Stuart Woods_Stone Barrington 14

here again?”
    â€œLet me put it this way: I think that if Winston could think of a plausible reason to arrest you, and perhaps your friends, jail you for a few days, then throw you ignominiously off the island, it would give him great pleasure to do so.” He smiled. “But I think it is unlikely that he would go so far as hanging you, as he tried so hard to do with the lovely Allison.”
    Stone laughed. “Then I must be careful not to do anything to excite his interest.”
    â€œThere is another possibility as to why you were bugged,” Sir Leslie said. “It is possible that, after Thomas built the cottages, all of them were bugged, on general principles. It’s the sort of thing our Colonel Croft would do.”
    â€œSo it’s possible that I and my friends are not targets of Colonel Croft?”
    â€œYou should not draw that conclusion. The fact that the cottages may already have been bugged would simply be a convenience for the Colonel.”
    â€œI’m surprised Thomas has not mentioned Colonel Croft to me,” Stone said.
    â€œThomas is in a delicate position,” Sir Leslie said. “He is your friend, but he is a subject of the Colonel’s and Winston’s constant attention. So far, he has fared well under the new regime, but he is well aware that, should he cross Winston, he could find himself bereft. You must be careful not to put him in that position.”
    â€œI’m glad you told me this, Leslie, because I would not wish to do anything to harm Thomas or his interests here.”
    â€œJust be very careful of your conversations in the cottage.”
    â€œI’ll do so. Tell me, Leslie, do you know of an Irene Foster?”
    â€œAh, the CIA lady, the queen of Black Mountain!”
    â€œExactly.”
    â€œShe is quite something,” Leslie said. “I believe I might be one of the few men on the island she hasn’t slept with.” He giggled.
    â€œSurely she can’t be that bad.”
    â€œI exaggerate, of course, but I know of four instances where gentlemen have succumbed to her tender mercies. At the moment, I believe, she has an in-house lover.”
    â€œYes, one Harry Pitts; they knew each other back in Virginia.”
    â€œI wonder if Mr. Pitts is or was CIA, too?”
    â€œWhy do you say that?”
    â€œWell, these intelligence people tend to stick close to their own kind, don’t they?”
    â€œI think he is probably what he says he is, a retired building contractor.”
    â€œPerhaps, perhaps not. Permit me my fantasies; they are all that is left for an old man.”
    â€œDo you know of an Englishman named Robertson?”
    â€œAh, the retired Englishman; he is quite new to the island, and also a denizen of Black Mountain. I understand he was in the computer business in some fashion, back in the mother country.”
    â€œHave you met him?”
    â€œNo; I meet so few people these days, but I hear a lot.”
    â€œHave you heard anything that might make you think that Mr. Robertson is not exactly who he says he is?”
    Sir Leslie grinned. “No, but I suspect everyone.”
    Stone laughed. “Please excuse me, Leslie, but I must rejoin my friends; they will think I’ve been arrested.”
    Sir Leslie stood. “Then you must see to it that their worst fears are not realized. And Stone, if you should run afoul of the Colonel, tell Thomas to call me; I’ll be happy to represent you.”
    â€œThank you, Leslie.” They shook hands, and Stone took his leave. As he went through the garden gate he looked back to see Sir Leslie back on his knees, digging in the soil.

20
    S tone drove back to the inn and parked at the cottage, and he saw Holly and Genevieve stretched out on the beach, naked, a very pleasant sight. He liked Holly’s slimmer body. He went inside, undressed, grabbed a towel and joined them.
    â€œHey, there,” Holly said. “Where you been?”
    â€œI made a stop at the airport, then I went to see my old colleague Sir Leslie Hewitt.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œAnd I gleaned some useful information. Where’s Dino?”
    â€œHe says the sun makes you old; he’s napping inside.”
    â€œHave you spoken with Lance today?”
    â€œYes; nothing new.”
    â€œYou may need to call him again. I began thinking about how Teddy always has an escape route planned, and if he’s on the island how he might need