Stuart Woods - Below the Belt

“It would make me glad to see people,” Holly said, “just like any normal human being.”

“Ed was never that normal,” Stone said. “He was always a little tetchy about callers at his place.”

“I’ll grant you that, but he knows us. Who can he trust if not you and me?”

“Why don’t we stop arguing and go find out?”

When they got to Ed Rawls’s gate, it swung open and the big log across the road swung back on its rollers, too. Once they were through, both returned to their original positions.

“Did you see the camera?” Holly asked.

“Yes. It wasn’t there last year.” As they came around a curve the cottage was revealed. Ed Rawls was standing on the front porch, a shotgun in his hand. They got out of the car.

“Ed, I warned you about that shotgun,” Stone said.

“It ain’t pointed at you, is it? Get your ass inside so I can lock everything down.” He opened the door for them and followed them in, then spent a long moment working several locks. The room looked as cozy and comfortable as ever, but the windows all had blackout curtains. “Siddown,” Ed said. “I’ve got lunch on the stove.”

They sat down and waited while he rummaged in the kitchen, then came out pushing a cart that held three grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, a bottle of red wine, and a bottle of bourbon. “Help yourself,” he said. “Wine or whiskey?”

“I guess a glass of wine,” Stone said.

“Me too,” Holly echoed.

Ed poured them all a glass, switched on the TV and Fox News came up, but he immediately changed to MSNBC, looking embarrassed. He watched the headlines in silence until they had finished eating, then he wheeled the cart back into the kitchen, refreshed their glasses, and sat down.

“Okay,” he said, “what do you want?”

Stone and Holly exchanged a glance.

“Are you on some kind of medication, Ed?” Stone asked.

“None of your business, but no.”

“Then why are you so fucking hostile?”

“You think this is hostile? This is my sunny disposition face.” He pointed at his chin.

Holly burst out laughing, and Ed managed a small smile.

“I guess you think I’m paranoid, or something.”

“Or something,” Stone replied. “Is somebody out to get you?”

“I think that’s a reasonable assumption, given the circumstances.”

“What are the circumstances?”

“Two pros with weapons arrived here a couple of weeks ago.”

“And you’re still here. Where did they go?”

“Into Penobscot Bay,” Ed replied. “Though the tides probably took ’em out into the Atlantic.”

Stone sighed. “Who sent them to see you?”

“I didn’t have time to ask.”

“Domestic or foreign?” Holly asked.

“One of ’em sounded like a Texan,” Ed replied. “The other one never had the opportunity to speak.”

“Political or criminal?”

“Most of the politicians I’ve known have been criminals.”

“You owe your liberty to a politician,” Stone said.

“One of two or three I’ve come across who are decent human beings.”

“Are you including Joe Adams in that crowd?” Stone asked.

“Yes, I am. And Kate, too. I’ve never blamed her for turning me in. I deserved it. That’s why I helped her — and Will, too.” He looked curious for a moment. “Why do you bring up Joe Adams?”

“I spoke with him a few days ago,” Stone said.

“Did he speak to you? I mean, did he make any sense?”

“He made more sense than I expected him to.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“When did you last see Joe?”

Ed looked at him sharply. “That’s a loaded question.”

“Then unload it for me.”

“A while back,” he said.

“How did that come about?”

“He and Sue spend their summers in Maine, you know.”

“I didn’t know,” Stone said. “Where?”

“On Mount Desert Island, ’bout an hour’s drive from here, if you make the ferry.”

“Did they invite you, or did you just show up?”

“I made an appointment.”

“What did you and Joe talk about?”

“This and that. It was a short conversation.”

“Did you leave something with Joe?”

“Maybe.”

“I’m sorry, Ed, but maybe doesn’t cut it. I need some answers.”

“All right,” Ed said, “I’ve answered your questions, now it’s my turn.”

“Okay, shoot — but I don’t mean that literally.”

“What the fuck are you doing here, Stone?”

“I live here, sometimes.”

“Why this time?”

“Because I need to know what you left with Joe.”

“I left a case with him.”

“I know that already. What was in the case?”

“How the hell do you know that?”

“You just told me.”

“Don’t fuck with me, Stone. What do you know?”

“Not as much as I want to know. What was in the case?”

“Among other things, a manuscript.”

“Fiction or nonfiction?”

“Reality. Every word of it true.”

“Anything in it that would cause somebody to send a pair of hit men to see you?”

“I think you can assume that.”

“Who’s involved in this?”

“People in high places, with a great deal to lose.”

“Are you talking about a conspiracy theory?”

“I’m talking about a conspiracy — no theory involved.”

“Does this have some effect on Kate’s reelection campaign?”

“Not if I can help it.”

“But it could?”

“Only if I’m dead. Not even then.”

“Well, Joe gave it to me.”

Rawls stared at him, agape.

Rawls closed his mouth. “I don’t fucking believe you.”

Stone shrugged. “It’s an Agency strong case, thick and heavy.”

“It’s heavy because it’s wrapped in lead sheeting inside, so it can’t be X-rayed. You’d never get it through airport security.”

“I brought it in my airplane. You don’t get X-rayed in an FBO.”

“Why did Joe give it to you?”

“I think because he’s known since he first got sick that he’s fading. Sue may have had something to do with his decision, too. Will asked me to go and get it from him and hang on to it.”

“Where is it now?”

“Locked in a safe at my house.”

“Have you looked at what’s inside?”

“Joe didn’t give me the key. I suppose you have it.”

Rawls didn’t answer that.

“Come on, Ed,” Holly said. “There will only be two keys, and normally the Agency would have one.”

“This ain’t normal times,” Ed said.

“All right,” Stone said, “suppose you get visited again, and your luck doesn’t hold. Who gets the case then?”

Rawls looked away. “I guess you’re as good a bet as anybody, if Will wants you to have it.”

“He gave me the key to the handcuff, but not the case.”

“Then ask him for the other key.”

“He doesn’t want to be contacted, unless it’s absolutely necessary. He has to go through third parties, and I think that makes him uncomfortable.”

“He’s right to be uncomfortable,” Rawls said.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Do I have to draw you a picture?”

“ Please draw me a picture, Ed. I need to know what I’m dealing with. And who.”

“I need to think about that.”

“It seems that Will and Joe have already done the thinking for you, otherwise the case wouldn’t be in my safe.”

“Who knows you’re here?”

“The short answer to that is Jimmy Hotchkiss.”

“Hah! You mean everybody knows.”

“Everybody on the island.”

“Who off the island knows you’re here?”

Stone shrugged. “I took some steps to avoid being seen headed here. The trail of bread crumbs stopped in Oxford, Connecticut.”