“But how could they intercept a cell phone call from up here? They wouldn’t have known where it was.”

“They could intercept it from your phone,” Freeman said.

“Remember,” Felicity interjected, “the foreign secretary knew you were in touch with Hackett.”

Freeman looked at Stone. “I don’t understand,” he said.

Felicity spoke up. “I hired Stone to help find Stanley Whitestone,” she said.

“Was Jim Whitestone?” Stone asked.

Freeman shook his head. “I don’t know. If he was, he never confirmed it to me.”

“Tell me,” Stone said, “if Jim were Whitestone, would he have had the resources to establish an identity as Hackett twelve years ago?”

“Yes, but he would have had to establish that identity longer ago than that. Still, he could have done it.”

Felicity went to the bar and poured herself a brandy, then went and stood at the window, looking out on the harbor. A big moon was rising as the sun set, illuminating the boats at their moorings.

There was a slapping noise, and Felicity emitted an involuntary shout and fell to the floor.

Stone dove for the light switch, and the room went dark. He crawled across the floor past Freeman to where Felicity lay and turned her over.

“I’m all right,” she said. “What was that? There was this noise right in front of me.”

Freeman spoke up. “I can see from here,” he said. “The window is broken, but it didn’t shatter.”

Stone crawled out of the living room and found a flashlight in a kitchen drawer. He got down and crawled back to Felicity, then played the light on the broken window. “Good God!” he exclaimed. “There’s a bullet stuck in the glass.”

“Impossible,” Freeman said.

“No, all the glass in this house is armored. The CIA installed it when Dick was building the house.” He held the light steady, so Freeman and Felicity could see.

“Well, thank God for the CIA!” Felicity said.

Stone got out his cell phone and called Captain Scott Smith’s office and was transferred to his cell.

“Captain Scott Smith,” he said.

“Captain, it’s Stone Barrington. Our assassin is still out there; he just took a shot at my house. Fortunately, the armored glass stopped the bullet.”

“I’ll get a chopper over there right away,” Smith said.

“Hang on,” Stone said. He crawled to the back door and opened it. The sound of a boat’s engine could be heard leaving the harbor. He looked outside. “Captain, there’s a boat leaving the harbor right now. It’s just turning the point, headed south. It’s not wearing any nav lights.”

“We’re on it,” the captain said. “I’ll call you if we have any luck.” He hung up.

Stone stood up. “I think we’re all right now,” he said, helping up Felicity, who was still clutching her glass of brandy. “You didn’t spill a drop,” he said.

“Well,” she replied, “it’s awfully good brandy.”

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