Unintended Consequences

ambulance we had arranged for him was used to transport you to the embassy.”
    “So that business about the cabdriver delivering me was a fiction?”
    “It was.”
    “And it was Aldo who was to occupy the room given to me?”
    “Yes, but he managed to elude us at the airport. Dr. Keeler, whom you met, is a forensic psychiatrist, who would have been in charge of the interrogation of Aldo. But he was quite interested in the effects of the drug on you, so it wasn’t a total loss for him.”
    “I’m so happy to have been of help,” Stone said drily. “What now?”
    “Ah, now,” Lance said, “there is more to do.”

45
    T he van pulled into another garage, and the door closed behind it. Stone could see armed guards inspecting them.
    “You’ve been here before,” Lance said, getting out and leading the way to the elevator.
    “Yes,” Stone replied.
    The elevator stopped on the top floor, and they stepped into a broad hallway. Unlike Stone’s previous visit, when the building had seemed practically empty, it now teemed with life. He followed Lance down the hallway to Holly’s large office at the end.
    Holly got up from a group at her conference table, kissed Stone on the cheek, and shook Lance’s and Rick’s hands. “Please have a seat,” she said.
    Everybody sat, and a coffeepot was passed around.
    “Everybody, please excuse me,” Lance said, “while I bring Stone up to date.” He turned toward Stone. “Now that we have in place the necessary changes to our charter, we are conducting our first operation against a criminal enterprise, in New York, London, Paris, and Los Angeles. Rick is here to coordinate with the three teams.
    “Yuri Majorov, whom you have sort of met, has been identified as the leader of this group, at least outside of Moscow, and he is charged with both finding legitimate businesses and taking them over on terms very favorable to his group, which, as you know, we are calling SQUID. It’s not an acronym, so don’t waste time trying to figure out what it means. The squid overpowers large prey in its tentacles, then uses its very sharp beak to kill it, so the name is not inappropriate, given their tactics.
    “Having been rebuffed in Aldo’s meeting with Bill Eggers, they identified you as the key player in the Arrington business, since you, together with your son’s trust, are the largest shareholder. They reason that, with you taken out of the picture, the board members would become rattled, fearful of their personal safety, and thus more inclined to accept an offer, albeit a very lowball one. We have learned that they are now preparing to take further steps, after they have dispatched you.
    “In short, there will be, if their plan is successful, a significant ‘accident’ at the hotel, one big enough to frighten the paying guests and shake the board’s confidence. Our Los Angeles station is alert to that possibility and working hard to see that it does not take place.”
    “So, Lance,” Stone said, “what do you want me to do?”
    “We want you to stay alive,” Lance replied.
    “I assure you, that is uppermost in my mind.”
    “Yes, but thus far, your attention has been redirected to protecting Marcel, who, as it turns out, is in danger only to the extent of his proximity to you.”
    “Do you want me to move him out of my house, then?”
    “No, we have sufficiently fortified your residence, as recent events have shown, that we are happy for him to remain there.”
    “That’s fine with me.”
    “We’d like you to move about separately, for you to give him and/or Helga the free use of the Bentley and for you to rely on our van for personal transportation.”
    Stone shrugged. “All right, I don’t object to that.”
    “We would like for you to be armed at all times, as well.”
    “I am armed,” Stone replied.
    “Please remain so. The driver of the van and one other man aboard will be heavily armed and prepared to deal with any attack.”
    “Oh, good.”
    “Stone, I would appreciate it if you would take this seriously.”
    “I assure you, I do,” Stone said. “Anything to do with the preservation of my life will have my full attention.”
    “We think it best that you do not attend the opening of the auto show,” Lance said.
    “I was looking for a way out of that, anyway. I’ve already been to the Paris show, and they’ll have, mostly, the same cars.”
    “Now, let me try to be delicate,” Lance said.
    “Please do.”
    “While we wish you