Stuart Woods_Stone Barrington 14

Dino and Genevieve repaired to the dance floor, and Thomas poured them all a brandy.
    â€œAll right,” he said, after they had raised their glasses, “what’s going on here?”
    Stone and Holly exchanged a glance.
    â€œHolly, I know who you are. I shot pistols against your father in the nationals some years ago, and you were there; I think we even were introduced. As I recall, you were just out of the army and serving as police chief in some little Florida burg.”
    â€œWell, yes,” Holly said.
    â€œI’ll admit that I wouldn’t have immediately recognized you had Stone not blurted out your name. Why are you here under an assumed name?”
    â€œI think I’d better bring Thomas up to date,” Stone said to Holly.
    â€œIf you think it’s a good idea,” she replied.
    â€œI think it’s a good idea, because we’re going to need Thomas’s help.”
    â€œAnd that means you have to tell me everything,” Thomas said. “I don’t want Sir Winston’s police breathing down my neck.”
    â€œIt’s nothing illegal, Thomas,” Stone said. “We’re looking for a man named Teddy Fay.”
    Thomas blinked. “I read in the New York Times that that gentleman was killed in some sort of airplane incident.”
    â€œHe certainly was not killed in that incident,” Stone said, “and he may still be alive.”
    â€œAnd you think he’s alive here ?”
    â€œPossibly. Do you know a woman, an American, named Irene Foster? Fiftyish, attractive?”
    â€œOf course,” Thomas said. “Irene bought an old house up on Black Mountain and renovated it. She lived in the inn for a couple of months in the off-season, while the work was being done. Do you think she might have something to do with Fay?”
    â€œThey knew each other when they both worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, and Ms. Foster retired about the time Teddy disappeared for the second time. It’s thought she might have been helping him, though there’s no hard proof of that.”
    â€œSo Irene was CIA? And she told me she was a retired college professor,” Thomas said.
    â€œHas she been spending a lot of time with any particular man?” Stone asked.
    â€œJust the opposite,” Thomas replied. “Irene has a propensity for picking up single men, tourists, of a certain age, and doing what comes naturally. I’ve never seen her with the same man for more than two or three evenings.”
    Stone produced the drawing of Teddy Fay. “Seen anyone who looks like this?”
    Thomas looked at the picture. “Larry David? I always TiVo his show.”
    â€œWe’re hearing that a lot, but this is as close as we’ve been able to come to what he looks like. He destroyed every photograph of him ever taken.”
    â€œNo, no one like that. Who are you working for on this little search? The FBI?”
    â€œWe’d better not go into that,” Holly said.
    â€œIf you want my help, I want to know it all,” Thomas replied.
    â€œAll right, I work for the CIA now, and Stone and Dino are helping out. Genevieve is just along for the ride.”
    â€œHow long are you planning to be here?” Thomas asked.
    â€œA week or so,” Holly replied. “Longer, if necessary.”
    â€œWell, stick around here and you’ll see Irene in a day or two; she comes in a lot. You’ll probably get to see her in action.”
    â€œThomas,” Stone said, “we heard gunfire near the cottage earlier this evening. What was that about?”
    â€œA man came ashore in a rubber dinghy from a larger boat offshore. The police shot him no more than a hundred yards farther down the beach from your cottage.”
    â€œDrugs?”
    â€œProbably. Certainly, they thought so; I don’t know what they found in the dinghy.”
    â€œI get the impression that the police here might shoot first and ask questions later.”
    â€œThat is not a false impression,” Thomas said. He nodded toward Sir Winston, who was leaving the restaurant. “That’s the way he likes it.”

8
    S tone woke up with his head in “Ginny’s” lap, and he took a moment to investigate how thorough the Agency’s makeover of Holly had been. He was impressed to find that she was a redhead all over. Lance was not taking any chances.
    â€œWhat are you doing down there?” she