Stone Barrington 06-11

something else might go wrong. You just can’t take the chance.”
    “Okay, I’ve had your full views on this subject. Can we change it now, please?”
    “Sure, what would you like to talk about?”
    “How can I take Trini before the NYPD does?”

    “Holly, you’d better forget about Trini. Let them take him, then you can get in line to prosecute him.”
    “Which means never.”
    “Lots of people could match that description, surely you know that.”
    “It’s Trini. I know it in my bones.”
    “If it is, wouldn’t you just as soon see him get the death penalty in New York as in Florida?”
    “No, I wouldn’t. I want to sit in a Florida prison and watch him take the needle.”
    “Dino can arrange for you to sit in a New York prison and watch. Wouldn’t that do?”
    “No. I want to arrest him.”
    “You want to kill him, don’t you?”
    “If he gave me an excuse, I would.”
    “Don’t you realize that he’d have as good a chance of killing you, maybe better?”
    “I’ll take that chance.”
    “So you’re going to pursue Trini with reckless abandon.”
    “Right up until the moment somebody takes him off the street, and I hope it’s me.” Holly set her empty plate aside and started eating Grant’s lunch.

22
    S TONE WAS ABOUT to ask for a check when Lance strolled up to their table.
    “Mind if I join you?” he asked, sliding into the banquette seat next to Holly.
    “We’ve just finished lunch,” Stone said.
    “I won’t keep you long. Let me buy you coffee.” He was sitting too close to Holly for Stone’s comfort.
    A waiter appeared, and Lance looked at Holly.
    “Decaf cappuccino,” Holly said.
    “Stone?”
    “Double espresso, please. The real thing.”
    “Same for me,” Lance said.
    “How did you know we were here?” Holly asked.
    “The CIA knows all,” Stone said wryly.
    “Oh, not all, perhaps,” Lance said. “Truth said, one of my people followed Agent Harrison and called me.”
    “And why is the CIA following the FBI?” Stone asked.

    “We have come to expect a certain… how shall I say? . . . lack of candor from our colleagues at the Bureau,” Lance said.
    “Even after nine/eleven?” Holly asked.
    “They’ve become more candid about certain things since nine/eleven,” Lance said, “and less candid about others.”
    “Why?” she asked.
    “Because they’re the Bureau,” Lance said.
    “Oh. I knew that.”
    “Frankly, in part because of this behavior, I don’t expect them to survive as a discrete entity much longer.”
    “Oh, come on,” Stone said. “Congress would never allow the Bureau to expire as an agency.”
    “Mark my words, Congress will insist on it,” Lance replied. “They have become too devious for their own good. When senior officials start lying to congressional committees, the Bureau does not enhance its longevity.”
    Stone snorted. “Whereas Congress expects the Agency to tell the truth?”
    Lance nodded gravely. “Certainly not. They simply expect a certain lack of frankness, given the work we do.”
    “So why are you here, Lance?” Stone asked. “Certainly not for the coffee.”
    Lance sipped the cup that had been set before him. “A plentiful reason for being here,” he said, looking around. “I’ve always liked this place. It’s like Paris without the French.”

    Holly laughed, but Stone restrained himself. “Come on, cough it up.”
    “I merely came to suggest that you watch the six o’clock news this evening.”
    “Why?”
    “You don’t want me to take all the fun out of it by telling you in advance, do you?”
    “Yes,” Stone replied. “Besides, wouldn’t you enjoy watching the expressions on our faces?”
    “Well, there is that,” Lance said, smiling. “Oh, all right: On tonight’s local news you’ll learn that the killing of the policeman in Little Italy was the result of a random gunshot from the street, not an execution.”
    Stone and Holly gaped at him.
    “You’re right, Stone, the expression on your faces was worth it,” Lance said.
    “Tell me,” Holly said, “how do you get a witness’s description of the shooter from a random incident?”
    “An excellent question,” Lance said.
    “So who is manipulating the media, and why?” Stone asked.
    “An even better question. Look at it this way: Who benefits from the altered perception of the incident?”
    “Trini Rodriguez,” Holly said quickly.
    “Of course, but not just Trini.”
    “I think I’m picking up the thread,”