“I forgot about that, heat of the moment.”

“And as long as you’ve mentioned the Agency and the president—you seemed to forget the FBI and the attorney general—you might give some thought to what help you can ask of them. After all, they’re your ‘very close friends.’”

Stone winced. “Who else has heard the recording?”

“The gendarmes, and they were very impressed.”

Stone groaned.

“Don’t worry, Lance has ordered me to destroy the recording.”

“Thank God for small favors.”

“It’s a shame, really, my people at the station would have loved it.”

“And you would have played it for them?”

“Absolutely. I have to think of morale—I may play it for them yet.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Why not? It would make you famous inside the Agency. I’ll just e-mail it and click on the ‘send all’ button.”

Stone held out a hand. “Give it to me.”

“You’re a civilian, you can’t destroy government property, only a government official can do that.”

Stone pointed at the fire. “Then do it here, in my civilian fireplace.”

“I guess there’s no regulation about that.” Rick fished a SanDisk card out of a pocket and flipped it like a coin into the fireplace, where it melted and sizzled.

“Thank you,” Stone said.

Rick got up to go. “How do you know that was the real card? We spies are a devious lot.”

“Can a civilian shoot a government official?”

“If he wants to get into a whole lot of trouble.”

“What if he doesn’t care?”

“Save it for Casselli. And don’t forget, you’ve humiliated him—he’s mad now.” Rick gave Stone a little wave and left.

24

Stone, Hedy, Dino, and Viv had dinner at a neighborhood restaurant, where Stone gave them a summary of his conversation with Casselli.

They listened in silence, then Dino spoke. “I guess I’d better get on the horn to Massimo Bertelli tomorrow morning and get him started doing the things you told Casselli he was already doing.”

“You think he will cooperate to that extent? Isn’t he afraid of his superiors, the Mafia, or both?”

“Neither. He has a direct line to the prime minister, and where the Mafia is concerned, he has more guts than brains. He’ll do anything he can to press them.”

“In that case, I’d appreciate it if you’d call him first thing in the morning.”

“What else are you going to do to create the ‘tsunami’?”

“I’m ashamed to say I don’t know. I’m not about to call the president, and I don’t think Lance is in a mood to spring to my assistance after hearing the recording of my meeting with Casselli.”

“You can put your money where your mouth is.”

“You mean offering a reward for Casselli’s arrest and conviction?”

“Sure. I’m sure Marcel would pick up half of it, so if you offered, say, five million and a passport for Casselli’s head, you might get a nibble from somebody who knows a lot, maybe even land a fish.”

“I’ll do that first thing tomorrow.”

“By the way, where are you going to get the passport?”

“Can you ask Bertelli to back us up on that?”

“Sure. I think he’ll help.”

Stone paid the bill, and they walked home. No sooner had they entered the house, when his cell phone rang, from a blocked number. “Hello?”

“It’s Holly. How are you?” Holly Barker was an old and good friend and sometime lover who had formerly run the CIA New York station and now was national security adviser to the president.

“Okay, I guess.”

“How’s Paris?”

“How’d you know I’m in Paris?”

“I saw your video with Casselli at Lipp, and I loved it!”

“Video! I thought it was only audio.”

“Nope, and with three cameras, too. They cut it like a movie: a two-shot, then close-ups of both of you when you spoke.”

“Oh, shit, Rick threw a SanDisk into my fireplace when he was here, and I thought that was it.”

“Never trust anything a spy does.”

“Never again. Please tell me this hasn’t reached the president.”

“It hasn’t from me, but I’m sure by morning somebody in the Agency e-mail loop will have forwarded it to her. You might devote some time, though, to hoping it doesn’t get leaked to some reporter.”

Stone sighed. “I’m in very deep shit here. I ignored Rick’s instructions and got the bit in my teeth. I’m never going to live this down.”

“You will, if it helps you get Casselli. What are you doing about that?”

“Looking for ideas.”

“You might ask President Kate to call the Italian prime minister and ask him to exert some downward pressure on Casselli through not just the DIA but all the other Italian police departments, of which there are many.”

“I can’t ask Kate to do that.”

“You want me to ask her? I’m happy to do it. The worst she can say is no, and she might not say that.”

“No, I’m too embarrassed at having used her as leverage, especially when I didn’t have it.”

“Whatever you say. I gotta run now. Call me if I can help in any way.”

“Thanks, Holly, I really appreciate that, and if I get an idea, I’ll call.” They said goodbye and hung up.

“That was Holly,” he said to Dino. “Turns out my audio had video attached.”

“Sheesh!” Dino said, laughing. “You just get in deeper and deeper, don’t you?”

“Tell me about it.”

Stone’s phone rang again. “Hello?”

“This is the White House operator. I have the president for you. Can you speak to her?”

Stone’s heart sank. “Yes, thank you.” He covered the phone and said, “It’s Kate.”

Dino burst out laughing.

“Hello, Stone?”

“Yes, Madam President?”

“I just loved your video.”

Stone’s heart leaped. “I didn’t even know it was a video, until Holly called.”

“That’s right, she would already have seen it.”

That meant that Holly hadn’t spoken to Kate. He was relieved about that.

“How can I help?” Kate asked.

“Madam President, I am so sorry to have brought you into this. I—”

“Nonsense. You’ve done me so many favors, and I’ve done you so few. Please tell me how I can help.”

“Well, we’re getting good cooperation from Massimo Bertelli, who’s head of the Italian DIA, but if you could call the prime minister, there’s a whole array of Italian police departments that could be brought to bear, if he’s serious about fighting the Mafia.”

“What a good idea! What time is it over there?”

“It’s a little after ten.”

“I’ll schedule a call to the PM for first thing tomorrow. Anything else?”

“If you could find a way to let Lance know that you’re not angry with me, he might speak to me again someday.”

“Done. I’ll call him right now.”

“Thank you so much for your help.”

“What are friends for? See you.” She hung up.

“What did she say?” Dino asked.

“She’s going to call the PM in the morning. I may have a life again.”

“So you’re out of the shit.”

“Maybe.”

“You’ve got more than nine lives, pal.”

“Friends are better than nine lives.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You certainly may.”

—

Lance Cabot had fallen asleep with a mission report lying open on his chest when the phone rang. “Yes?”

“This is the White House operator. Can you speak with the president?”

This was going to be about the Stone Barrington thing, he knew it. “Of course.”

“Hello, Lance?”

“Yes, Madam President?”

“Have you seen the video of Stone Barrington and the Italian mafioso Casselli?”

“Yes, ma’am, and I’d like to explain about that.”

“Isn’t it wonderful!”

Lance sucked in a breath and searched for words. “Stone is full of surprises, isn’t he?” That avoided both criticism and endorsement.