Foreign Affairs

“Trust me, you haven’t. And we sold the house, not to you, personally, but to a French corporate entity your attorneys created for the purpose, so your name does not appear in any list of property owners.”

“Well, that’s a high level of anonymity,” Stone admitted, “and it could be very useful. I’m not sure I’d want to give that up. Are you going to notify the French authorities that this house exists?”

“Stone, if we wanted to force you to cooperate, we could just let Casselli know where you are. He would kill or kidnap you and we would follow his people to the source and erase him. But that’s not how we deal with people we like and who are of value to us, as you have been on a number of occasions.”

“I had no idea the Agency was so fond of me,” Stone said wryly. “What do you want me to do?”

“Where is your old phone?”

Stone opened a drawer in the table next to him and handed Rick the phone.

“May I have your new phone?”

Stone removed it from its holster and handed it to him.

Rick removed the SIM card from the new phone and installed it in the old phone, then handed it to Stone. “Why don’t you check in with Joan, see how things are in New York?”

Stone called the number.

“Woodman & Weld,” Joan said.

“It’s Stone.”

“Are you safely in Paris?”

“I am. Thank you for alerting Marie of our arrival. How are things in New York?”

“Under control. Strangely, it gets easier to keep it that way when you leave town.”

“Dino and Viv are here for the weekend.”

“Good for them. You seem to be rambling, Stone, is there something I can do for you?”

“Hold on a minute.” Stone turned to Rick. “Is that long enough?”

“Give it another minute or two,” Rick said.

Stone went back to the phone. “Any interesting mail?”

“Nope.”

“Phone messages?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, I know what I wanted to ask you: Have we ever received a bill for taxes for the Paris house?”

She thought about that. “Nope.”

“Okay, then, call me if anything comes up. Oh, and if one phone doesn’t answer, try the other one.”

“Goodbye, Stone.” She hung up.

“That should do it,” Rick said. “Now, if Casselli’s people traced the call, they’ll get a marker on their map, but the marker won’t correspond to any known Paris address, which will confuse them. But I would imagine that they would have people in the neighborhood within the next twenty-four hours, looking for you.”

“And what happens when they find me?”

“We’ll bag and interrogate them for a few days.”

“Will Casselli know what’s happened to them?”

“No, he’ll just suddenly be out of touch, and he’ll send more people to find them, and when he does, we’ll bag and interrogate them.”

Stone thought for a moment. “Suppose I could get Casselli to come to Paris? Would that shorten the project?”

“How would you get him to do that?”

Stone’s cell phone rang. “I’ll bet that’s him now.”

“Go ahead, see what you can do.”

Stone pressed the button. “Hello?”

“Mr. Barrington?”

“Yes.”

“This is Leonardo Casselli.”

“Hello, Mr. Casselli, what can I do for you?”

20

Casselli seemed momentarily nonplussed, then he collected himself and spoke. “I think perhaps it would be useful if you and I met.”

“Fine, how about lunch tomorrow?”

“I’m committed for that time. Would the day after tomorrow be convenient?”

“Brasserie Lipp, in Saint-Germain-des-Prés at one o’clock?”

“But that is in Paris,” Casselli said.

“And I am in Paris,” Stone replied. “I don’t know when or if I’ll be returning to Rome. I may have to go back to New York soon.”

“Paris is awkward for me,” Casselli said.

“All right, New York?”

“No,” Casselli said. “Brasserie Lipp at one o’clock the day after tomorrow.”

“I’ll book,” Stone replied. “See you then.” He hung up and turned to Rick. “Day after tomorrow.”

“I’m astonished,” Rick said. “It can’t be that easy.”

“Apparently, Casselli thinks that dealing with me would be easier than dealing with Marcel. As you heard, I told him I wouldn’t be returning to Rome.”

“Then I’ll get in touch with our French partners and arrange for him to be detained.”

“Not until after lunch,” Stone said.

“Why after?”

“Because I want to hear what he has to say. And I want to see if I can persuade him to leave us alone.”

“Good luck with that,” Rick said, standing up. “Now, I have a meeting at my office.”

“Thank you for the protection,” Stone said. “I feel better knowing your men are out there. If Hedy should leave the house, please see that she is followed.”

“Of course,” Rick said. They shook hands, and he departed.

Dino came downstairs, yawning. “What time is di

“Seven-thirty?”

“It’s di

“No, it’s lunchtime. Go see Marie in the kitchen—she’ll find something for you.”

Dino disappeared into the kitchen, and Hedy came inside, carrying her easel. “I’m begi

“Try the roof,” Stone replied. “There are some interesting views from up there.”

“Good idea.”

“Take the elevator to the top and walk up one flight. Don’t be surprised if you encounter a man with a gun.”

“Would he be theirs or ours?”

“Ours. Introduce yourself.”

She vanished into the elevator, and Dino returned to the living room, bearing a sandwich and a beer.

“What’s this called in French?” he asked, indicating the sandwich.

“Croque-monsieur. A grilled ham and cheese.”

Dino took the chair next to Stone’s and had a bite. “It tastes different from a ham and cheese at home.”

“Lots of butter.”

“I saw Rick LaRose leaving, didn’t I?”

“You did. He and his people are watching over us.”

“Well, that gives me a nice warm feeling inside.”

“It’s the croque-monsieur.”

“Maybe you’re right. What’s new with Rick?”

“I think you already knew that he’s the station chief in Paris?”

“I know.”

“What’s new is that the Agency, meaning Lance, is begi

“That’s broad-minded of Lance. How will that help them do their job?”

“I think they’re trying to find that out right now. Sounds great on paper, though, or at a congressional hearing.”

“I never think of Lance reporting to anybody.”

“Lance has a budget, like every other top bureaucrat, and it has to be approved by Congress.”

“I suppose.”

“Still, I think Lance manages to be more of an autocrat than most other Agency heads. Right now, he’s taken the view that I should be a sacrificial goat in order to entrap Casselli, who is the lion in this scenario.”

“Are you going along with that?”

“To the extent that I have to, if I want his and Rick’s protection while I’m in Paris.”

“What about Hedy? Is she a goat, too?”

“No, just an i

“Is she safe?”

“I hope so.”

21

They enjoyed a very fine di