Stuart Woods_Stone Barrington 14

unbuttoning her blouse.
    â€œOh, yeah,” Stone said, shucking off clothes.

12
    L ance Cabot sat in his borrowed office at Langley, sifting through his notes. The phone rang. “Lance Cabot.”
    â€œMr. Cabot, this is Eileen, in the director’s office. The director would like to see you.”
    â€œOf course. When?”
    â€œRight now, if you’re available.”
    â€œI’ll be there shortly.”
    Lance closed his notebook, checked his hair in the mirror and slipped into the jacket of his pinstriped suit. He walked swiftly down the hallway, across the building to the director’s office, which was on the same floor, and presented himself to her secretary.
    â€œGo right in, Mr. Cabot,” she said.
    â€œPlease, Eileen, it’s Lance.” He flashed her a smile, rapped lightly on the door and opened it.
    â€œCome in, Lance,” Kate Lee said. She rose and walked to a seating area on the other side of her large office and waved him to a chair next to her.
    â€œGood morning, Director.”
    â€œPlease, call me Kate, when we’re not in meetings. It makes me more comfortable.”
    It made Lance more comfortable, too. He wanted to be on an informal basis with her. There was an office down the hall that he very much wanted to fill. “Thank you, Kate.” Lance liked the idea of working for a woman; he got along very well with women.
    â€œLance, I believe you’re the best-dressed man at Langley,” she said, smiling.
    Lance laughed. “It’s all those years of working out of London.”
    â€œI’m sure if you’re here long enough, you’ll raise the sartorial level among the other gentlemen in the building.”
    â€œI doubt it,” Lance said.
    â€œSo do I. Where are we on the Teddy Fay matter?”
    â€œMoving along. Holly and her group are ensconced in St. Marks, and they’ve already made contact with Irene Foster.”
    â€œHow did they go about that?”
    â€œIt turned out to be quite easy. They’re staying at an inn that has the best restaurant on the island, and Irene came in for dinner. Her companion introduced himself, and Stone invited them for drinks.”
    â€œHer companion?”
    â€œYes, but it’s not Teddy; it’s someone she knew in Virginia before she retired, a building contractor named Harry Pitts.”
    â€œTell me why you believe he is not Teddy.”
    â€œA different physical type, and he has hair, which Teddy was short of.”
    â€œAre there any photographs of Teddy when he was younger, when he had more hair?”
    â€œThere are no photographs of Teddy at all.”
    â€œOh, yes, I knew that.”
    â€œHave you checked out this Pitts fellow?”
    â€œYes, and he’s who he says he is. He was well known in the area for remodeling work—kitchens, that sort of thing. He sold his business last year and took up sailing. He sailed into St. Marks earlier this week and is staying at Irene’s.”
    â€œAs long as you’re satisfied.”
    â€œIf Teddy is on St. Marks—and I’m inclined to believe he is—then he’s not going to be very visible, and he’s certainly not going to be living at Irene’s house, not this soon. He would not just show up, but go to some lengths to insinuate himself gradually into the landscape.”
    â€œI suppose. What has Holly learned about Irene?”
    â€œThat she’s lonely and probably drinks a little too much.”
    â€œShe didn’t when she was still here.”
    â€œShe’s acquired a reputation for picking up men and taking them home. She didn’t do that here, either.”
    â€œNot that we know of.”
    â€œIt’s my assumption that if she did, you’d know it.”
    â€œWell, she went through the usual periodic vetting and polygraph; we didn’t spend a lot of time spying on her. She was a trusted member of the Company for a long time, and she was bloody good at what she did.”
    â€œThat means if she was helping Teddy, she was good enough to hide it.”
    â€œCertainly.”
    â€œHolly and her crew are having dinner at her home tonight; perhaps they’ll turn up something new there.”
    â€œI’m impressed,” Kate said.
    â€œHolly’s a very bright girl; what she lacks in formal Agency training, she makes up for in her personal experience in her military and police careers, and her