Stone Barrington 06-11

didn’t. I admired… some of what she was—determined, even principled, in a way.”
    “And you don’t like me anymore?”
    “I like you, but I don’t admire you,” Stone said.
    “I did what had to be done.”
    “No, you did what you had to do; there’s a difference.”
    “At least I know that she’s not after me anymore. I can relax now.”
    “I don’t know how you can ever relax again,” Stone said.
    “I’m quitting, you know.”
    “Are you really?”
    “I’m thinking about it.”
    “Don’t think about it, just quit. You can’t be a human being again until you do.”
    “I wish you understood,” she said.
    Stone shrugged. “Like you said, it’s a war; what’s to understand?”
    She stood up. “I have to go.” She gave Dino a hug, then turned to Stone.
    “I don’t feel like kissing you,” she said.
    “Then don’t.”
    “Call me when you’re in London?”
    “After you’ve retired.”
    She gave him a little wave, then left.
    They were quiet for a while, sipping their drinks, then Dino finally spoke. “You were too hard on her.”
    “Was I?”
    “We all have our dirty work to do—Carpenter, me, and you.”

    Stone downed the rest of his bourbon and signaled a waiter for another. “I think you’d better order a police car to take me home tonight.”
    “It’s waiting outside,” Dino said.

    THE END Mount Desert, Maine, June 26, 2002

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    I am grateful to my editor at Putnam, David Highfill, for his continuing fine work on my manuscripts and his shepherding of my books inside the publishing house, as I am to all the people behind the scenes at Putnam who do so much to make my work a success.
    I am grateful, too, to my literary agents, Morton Janklow and Anne Sibbald, for all their work in the management of my career over the past twenty-two years. They have always made me feel I am in good hands.

AUTHOR’S NOTE
    I am happy to hear from readers, but you should know that if you write to me in care of my publisher, three to six months will pass before I receive your letter, and when it finally arrives it will be one among many, and I will not be able to reply.
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