Stuart Woods - Below the Belt

“Yes, I did.”

“How did you know how to open the case safely?” Holly asked.

“Safely?” Dino asked. “What does it do, squirt you in the eye if you open it wrong?”

“Something like that,” Holly replied, “unless you know the drill.”

“What’s the drill?”

“Don’t tell him, Holly,” Stone said.

“Do you know how to open it, Stone?” Dino asked.

“No, I don’t, and I don’t want to learn.”

“So Holly and Ed are the only ones who know how to open it.”

“The only ones here,” Holly said.

“Well, Stone,” Dino said, “if something should happen to you, I’ll remember not to open the case.”

“Much better for everybody,” Ed said.

Stone’s cell phone rang, and he looked at it. Blocked number. “Excuse me,” he said, and left the room to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Is your friend from Islesboro all right?” Will asked.

“Yes.”

“Is he with you?”

“Yes. My other friend is here, too. Apparently, you told him about the package, as well.”

“I thought it prudent to do so.”

“How did you know about the arson?”

“Someone I know got a call from someone who knew.”

“I must say, I’m impressed with your networking skills.”

Will laughed. “It comes from a lifetime of keeping index cards and computer files on people I met along the way. I’ve got a pretty good memory, too.”

“What do you want me to do now?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Will said. “Secure the package and hang on to it. There is something your friend from the island can do, though.”

“What’s that?”

“Some people we know down in Virginia would like to have a word with him. Could that be managed where you are now?”

“It could be, if he wants to speak with them.”

“Can you think of any reason he wouldn’t want to?”

“No, but he might have his own reasons.”

“May I speak to him?”

“Hold on, I’ll see.” Stone put the phone down, went back to the study, and beckoned Ed to join him.

Ed got up and left the study. “What’s up?”

“Will Lee is on the phone, and he’d like to speak to you.”

“What about?”

“He says some people at the Agency would like to come here and talk to you.”

“Where’s the phone?”

Stone pointed to the end table where he had left it. Ed walked over and picked it up. “Yes, sir?” He listened for a moment. “No, sir.” He listened some more. “I’m sorry, but no, sir.” He held up the phone. “You want to speak to him again?”

Stone shook his head.

“Good night, sir.” Rawls broke the connection and handed the phone to Stone.

“I take it you don’t want to talk to them.”

“You take it right.”

“Why not?”

“An uncomfortable number of people have already come to know about this situation, and I see no profit in adding to that list,” Ed said. “The more people who know about it the more dangerous this gets.”

“I understand,” Stone said, pocketing his phone. He wondered if Will Lee understood, or if the people at the Agency did.

They went back into the study to finish their brandy.

“You two don’t look very happy,” Dino said.

“Conversations with powerful people make me nervous,” Ed said. He picked up his cognac and raised his glass. “Cheers.”

Stone worked at being an attorney all day, and at lunchtime, Fred brought him a sandwich at his desk.

“Thank you, Fred. You might ask Mr. Rawls if he’d like some lunch.”

“I visited his quarters a few minutes ago, sir, but he was not present, nor is he anywhere else in the house.”

“Did you see him leave?”

“No, sir.”

“And you have no idea where he’s gone?”

“No, sir.”

“Please check his suite every half hour and let me know if he turns up.”

“Yes, sir.” Fred departed.

Stone called Dino.

“What?”

“Ed Rawls has disappeared from the house.”

“Maybe he went for a stroll — people do that.”

“Ed isn’t the stroll type.”

“How do you know? On Islesboro he could take a stroll every hour, and you wouldn’t know it.”

“Nevertheless, I’m worried.”

“And you want me to put out an APB on him, is that it?”

“Not exactly. Could you just ask your people to keep an eye out for him?”

“Keep an eye out where?”

“I don’t know, exactly, in my neighborhood, I guess.”

“You mean you don’t want me to block the bridges and tunnels? The airports? Check the hospitals?”

“I don’t think that will be necessary.”

“I don’t think anything will be necessary at this point in time. If he doesn’t come home for dinner, call me again. You can be such an old woman, Stone.” Dino hung up.

Stone buzzed Fred. “Will you take a walk around the neighborhood and see if you see Mr. Rawls?”

“Of course, sir. How far around the neighborhood?”

“A couple of blocks in all directions.”

“And if I find him, what shall I do?”

“Just make sure he’s okay, and call me if you find him. Just observe from a distance.”

“Certainly, sir.”

Stone called Ed’s cell number, got the usual message, and asked him to call in. He hung up and tried to think ahead. If Ed didn’t turn up, what would he do? He would call Dino, that’s what. But what would he do about the strong case? Open it? He’d burn that bridge when he came to it.

Joan buzzed him. “An insurance man on line one for you.”

Stone picked up the phone.

“Mr. Stone Barrington?”

“Yes.”

“This is Marvin Raymond in the claims department at the Steele Insurance Group.”

“The claims department?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I haven’t filed a claim.”

“No, sir, but if you had, it would have come across my desk.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The claim was filed by a Mr. Edward Rawls, through our agent in the Penobscot region of Maine. He listed you as his attorney.”

“What sort of claim?”

“It seems that someone burned down his house. We’ve had confirmation of that from the Maine State Police, who investigated.”

“That is so.”

“What we’re concerned about is Mr. Rawls himself.”

Stone refrained from mentioning that he was concerned, too.

“What about him?”

“Well, the police told us that they found a male body in the ruins of the house, and they assumed it was Mr. Rawls. If that is so, how did he come to file a claim?”

“The body was apparently that of the arsonist. Mr. Rawls was having dinner with me at my home on Islesboro at the time of the fire.”

“Ah. Can you confirm that Mr. Rawls is still extant?”

Stone thought before answering. “He was, at dinner last evening. I haven’t seen him today.”

“So you can’t swear that he is still alive?”

“Having heard nothing to the contrary, I surmise that Mr. Rawls is alive and well.”

“In that case, we will proceed with paying his claim.”

“Good.”

“If you should hear anything, ah, discouraging about Mr. Rawls’s continuing existence, I’d be grateful for a call.”

“Mr. Raymond, even if Mr. Rawls is not still extant, as you put it, his claim is still a valid one and should be processed as such.”

“Quite so,” the man said. “Thank you for your assistance and good day.” He hung up.

Stone fidgeted through the afternoon, reviewing documents and forgetting what he’d read, then starting over. He didn’t get a lot done.

At around six o’clock he heard a small chime that meant the front door had been opened. He buzzed Fred.