“I’m here. Now.”

“But for how long?”

Stone hesitated. He could not lie to the woman. “I have to go away.”

“Sure, of course you do. I understand,” she said offhandedly.

“I have some things that I have to take care of. Some wrongs finally need to be righted.”

“Okay, whatever you have to do.”

“Abby, I mean it. I will be there for you. Even if I’m not physically here.”

He caught her gaze and held it with a pleading one of his own.

“I want to believe that.”

“You can believe it.”

“When do you have to go?”

“Soon. Sooner than later.”

“Are you sure things will work out for you?”

“I won’t lie to you, there are no guarantees.”

“The trouble you might be in?”

“Yes.”

“Will they put you in prison?”

“It’s certainly possible,” Stone admitted.

A quiet sob escaped her lips and she rested her face on the back of his hand.

“Will you promise me one thing?”

“I’ll try my best.”

“If you can’t come back here, will you never forget me?”

“Abby—”

She sat up and put a hand against his lips. “Will you never forget me?”

“I will never forget you,” he said truthfully.

She leaned across the table and kissed him on the cheek. “Because I’ll never forget you.”

A few minutes later Joe Knox came in. Stone looked over at him.

“You ready?” he asked Stone. “We need to get this done.”

Stone gave Abby’s hand one final squeeze and rose.

“I’m ready.”

Chapter 81

CHAPTER 81

THE FRONT DOOR to Macklin Hayes’ stately brownstone in Georgetown was thrown open so hard it smacked the wall hard enough to make a dent in the plaster.

“What the hell?” began the man as he half rose from his chair, the book he’d been holding falling to the floor. When he saw who it was he sat back down, stunned.

“Hey, sir, how goes it?” Knox said as he strode in.

“Knox?” Hayes began nervously. “How did you get past the guards outside?”

“Oh, that. One of them is a buddy. I said I’d only be a few minutes. So they went down the street for a cup of coffee.”

A panicked look came to the general’s face. “Knox, let me explain—”

When Hayes saw Stone walk into the room, he could only gape in astonishment. When he observed that Stone’s hands were manacled together, he started to breathe again.

“Mack,” Stone said. “Nice place you have here. A lot nicer than the one Joe and I were in. But then you know that, don’t you?”

Hayes finally wrenched his gaze from Stone.

“Knox, this will earn you that retirement you’ve been after, plus anything else in my power. Anything! I swear it.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Obviously encouraged by this, Hayes rose and put a bony arm around Knox’s burly shoulders, drawing him aside.