“They took whatever was on the Agency’s inventory list,” Holly said.

Stone handed her a 9mm semiautomatic pistol and a couple of loaded magazines. “So you won’t feel naked,” he said.

“Thank you.”

“Nobody is coming in here,” Stone said. “This house was built to Agency specs, remember?”

“I remember, and it gives me a warm feeling all over.”

“I believe you said something about getting naked,” Stone said, locking the secret room and straightening the picture that hung on the door.

“I believe it was you who mentioned naked, in reference to sidearms, but now that I think of it, I’m ready to get naked.”

“Then let’s get upstairs,” Stone said, and on the way he armed the alarm system and checked the panel to be sure all the windows were secure.

—

THE FOLLOWING MORNING, as they were finishing breakfast in bed, Stone’s cell phone rang. The caller’s number was blocked.

“You said to call you,” Ed Rawls said. “What’s up? Don’t waste my time.”

“I’m coming to see you this morning, Ed, and Holly Barker is coming with me, and I don’t want a shotgun pointed at us. That concise enough for you?”

“Yep.” Ed hung up.

“You think he’s gone completely nuts?” Holly asked.

“Jimmy Hotchkiss said they had ninety inches of snow up here this winter. What sort of effect would that have on you if you were alone and couldn’t see out the window for four or five months?”

“It would make me glad to see people,” Holly said, “just like any normal human being.”

“Ed was never that normal,” Stone said. “He was always a little tetchy about callers at his place.”

“I’ll grant you that, but he knows us. Who can he trust if not you and me?”

“Why don’t we stop arguing and go find out?”

—

WHEN THEY GOT to Ed Rawls’s gate, it swung open and the big log across the road swung back on its rollers, too. Once they were through, both returned to their original positions.

“Did you see the camera?” Holly asked.

“Yes. It wasn’t there last year.” As they came around a curve the cottage was revealed. Ed Rawls was standing on the front porch, a shotgun in his hand. They got out of the car.

“Ed, I warned you about that shotgun,” Stone said.

“It ain’t pointed at you, is it? Get your ass inside so I can lock everything down.” He opened the door for them and followed them in, then spent a long moment working several locks. The room looked as cozy and comfortable as ever, but the windows all had blackout curtains. “Siddown,” Ed said. “I’ve got lunch on the stove.”