Стюарт Вудс - Stealth

“I didn’t offer you a drink,” Stone said.

“I didn’t give you time.”

“Would you like one now?”

“Yes, please.” She released him; he went to the bar and poured them each one.

She plumped up their pillows and arranged them so that they could sit up. “That was spectacular,” she said. “As always.”

“It certainly was,” Stone said softly.

“It’s a pity we don’t have a video for later viewing,” she said.

“Negative,” Stone replied. “The only recording should be in our memories.”

“I have a very good memory,” she replied. Soon, they had finished their drinks and were dozing.

Stone was shaken awake at seven o’clock. “What time is our dinner table?” Rose asked.

“My ankle is bothering me,” Stone said. “Do you mind if we order from room service?”

“Not in the least.” She kissed his ankle.

“Did you find that technique for healing in a medical textbook?” he asked.

“No, I made it up. Sort of a home remedy.”

“Speaking of home, do you have an actual address and phone number?” he asked.

“Yes, I have a little flat in Ennismore Mews, in Knightsbridge.”

Stone grabbed a phone pad from the bedside table. “May I have the address and your number?” he asked, handing her the pad and a pen.

“Of course,” she said, scribbling.

Stone looked at the pad to be sure it was legible; it was. He read the address aloud, followed by the phone number.

“Didn’t I give you that before?”

“No, you left my house like a thief in the night — and with no forwarding address.”

“I apologize. Now you have it all.”

“What’s it like, performing three hysterectomies in a single day?” he asked.

She laughed. “You don’t want to know. Men are not good at receiving that sort of information. Suffice it to say that the OR staff handled everything efficiently, and so did I. The worst thing was that I had to change gowns and scrub up three times.”

“How did a doctor get involved with MI-6?” he asked.

“You already have my official denial that I am associated with such an organization,” she replied.

“Do they recruit doctors?”

“How would I know, not being privy to their practices?”

“Oh, all right. Next time I see Dame Felicity I’ll tell her I failed to worm anything out of you.”

“The next time you speak to her, don’t mention my name, or even my existence,” Rose said. “I don’t want me on her mind. I was shocked when she turned up with the col... sorry, the brigadier, in tow.”

“Why?”

“Because I associated him with Station Two, which is the only place I had ever encountered him.”

“Somehow, I thought you had known him before,” Stone said.

“When I arrived at Station Two I reported to him, as everyone does, but I didn’t see him again except on the ward, when he was screaming at you. The next time was at your table at Windward Hall.”

“Whom did you replace at Station Two on your locum?” Stone asked.

“That’s an odd question.”

“I somehow thought there was only one doctor there — the one who doctored my ankle.”

“The one you met. He came back from his leave a day early.”

“Why did I never see you around the station before I was in the clinic?”

“Because I was in the clinic. That was where the work was.”

“I guess that makes sense. What sorts of things did you treat during your locum?”

“The only other patient I saw was the fellow you shared the ward with, the one with a broken leg,” she replied. “I was told that they rarely admitted anyone who was sick. Nearly all the admissions were of injuries suffered during training.”

“Has anyone ever died in training?”

“If anyone has, I wasn’t told about it. I did hear that we came close to losing you by drowning. It was a good thing the truck with the winch happened along when it did.”

Stone found the room service menu and shared it with her. They ordered dinner and a bottle of wine.

“I’d like a shower before dinner arrives,” she said. “Join me?”

“No, thanks. I don’t want to get caught in there with you by a room service waiter,” Stone said. “We might shock him.”

Dinner arrived in due course, and two waiters set up the table and served them.

Stone couldn’t think of anything else to ask Rose, and they dined quietly.

“Have you run out of questions?” she asked.

“You’ve worn me out,” Stone replied.

“I will again.” And she did.

Stone woke the following morning with the sound of the shower running in the background, and he joined Rose there. They spent a quarter of an hour soaping and scrubbing and whatever else they could think of, then they toweled each other dry, and Stone ordered breakfast and the papers, then he got into a robe to prepare for the arrival of room service.

Rose, on the other hand, came out of the bathroom entirely naked, toweling her hair. The doorbell rang, and she jumped under the covers.

When the waiters had departed they sat down at the table, Rose still naked.

“Be careful not to spill any hot coffee,” Stone said.

She tied a napkin around her neck. “There. All safe.”

“What time are you due at work?” he asked.

“Nine.”

“Did you drive?”

“No, I took a cab. I imagine the doorman can get me another.”

“I imagine so, too,” Stone said. He tried and failed to ask her further questions.

Shortly before nine, now fully dressed, Rose grabbed her coat and her duffel and kissed him goodbye. “When are you coming back?”

“When are you coming down?” Stone asked.

“Next week perhaps. I’ll call you.”

“Do that.” He kissed her and she left.

Two minutes later, his cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“It’s Felicity.”

“Good morning, did your people get anything?”

“They got a great deal,” she said, “but not much of value. You didn’t ask the right questions.”

“You didn’t give me a script,” he replied, “and I didn’t want to appear to be grilling her. I did the best I could.”

“Yes, well, we’re all aware how well you did,” she said.

“You’re smirking,” Stone replied. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean the video was extraordinarily good. We had half a dozen angles, too.”

“Video? What video?”

“Oh, there are cameras everywhere. Would you like to know what you had for breakfast, or what wine you drank last night?”

“You didn’t tell me that, Felicity. You said there was only audio.”

“I said no such thing. I said the suite was wired. We even got good footage of your time in the shower this morning.”

Stone checked his memory against that statement. “Shit,” he said. “I won’t do that again without some agreed ground rules.”

“Oh, come on, my dear. You came off beautifully — so to speak.”

“Now what?”

“Now you are free to wander London as you will. And there won’t be a bill from the Connaught — our treat.”

“What’s your next move with Rose?”

“Well, we’re following her taxi as we speak, and we’ll check out the Ennismore Mews address. Would you like to have lunch a little later?”

“Why not?”

“I’ll be in your neighborhood. Shall we do it at the Connaught? One o’clock?”

“Fine.” He hung up

Stone got dressed and left the hotel. He stopped into his tailor’s, Huntsman & Sons, and had a fitting of some things he had ordered earlier, then he stopped by Turnbull & Asser and chose some neckties and a couple of nightshirts. He arrived back at the Connaught and found Felicity waiting for him in the restaurant.