Stuart Woods: Fast and Loose

“I’m not surprised,” Rawls said.

Sawyer slapped his palms on the table. “Well, I’m outta here, Lieutenant. You got anything else?”

“That’s it for us, Captain.”

The officers shook hands with Stone and Ed and filed out of the house. A moment later, the last of their vehicles had left the property.

“I’m glad that’s over,” Stone said, then he jumped as there came a knock on the door.

Rawls answered it and found a man in work clothes standing there.

“Mornin’, Mr. Rawls,” he said. “Is it okay now if I fill up that hole and get my backhoe outta here?”

“Go right ahead,” Rawls said, “and send me a bill.” He came back and sat down at the table.

“I thought you were going to talk us right into prison,” Stone said.

“I’ve always been a good explainer.”

“I wish I had a transcript of what you said, in case they ask me any more questions.”

Rawls removed a small recorder from his shirt pocket. “I’ll send you a transcript,” he said. He got up, went to a drawer, and came back with a thick envelope. “And speaking of manuscripts, here’s mine. There are letters from three publishers inside. They saw one of the earlier ones we disseminated a while back. Will you call them and get me a deal?”

Stone picked up the envelope and weighed it. “It seems to have grown a bit.”

“I added a few things.”

“Sure, Ed, I’ll get it done. Now, I’ve got some calls to make and then do you mind if I borrow a bed? I need a few hours of sleep.”

“Top of the stairs, to your left,” Ed said. “In fact, I’m headed up to my bed now.” He got up and headed for the stairs.

Stone conferenced in Mike Freeman and Charley Fox and gave them an abbreviated version of Ed’s account to the police. “It’s okay to pull all your people out of the Carlsson Clinic, Mike,” Stone said. “I’ll let them know.”

“Done,” Mike said, “and congratulations on a good outcome.”

Stone called Paul Carlsson and told him he would shortly be free of security guards.

Carlsson seemed to speak a little hesitantly. “Ah, Stone, have you, ah, read your e-mails this morning?”

“No, Paul, I’ve been kind of busy.”

“Well, Marisa has decided to stay on in Stockholm and run our clinic there. She’ll explain everything in her e-mail.”

“Thank you, Paul,” Stone said, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“And thank you, Stone, for everything you’ve done for us.”

The two men hung up, and Stone went to his e-mail: there it was.

Dear Stone,

I have to tell you I’m staying on in Stockholm for the foreseeable future. I’m needed to run the clinic here. I have to tell you, too, that I’ve hired a childhood friend, a brilliant surgeon, to come aboard as chief of surgery. He and I have rekindled an old romance, and we will be married here in a few weeks. I’m sorry not to have been able to tell you this in person, but you weren’t answering your phone. I’ll treasure the memory of our time together.

Fondly,

His shoulders slumped, and he realized he had been half expecting this. He’d just have to get over it. He was about to call Joan when his phone rang; private call.

“Hello?”

“Hi, it’s Holly.”

Stone brightened. “Hi, there, how are you?”

“Very well, thanks. Listen, I know this is short notice, but Kate is in town overnight from the campaign trail, and she and Will want to talk to you about something. Can you fly down here and stay the night in the family quarters?”

“As it happens, I’m down here already, at Ed Rawls’s house, near Langley, and I’d love to.”

“Wonderful. I’ve gotta run right now, but we’ll catch up later. Use the West Wing entrance, and they’d like you there around six o’clock.”

“See you then.” He hung up, feeling much better, and called Joan.

“The Barrington Practice.”

“Hi, I’m going to be in D.C. overnight. I should be home around midday tomorrow. I’ll give Fred an ETA in the morning, and he can meet me at Teterboro.”

“Okeydoke.”

“Anything going on there?”

“Dino called and said he talked to the Virginia police, and not to call him until tomorrow. He’s in meetings all day today.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow.” He hung up, then trudged upstairs and found the guest room. He stretched out on the bed, fully clothed, and pulled a quilt over him. As he did, his phone rang again.

“Hello?”

“Stone, it’s Ed Eagle. How are you?”

“Just fine, Ed.”

“There’s something you need to think about.”

“What’s that?”

“You know the Dudleys, from Dallas, who have a place next door to you?”

“Never met them.”

“Well, they have three acres, a beautiful piece of land, with a house on it that’s smaller than yours. They want to sell, and the price is right. If you combine the two, you’d have five gorgeous acres and a big guesthouse. Interested?”

“Ed, I don’t have room in my brain for that right now, but I’ll think about it. Can I call you tomorrow?”

“Okay, but don’t wait any longer or they’ll give it to an agent to sell.”

“Thanks, Ed. Talk to you tomorrow.”

Stone stared at the ceiling. He felt relief at having Macher out of his way, and regret over Marisa’s decision. It didn’t take long for him to convince himself that it was better this way.

He drifted off into an untroubled sleep.

Stone entered the White House through the West Wing, was escorted upstairs to the family quarters by a Secret Service agent and installed in the Lincoln Bedroom. He freshened up, shook the wrinkles out of his blue blazer, and presented himself in the living room, where Kate and Will Lee and Holly were already on their first drink. A little boy was playing in front of the fireplace, and a glass of ice and a bottle of Knob Creek bourbon sat on the coffee table. All the domestic comforts.

Will shook his hand, and Kate and Holly offered warm hugs and kisses, then Will poured his drink. “Good God,” he said, “is that your tiny baby?”

“Bill is three and a half now,” Kate said.

Stone had never picked up a child, so he just tousled his hair. “Hello, Bill,” he said. Bill ignored him.

“What have you been up to, Stone?” Kate asked.

“It would take me at least an hour to explain that,” Stone said, “so I’ll spare you.”

“I assume you’ve heard about Holly’s new job to come,” she said.

“I heard a very interesting rumor,” Stone replied.

“Well, it’s true, but not for spreading around just yet. Even though we’re ahead by double digits everywhere that matters, I don’t want to appear overconfident by making new cabinet appointments before the election.”

“I understand perfectly,” he said.

Will spoke up. “Before we get any drunker,” he said, “there’s something we want to talk to you about.”

“Please do.”

“The next four years are going to bring some important changes in our lives — in fact, they’ve already started. To begin with, our personal attorney, Kerwin Smith, is retiring, and his firm is merging with another, and we’re not really going to know the people there anymore. Kate and I would be very pleased if you would become our personal attorney.”

“Why, thank you, Will, I’d be delighted. You don’t feel the need of a Washington lawyer?”

“In the long run, we won’t be spending a lot of time in Washington after Kate’s second term. We’ll be making some big changes.”

“What sort of changes?”

“To begin with, my mother died a few months ago.”