Стюарт Вудс - Indecent Exposure

He pulled up a few doors up the street from the Barrington house and watched as a heavy-duty SUV, followed by another, stopped and disgorged a woman and a couple of suitcases. She went to a door bearing a brass plate, rang a bell, and was met by another woman, who held the door while she and her luggage were put inside.

The woman who opened the door saw him up the street and took a good long look at him before closing the door behind her.

Crank didn’t like that; it made him feel amateurish. He decided not to attract further attention by roaring away. Instead, he took a New York Post from his parka pocket and pretended to read it. A couple of minutes later, the suspicious woman opened the door again and looked up and down the block. This time she glared at him before going inside again.

Crank put away his paper, started the bike, and motored gently away. He caught her in his rearview mirror as she came outside again, this time holding a hand slightly behind her. The bitch was carrying! He’d have to watch out for her.

I heard from Kate this morning,” Stone said to Holly, after he had poured them a drink and sat her down.

“How did she sound?”

“Cheerful. I was afraid she’d be annoyed that we made the papers.”

“Annoyed? What would she have to be annoyed about? We got away clean.”

“Well, after the fact, anyway.”

“Do you know what would have happened if the media had got wind of our little cruise? We’d have had a flotilla of boats, bristling with all sorts of cameras, sailing just as close to us as the Coast Guard and the Navy would have allowed. That would have annoyed her.”

“And you, too,” Stone said, laughing. “As it was, you got photographed naked. It’s lucky I have an interest in that magazine.”

“I remind you, you were also naked at the time, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if that photograph didn’t get pirated out to other, less scrupulous publications that you don’t own.”

“You mean...”

“Yes, you’ll be waving in the wind, for all the world to see.”

“And all the world would know that you had gone Brazilian.”

Holly roared. “Just imagine, I’d never live that down.”

“Probably not. You could never run for office.”

Holly looked startled. “Where did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“That I might run for office.”

“I’ve never heard that at any time. What office did you have in mind?”

“I didn’t have any office in mind,” she replied.

“But somebody brought it up?”

She looked away.

“Kate?”

“Maybe.”

“What office?”

Holly held up a hand. “Stop, you’re embarrassing me.”

“You’re not easily embarrassed — what’s going on?”

“Nothing is going on, she just brought it up the last time we were in the Oval together.”

“And when was that?”

“This morning.”

“Wait a minute — do you mean...”

“I haven’t said a word — you remember that.”

“What, exactly, did Kate say?”

“Well, she mentioned that my four years as national security advisor had gone very well, and they went down well with Congress, too. After all, I did sail through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, when she nominated me.”

“That is so. As I recall, the vote was unanimous, and when your nomination came to the floor, only one senator voted against you.”

“Oh, that was Flora Ridges, the idiot from Oklahoma. She votes against anything that comes from Kate.”

“So, Kate thinks you might have a shot at the Big One?”

Holly actually blushed. “Don’t you ever say that to another person.”

Stone thought about it for a moment. “I think Kate is right.”

“Now, don’t you start.”

“There’s no one in the party out front to succeed Kate,” Stone pointed out.

“True enough, but they’ll start coming out of the woodwork pretty soon,” Holly said.

“There’s nobody out there you couldn’t take. What is Kate’s plan?”

“How do you know she has a plan?”

“Kate always has a plan.”

“Well, I’m addressing the UN in her place next week, so you’ll have me on your hands a little longer.”

“Fine with me.” He thought a little more. “I suppose I’m going to have to drop out of the picture.”

“Kate thinks your presence in my life is already baked in, that it won’t matter if the world knows I’m fucking somebody. She thinks it might even help.” She smoothed her skirt. “It also helps if the world knows I’m not fucking everybody. ”

“What else does Kate have planned?”

“I’m going to be present at more of her events and speeches, especially in the swing states.”

“Good idea. I think you should do more serious interviews, too.”

“I’m doing Meet the Press next Sunday. Word is, Chuck Todd thinks I’m hot.”

“Lots of people think you’re hot.”

“I’m lucky Katty Kay is British.”

Stone raised his glass. “Today Meet the Press — tomorrow, the world!”

Gloria unpacked two very large bags at Benton Blake’s uptown apartment, then checked her makeup and went into the living room, where Blake poured them a drink.

“All settled in?” he asked.

“For the moment,” she said, accepting the martini.

“It’s best that you don’t spend every night here just yet. Give the press people a chance to see us together a few times. Then, when we’re no longer such an item, you can move in and get rid of your apartment.”

“I like the sound of that,” she said. “Listen...”

“I’m listening.”

“Do we really need to go to the Bacchettis’ tonight?”

“Do you have something against the Bacchettis?”

“No, I like them, but Stone Barrington will certainly be there.”

“You’re going to have to get used to seeing Stone. He’s my law partner, after all, and he was very cordial last night, sending us the champagne. A very good champagne, too.”

“I’m still nervous around him.”

“He won’t bite. He clearly wants to make peace, so don’t resist it.”

“Who will be at the Bacchettis’?”

“A few cops and judges, a few minor celebrities, the mayor, certainly. God knows who else. They have a wide acquaintance and a big apartment.”

Her cell rang. She glanced at it in her handbag: Danny. She sent it to voice mail. Danny was a part of her earlier life that she wanted to put behind her.

“Anything important?”

“Far less than important,” she replied. The phone rang again: Al. She sent it to voice mail.

“Still unimportant?” Benton asked.

“It’s time I put away childish things,” she said, “and childish people.”

“Everybody has baggage,” he replied.

Stone and Holly were still having their talk when Joan buzzed, and Stone picked up the study phone. “Yes?”

“There was a thug on a motorcycle eyeballing the house a few minutes ago,” she said.

“Did you shoot him dead?” She had done that before.

“Not yet, but I’d better not see him again, I don’t like thugs on motorcycles.”

“Well, I’m not crazy about bodies in the street, so contain yourself.”

“I’ll try.”

Stone hung up. “Joan saw somebody she didn’t like on the street, and she’s thinking of shooting him.”

“Does she do that often?”

“Rarely, but she thinks about it a lot. I think the.45 in her desk drawer makes her feel powerful.”

“The Secret Service could use her — maybe I can get her a new job.”

“If you took away Joan, I’d have to shoot myself. I don’t know how to do anything without her.”