Stuart Woods - Shoot Him If He Runs

“Love to; is Harry invited, as well?”

“Is he still here?”

“He seems to like the island.”

“Of course; bring him along. Seven-thirty?”

“That’s grand; we’ll look forward to it.”

Holly hung up, went into the house, got her laptop and took it out to the patio, where lunch was just being served.

“What’s with the computer?” Stone asked.

Holly glanced at the butler, who finished serving and went back inside. “Pepper is going to e-mail me the photographs of Robertson, Pemberton and Weatherby that were attached to their applications to buy a house here, and then I’m going to take Genevieve’s brilliant suggestion and e-mail them to Lance, if I think one of them might be Teddy.”

“Good.”

“By the way, the jet is picking us up at noon the day after tomorrow.”

“Regardless of what we learn?”

“These photos are our last gasp; if none of them is Teddy, we’re out of here. If one of them is Teddy, we’re out of here, too. Dealing with him is somebody else’s job.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Me too,” Dino said. “The sight of that shark off our beach nixed the place for me. I’m not going back in the water past knee-deep.”

“Oh, Dino,” Genevieve said, “the shark was just doing what sharks do. We’ve only seen him once, and he probably won’t be back.”

“I’m not going in the same ocean with him,” Dino said, digging into his seafood salad. He held up a forkful. “I’m happy to eat his lunch, but I’m not going to be his lunch.”

They ate in a leisurely fashion, and after an hour had passed, Holly checked her e-mail.

There was an e-mail from Ham: “Are you coming by here on your way back to D.C.?”

“I’ll see if we can stop by and pick up Daisy on the way back,” she responded, “but I won’t be able to stay. Give my love to Ginny.” She signed it and sent the mail.

“Nothing from Pepper?” Stone asked.

“Nope.”

“How long was it supposed to take?”

“He said a few minutes to hack into the government computer, and he’d have them to me in an hour.”

Stone checked his watch. “It’s been an hour and a half.”

“Maybe he got busy at work.”

Another hour passed, then two hours, and still nothing had arrived from Pepper. Late in the afternoon, Holly called Lance.

“Lance Cabot.”

“It’s your humble servant; something’s wrong.”

“What?”

“Pepper was supposed to e-mail me the photos within an hour after we talked. It’s been five hours, and I’ve heard nothing.”

“I suppose he could have become occupied with something else at work, but still, that doesn’t sound right.”

“I’m only supposed to call him at midday on the satphone, so I can’t communicate.”

“Hang on, let me think.”

“Okay.” Holly waited through three or four minutes of silence.

Lance came back on. “Bill has probably already left the office for the day. And I tried his home; no answer.”

“But if he didn’t have the photos, he could have e-mailed me to let me know.”

“I know, and it doesn’t sound right. I’ve had a look at Bill’s file, and he has a sister in Miami named Doris Pepper. She’s forty-six years old, five-six, a hundred and forty pounds, blonde and pretty. She teaches sixth grade at a public school in Miami. Tomorrow morning, after nine, call Bill’s office, but not on the satphone.” He gave her the number. “When he comes on the line tell him you’re a friend of his sister, and you promised her you’d call him for her. She’s fine, et cetera, et cetera.”

“And what is my purpose for the call?”

“To find out if he’s okay. Don’t talk long, and before you hang up, tell him his sister said to drop her an e-mail sometime. I want to know exactly what his response is. Call me on the satphone as soon as you hang up.”

“Okay. Do you think something is wrong?”

“I always think something is wrong when an agent doesn’t do what he says he’ll do.” Lance hung up.

Holly and her party went directly to their table at the inn, but Irene was late and without Harry.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, “and Harry’s even later. He had some business he had to take care of at the marina.” She sat down and accepted a rum punch from the pitcher on the table.

“So Harry’s sticking around for a while?” Stone asked.

She smiled. “I must admit, I’m getting used to having him here. He’s good around the house, and a lot of things I was letting go are getting taken care of.”

“Good around the house,” Genevieve said, leering. “I’ll bet he is.”

“Well, that, too,” Irene admitted. “It’s been so long since I lived with a man, I’d forgotten what it was like.”

Holly felt the same way, but she didn’t say so. “What are your long-term plans, Irene? Are you going to make this your permanent home?”

“I guess it already is,” she replied, sipping her drink. “I’ve settled in very well, which wasn’t the case in St. Barts. I’m too old to start learning a language, and everybody here speaks English, and the government is stable-no bands of rebels in the hills. I think St. Marks may be heaven for me.”

“Does Harry feel the same way?”

“Well, he hasn’t been here long enough for that to happen, but he likes it, and he’s comfortable here. He may also get on his boat and sail away; we’ll see how it goes.”

“That’s a good attitude when dealing with men,” Genevieve said. “Just see how it goes.” She gave Dino a sidelong glance.

“On the other hand,” Dino said, “that attitude doesn’t work so well with women.”

“Why not?” Holly asked.

“Well, you go along for a while, seeing how it goes, and you think you’ve got it all figured out, then they change everything.”

Stone spoke up. “Well, if we’re going to listen to Dino’s theories about women, this is going to be a very long and boring evening.”

“Oh, here’s Harry,” Irene said, waving him over.

Harry bustled in, greeted everybody, took a seat and poured himself a glass of rum punch. A waiter appeared with a fresh pitcher and took the nearly empty one away. “Man, that’s good!” he enthused, taking a long draft of his drink.

“Did you get your work done at the marina?” Irene asked.

“Yep, the boat is in the best shape of its life.”

“You sticking around for a while?” Stone asked.

“Maybe. I’ve done Virginia, and Ft. Lauderdale seemed too crowded for me, though if I stay longer that would be the best place to sell the boat.” He smiled at Irene. “And nobody in either place cooks like Irene.” He slapped his belly. “I’ve been putting on weight.”

“I’m going to put you on a diet,” Irene said.

Stone felt his cell phone vibrate and stood up. “Excuse me; phone call.” He walked toward the bar. “Hello?”

“It’s Lance.”

“Hi, what’s up?”

“I tried to call Ginny, but she didn’t answer on either the satphone or her cell phone; is she all right?”

“Yes, of course; we’re at dinner at the inn with Irene Foster and her friend Harry. Why wouldn’t she be okay?”

“I’ve been unable to locate Bill Pepper or his wife, and I’m worried. I just wanted to be sure Ginny was all right.”

“Has this ever happened before?”

“Standard operating procedure is for Pepper to always be reachable within an hour of the initial contact.”

“I see.”

“I’d like you and Holly to go to his house, get inside and call me back.”

“I don’t think we can do that for a couple of hours without causing suspicion. Remember, we’re vacationers here; we can’t just make an excuse and walk away from a dinner party.”