there, pal. What happened to your old secretary?”

“I had to leave her behind to break in the new chief of detectives.”

“So who’s the new chief?”

“I haven’t decided. There are several candidates.”

“Want some free advice?”

“What’s it going to cost me?”

“Nothing, if you follow it. Appoint a woman.”

“Are you kidding me? You think all those squad guys out in the precincts would take orders from a woman?”

“Think of it this way: Could Viv do the job?”

“Hah!” Dino snorted. “She could do this job, and probably better than I can.”

“There’s your answer.”

“Appoint Viv? I can’t do that.”

“If Viv is good enough to do the job, there are other women around there who can do it, too. How many women in the department are captains?”

“I don’t know, half a dozen, maybe eight.”

“There’s your short list. How many of them had a career as a detective?”

“Probably most of them.”

“Here’s what you do — call your old secretary and have her look up all their files and e-mail them to you. Don’t tell anybody anything. If some of them look good for it, interview them. But not in your office. Somewhere else.”

“Where could I interview them? I can’t take them to the restaurants around here.”

“Have them up to your apartment and interview them there. And don’t forget to tell Viv what you’re doing.”

“What am I going to do about the four guys camped outside my office, answering the phones and typing letters?”

“Are they all sergeants?”

“Yeah.”

“Get them out of there. Give them plum jobs in different precincts. And tell them that if they pass the lieutenant’s exam, you’ll promote them. They won’t have anything to bitch about.”

“I’ve got a public affairs guy I like. Should I replace him with a woman?”

“If you like him, keep him. If he’s a sergeant, promote him, too.”

“He’s already a lieutenant.”

“Then tell him to take the captain’s exam. The rank will give him more authority with the press.”

“You think I should have four women outside my door?”

“If you do, three of them should be in uniform. And the hell with the new chief — get your old secretary up there. If the new guy’s any good, he’ll find his way. You did.”

“Tom should have appointed you commissioner,” Dino said.

“Horseshit. Can you and Viv get free for dinner? Just me, Ann’s working.”

“Viv’s on the road again. I can make it at eight. Patroon?”

“See you there.” Stone hung up and found Ed Eagle standing in the doorway.

“You off?”

“Just waiting for Fred to bring the car around,” Eagle said, sitting down.

“When’s your plane?”

“In two hours.”

“You’d better tell Fred to shake his ass.”

“That’s plenty of time, Stone.”

“How long since you flew commercial?”

“Inside the U.S.? I can’t remember the last time.”

“You need to be there very early these days, so they can strip you and do a cavity search.”

Eagle laughed. “It’s that bad, is it?”

“Just don’t smart off to one of those ladies with the little wand, when she waves it at your crotch.”

“I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“They’ll probably want to examine your dental work, too.”

“I’ll open up on request.”

“And tell me you aren’t armed or carrying anything in your briefcase.”

“It’s in my bag,” Ed said.

“Loaded?”

“Unloaded.”

“Where’s the ammunition?”

“In the bag.”

“Put it in another bag, not the same one with the gun.”

“Oops, I’d better do that now.”

“You’d better tell Susannah, too.”

“Tell me what?” Susannah asked from the doorway.

“Not to go into the terminal armed.”

Eagle explained it to her.

“Okay, I’ll do some repacking, too.”

“Do it now,” Stone said, “not at the terminal. And remember to declare the weapons at the ticket desk. There’s a form you have to fill out.”