Stuart Woods_Stone Barrington 14
brilliant suggestion and e-mail them to Lance, if I think one of them might be Teddy.â
âGood.â
âBy the way, the jet is picking us up at noon the day after tomorrow.â
âRegardless of what we learn?â
âThese photos are our last gasp; if none of them is Teddy, weâre out of here. If one of them is Teddy, weâre out of here, too. Dealing with him is somebody elseâs job.â
âSounds good to me.â
âMe too,â Dino said. âThe sight of that shark off our beach nixed the place for me. Iâm not going back in the water past knee-deep.â
âOh, Dino,â Genevieve said, âthe shark was just doing what sharks do. Weâve only seen him once, and he probably wonât be back.â
âIâm not going in the same ocean with him,â Dino said, digging into his seafood salad. He held up a forkful. âIâm happy to eat his lunch, but Iâm not going to be his lunch.â
They ate in a leisurely fashion, and after an hour had passed, Holly checked her e-mail.
There was an e-mail from Ham: âAre you coming by here on your way back to D.C.?â
âIâll see if we can stop by and pick up Daisy on the way back,â she responded, âbut I wonât be able to stay. Give my love to Ginny.â She signed it and sent the mail.
âNothing from Pepper?â Stone asked.
âNope.â
âHow long was it supposed to take?â
âHe said a few minutes to hack into the government computer, and heâd have them to me in an hour.â
Stone checked his watch. âItâs been an hour and a half.â
âMaybe he got busy at work.â
A nother hour passed, then two hours, and still nothing had arrived from Pepper. Late in the afternoon, Holly called Lance.
âLance Cabot.â
âItâs your humble servant; somethingâs wrong.â
âWhat?â
âPepper was supposed to e-mail me the photos within an hour after we talked. Itâs been five hours, and Iâve heard nothing.â
âI suppose he could have become occupied with something else at work, but still, that doesnât sound right.â
âIâm only supposed to call him at midday on the satphone, so I canât communicate.â
âHang on, let me think.â
âOkay.â Holly waited through three or four minutes of silence.
Lance came back on. âBill has probably already left the office for the day. And I tried his home; no answer.â
âBut if he didnât have the photos, he could have e-mailed me to let me know.â
âI know, and it doesnât sound right. Iâve had a look at Billâs file, and he has a sister in Miami named Doris Pepper. Sheâs forty-six years old, five-six, a hundred and forty pounds, blonde and pretty. She teaches sixth grade at a public school in Miami. Tomorrow morning, after nine, call Billâs office, but not on the satphone.â He gave her the number. âWhen he comes on the line tell him youâre a friend of his sister, and you promised her youâd call him for her. Sheâs fine, et cetera, et cetera.â
âAnd what is my purpose for the call?â
âTo find out if heâs okay. Donât talk long, and before you hang up, tell him his sister said to drop her an e-mail sometime. I want to know exactly what his response is. Call me on the satphone as soon as you hang up.â
âOkay. Do you think something is wrong?â
âI always think something is wrong when an agent doesnât do what he says heâll do.â Lance hung up.
30
H olly and her party went directly to their table at the inn, but Irene was late and without Harry.
âIâm so sorry,â she said, âand Harryâs even later. He had some business he had to take care of at the marina.â She sat down and accepted a rum punch from the pitcher on the table.
âSo Harryâs sticking around for a while?â Stone asked.
She smiled. âI must admit, Iâm getting used to having him here. Heâs good around the house, and a lot of things I was letting go are getting taken care of.â
âGood around the house,â Genevieve said, leering. âIâll bet he is.â
âWell, that, too,â Irene admitted. âItâs been so long since I lived with a man, Iâd forgotten what it was like.â
Holly felt the same way,
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