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Back Below the Belt Save as PDF
Chapters (67)
  1. Cover
  2. BOOKS BY STUART WOODS
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
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  40. 36
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  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
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  50. 46
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  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  66. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  67. What’s next onyour reading list?

“Liable to get killed for your trouble.”

“You swear to me that your book isn’t going to hurt Kate or Will?”

“One of the two pardons that Will made—mine—will become public knowledge, but not the other. Kate can honestly deny all knowledge of mine, and Will can offer justification.”

“What justification?”

“An old KGB hand defected to the Agency during Kate’s run for the presidency, and he spilled the whole story from the KGB point of view. It makes me out, correctly, to be a victim, not a willing collaborator. That gave Will justification for my pardon. If the story comes out, others will verify what the Russian guy spilled to the Agency. I may not end up smelling like a rose, but I won’t be thought of as a traitor anymore. And it won’t damage Kate.”

Stone sighed. “Okay, what’s the name and number of your pack-and-ship place in D.C.?”

“I’ve already texted it,” Rawls said. “It’s in your phone. If for some reason I don’t survive this, I’ll thank you now for your help, Stone. Otherwise, I’ll see you in Islesboro next summer, if not sooner.”

Rawls hung up.

Stone checked his messages; the phone number was there.

42

HOLLY CALLED FROM HOME. “I wanted to thank you for our time together,” she said. “I loved it, I really did, and Kate was right, not being in touch with the White House allowed me to reset my brain. It made me a woman again, something I had almost forgotten, instead of just a functionary.”

“I never forgot you were a woman,” Stone said.

“Thank you for that, and thank you for the proposal, however unconventional it may have been.”

“You’re welcome.”

“How long is the offer going to be open?”

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that. I can’t see into the future.”

“I guess I’ll have to accept that answer.”

“Or my proposal.”

“An important part of me wants to, and right now, but my head is getting in the way.”

“I understand that. It’s the other part I love most.”

“Thank you for that, too.”

“Have you seen 60 Minutes?”

“No, I missed it. I wasn’t here to record it. I’ve talked to a friend who saw it, so I know pretty much how it went.”

“I was impressed.”

“You were?”

“So was Will.”

“He hadn’t seen it when we talked.”

“How was the trip back?”

“Will said that Kate is looking forward to having me back, and that was a relief.”

“Did you ever doubt it?”

“I’m afraid I did, getting suddenly cut off like that. Will told me that Ed Rawls is living in his old house in Virginia.”

“And rebuilding his Maine house.”

“Sounds like he’s optimistic about the future. He thinks he might be alive to enjoy it.”

“He’s not sure about that,” Stone said.