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Chapters (63)
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  2. Books by Stuart Woods
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  63. AUTHOR’S NOTE

“You might begin by getting Dino to ask Bertelli to do the things you’ve already told Casselli he was doing.”

“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.”