Stone - 25 - Collateral Damage

hope you get her next time.”
    Holly tossed off her drink and set down the empty glass. “I missed lunch. Can we sit down?”
    “Sure.” Stone put money on the bar and led her to the back room, where a table was waiting. They ordered steaks immediately.
    “Stone, a couple of other things happened today,” she said.
    “I heard on the news about the president’s executive order.”
    “And as a result, the office here has been made a full-fledged station, and I’m the new station chief.”
    “So you’ll be staying on in New York?”
    “For the time being, until we’re back on our feet and Jasmine has been dealt with. I think I should move to my apartment. I mean, it’s just sitting there, I might as well get some use out of it.”
    “Have you taken a vow of celibacy?”
    She squeezed his thigh. “Not yet!”
    “Listen to me carefully: I suspect you’re talking this way because you’re afraid you’re imposing on my good nature.”
    “Well…”
    “Nothing could be further from the truth. I haven’t felt so comfortable in my own house since Arrington died, and having you there has made me feel that way. Please stay with me for as long as you can stand it.”
    Holly smiled. “Standing it is not the problem. I’ll stay.”
    “Good.”
    “I’ll need to go up to my apartment and get some clothes, though.”
    “Plenty of room in your dressing room in Turtle Bay.”
    “Thank you, Stone.”
    “It’ll save the Agency money on security, too. They’ll have only one residence to guard.”
    “I suppose that’s true. Do you mind if I admit to Kate Rule that I’m living with you? She assumes it anyway.”
    “Go right ahead. We can take out an ad in the paper, if you like.”
    “I don’t think it’s a good idea to advertise,” Holly said, laughing.
    “Right. Jasmine might see the ad, and we don’t want that. May I make a suggestion?”
    “Sure.”
    “Why don’t you get an Agency driver and use my car to go to and from work every day?”
    “Oh, thank you, but we have armored vehicles and drivers available at the station. I guess I’d better start using them, instead of taking cabs.”
    “Please do,” Stone said. “I’d feel better.”
    Their food came and they dug in. When they were on their last glass of wine, Holly cleared her throat. “I need your advice,” she said.
    “Of course. Legal?”
    “In a way. I’m trying to figure out a way not to commit murder.”
    “I hope I can help. Who’s the putative victim?”
    “Kelli Keane.”
    “Oh?”
    “She’s told Jim Rutledge about the device at The Arrington.”
    Stone put down his glass. “How do you know that?”
    “Because I had Rutledge’s apartment wired for audio and video.”
    “And you’ve been listening in and watching?”
    “From time to time. Last night I caught them coming back from our dinner and he was pumping her a little bit.”
    “Literally or figuratively?”
    “Well, both, now that you mention it. They seem to do almost as much of that as you and I.”
    “Lucky them.”
    “But this time he was pumping her about an earlier conversation. She had told him she knew something that she couldn’t tell him.”
    “And last night she told him everything?”
    “She told him something, whispered in his ear, and from his reaction, I think she may have told him everything.”
    “And you’re thinking about having her… What’s the phrase they use in spy novels? Terminated with extreme prejudice?”
    “That’s the term. I’m not really going to do that, of course. My problem is, what do I do?”
    “I believe you’ve already had a serious conversation with her about this, haven’t you?”
    “I have, and I thought I had scared her into silence. But…”
    “But, she whispered into Jim’s ear last night.”
    “Exactly. How can I shut her up?”
    “Well, you could have them slapped around a little, I guess.”
    “Stop it! You’re no help at all.”
    “All right, all right. Being an attorney, I tend to look for legal solutions to problems. I seem to recall reading about there being some federal judge that can secretly issue wiretap warrants for the FBI. Is that true?”
    “I’ve heard that, too.”
    “Well, since the president has unleashed the Agency on an unsuspecting population with his executive order, wouldn’t that give you access to the judge?”
    “Very possibly,” she said. “Go on.”
    “Well, you could formally request a gag order from the judge, barring Jim and Kelli from