Stuart Woods - Shoot Him If He Runs

“Why on earth would they do that?” Lance asked.

“Apparently, Jim was sitting on a park bench, talking with Colonel Croft, when his head exploded.”

“Single shot with an explosive-tipped bullet,” Lance mused.

“Yes, but the St. Marks police haven’t figured that out yet, and they’re holding Jim while they mull it over. I have to go back to my office and call the ambassador,” English said, standing. “Lance, did you have anything to do with Croft’s assassination?”

“Nothing whatever, Hugh; I give you my word. I certainly wouldn’t have done such a thing while he was sitting next to your station head, and I don’t have anyone on the island who could do it.”

“I’ll speak to you later,” English said, and it sounded like a promise.

Holly’s satphone rang. “Yes?”

“Scramble.”

Holly did so. “Okay.”

“I’ve just heard about Croft’s death in some detail. Apparently, Jim Tiptree, our station head down there, was sitting next to him when it happened. Of course, you didn’t have anything to do with this.”

“Of course not; Teddy Fay did it.”

“ What ?”

“It’s practically his trademark, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes, but what possible motive would Teddy have for killing Croft?”

“From what I’ve heard, anybody on the run who wants to live on this island and not be found has to pay off Croft. Maybe Teddy didn’t like him, or maybe he just did it on a whim, who knows?”

“I’ve got to have time to figure this out,” Lance said, “but it’s just as well you’re being picked up tomorrow. I’m sending a larger airplane, and Bill Pepper and his wife are coming back with you.”

“No,” Holly said.

“What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“Sir Winston Sutherland has shut down the island; nobody leaves, maybe for days, while Croft’s death is investigated, so you may as well cancel the airplane.”

“Swell,” Lance said.

“Yeah, well…Do I have your permission to get in touch with Bill Pepper?”

“For what?”

“I want to find out if he got those housing applications of Robertson, Pemberton and Weatherby. They could help us identify Teddy.”

“I suppose so. All right, go ahead and call him on his satphone. He should be home by now.”

“He’s been released?”

“Yes, but they’re holding Jim Tiptree; it’s a huge mess, and we’re trying to sort it out now. Let me know if you’re sending the photos.”

“All right; good-bye.” Holly hung up and called Bill Pepper’s number. No answer. She went back to the patio. “Stone, can I have the car keys?”

Stone handed them to her. “Where are you going?”

“Where we were last night,” she said.

“Hang on, I’m going with you.”

Lance presented himself in the director’s office for the second time that morning.

“Now what, Lance?”

“There’s a bit of a flap in St. Marks.”

Kate Lee massaged her temples. “Oh, God.”

“Let me explain what’s happened.” Lance gave her the rundown on Croft’s murder and Tiptree’s detention.

“What a mess,” Kate said.

“It gets worse,” Lance replied. “Holly Barker thinks Teddy Fay did it.”

“I’m sorry, my mind just boggled; I’m unable to follow her logic.”

“She may have a point. First, Croft was shot in the head with an exploding bullet, apparently from outside the Markstown jail building, an expert shot, and that sounds like Teddy. Second, Holly points out that anyone hiding on the island would have to bribe Croft to remain safe, and that’s a motive for Teddy.”

“Could Teddy know about Bill and Annie Pepper’s arrest?”

“I don’t see how he could.”

“I can see him being angry with Croft, if he knew.”

“If Holly is right, then that settles the question of whether Teddy is on the island. Now we have to find him.”

“You want to keep Holly there longer?”

“No, but I don’t have a choice. Sutherland has shut down all transportation from the island; nobody can leave until he says so. If we tried to bring some sort of pressure to allow Holly and her group to leave, it might bring suspicion to bear on her.”

“Do we have any idea what identity Teddy is using?”

“There are the three men I told you about. Bill Pepper was caught trying to get photos of them from government computers, so we could circulate them here to see if any of Teddy’s former coworkers could make him. If somebody can, then we’ve got a chance of…detaining him. Holly is trying now to learn if Pepper downloaded the photos before he was arrested.”

“From what you’ve told me, there’s no way to connect any of these men to Holly.”

“No.”

“Unless she has contact with them and one of them is arrested.”

“Well, yes.”

“Order her to have no contact with them, to ask no questions of anyone about them.”

“Certainly.”

“There’s another problem,” Kate said.

“Yes?”

“What happens if one of these men is Teddy and Teddy is the shooter and they catch him? I’m sure that Colonel Croft was not the only man in St. Marks who knows how to extract a confession from a suspect.”

“Director, do you have any reason to believe that you and I are being recorded at this moment?”

“I have every reason to believe that we are not,” she replied.

“If Teddy is arrested by the St. Marks police, then we have to kill him before they can question him.”

“That’s pretty brazen of you, Lance.”

“Think about it: if Teddy is, ah, persuaded to reveal his true identity, and if Sir Winston Sutherland chose to make an issue of a former Agency operative as murderer, then we have a flap of major proportions on our hands. If the American press got hold of that, I think it’s safe to say that the outcome of the next election might be in doubt.”

Kate Lee turned and gazed out the window at the Virginia landscape.

Lance waited for her to speak; he had said all he intended to.

“Lance,” she said finally, “you are authorized to use whatever means you feel are necessary to prevent Teddy Fay from falling into the hands of Sir Winston Sutherland’s police.”

“May I have that in writing, Director?”

She turned and looked at him. “Certainly not,” she said.

“I may not be able to handle this without the cooperation of Hugh English,” Lance said. “May I confide in him?”

“Certainly not,” she replied. “But you may use whatever resources we have on the island without Hugh’s knowledge.”

“I’m afraid that would not be possible; we’ve seen that already. Hugh would have to be…out of the picture. Unless he is, I would not have the freedom to operate.”

Kate’s face was expressionless. “You’re right,” she said finally. She pressed a button on her phone.

“Yes, Director?”

“Please ask Hugh English to join me in my dining room for lunch at noon,” she said. “Don’t take no for an answer.” She disconnected and turned to Lance. “You’re invited, too.”

Holly drove quickly out of the inn’s grounds and toward the Peppers’ house.

“Slow down,” Stone said. “We don’t want to attract the attention of the police.”

Holly made a determined effort to drive more slowly.

“That’s better; we’re just a couple of tourists out for a drive.”

Ten minutes later Holly turned into the Peppers’ driveway. The small car was parked where it had been before, but this time the front door was ajar.

Holly and Stone got out of the car and approached the front door.

“I don’t know if we can eat this,” a woman’s voice said from inside.