Knox nodded. Gray and secrecy just naturally went together. “Is that connected to the usual suspects who have now been taken off the table? I have to say that revelation was a little out there.”

The younger man answered. “But not all of us agree with that decision.”

Knox looked from young man to old. “So what exactly does that mean? Are they off-limits or not?”

Hayes cast off a smile that was impossible to read. The man could have made a fortune with chips and cards in Vegas, thought Knox.

“Hard to say. As my colleague here mentioned, there’s a split decision about that in the corridors that matter.”

“So where does that leave me?”

“Treading cautiously, Knox, treading very damn cautiously.” He tapped the box. “I was able to collect some things that I’ve placed in here. Including a few off-the-record items.”

“You mean things that technically I’m not supposed to be privy to?” Knox was now missing his book and cozy town house even more.

“We’ll just assume that’s the case.”

“I’m not looking to take a slug in the back of my head over this.”

“I would add that neither am I.”

“That doesn’t give me a lot of comfort, sir, because if you’re watching your back, I’m probably already dead.”

“I want you to read everything, leave here, go home and think. Then call me.”

“With questions or answers?”

“I would hope both.”

“The guy’s probably long gone by now.” Real pros exit as well as they kill.

Hayes lightly tapped the tabletop with his long, bony fingers. To Knox they looked like miniature Medusas in the dim light. “Perhaps.”

“Look, I can spin my wheels and report back zip. You tell me the parameters, General. I’ve played this game too long to get the rookie runaround.”

Hayes rose, as did his companion; the master and his puppet. “Read, think, call. Good night, Knox. And best of luck.”

Knox glared after the pair until they disappeared down the hall, the aircraft carrier and its faithful destroyer chugging through the storm-tossed seas of American intelligence. He lifted the lid of the box, pulled out a fistful of documents and started to read.

Best of luck said the cobra before it struck.

These were precisely the sorts of days where Knox wished he’d followed his old man into the plumbing business.

Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

STONE’S BRIEF SLEEP was suddenly disturbed by what sounded very much like a fight. He blinked awake and looked around. The woman next to him was comforting her crying baby. Stone stared over several rows of seats at the cause of the ruckus.