“And I don’t have any more time for you,” Stone said. “Now, hear this: from this moment I am going to consider you and your people a threat to my life and act accordingly, and I am a very good shot.” That was a lie, but he doubted if Aarons had perused his range record at the NYPD. Dino was always needling him about his mediocre shooting performance.

“Place your hands on your head, turn and walk out of the building,” Stone said. “If you call again I’ll hang up on you, and if you come back I’ll fire on you. Is that clear?”

The three men did as Stone had ordered, and Joan locked the door behind them.

“Very good,” Stone said from his office door. “I particularly liked your firing stance.”

“That’s what they taught me at the range,” Joan said, “but I doubt if I could have hit any of them with this thing; it weighs a ton.”

“Only thirty-nine ounces,” Stone said.

“That’s two and a half pounds,” Joan pointed out, “and I’m a small girl.”

The phone rang, and Joan answered. “Mike Freeman for you,” she said.

Stone walked back to his desk and picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“It’s Mike.”

“Hello, Mike. It must be a beautiful day on Lake Waramaug.”

“I’m in New York,” Mike said.

“A pity; it’s gorgeous up there.”

“You know, don’t you?”

Stone now had to decide between his two clients. “Lance called,” he said, avoiding the decision.

“I’m embarrassed,” Mike said. “I’ve already fired the two men who let it happen.”

“I wouldn’t be too hard on them,” Stone said. “After all, we have to assume he’s still safe, just not in custody, so to speak.”

“We checked all the airports in the area,” Mike said. “No sign of Pablo.”

“I wouldn’t try too hard to find him,” Stone replied. “He doesn’t seem to want protecting anymore.”

“I can’t argue with that,” Mike said. “We’ll stand down.”

Stone hung up. Now, he thought, if I could just be sure that the Mossad and Al Qaeda have stood down.

FIFTY-NINE

Stone was at Elaine’s with Dino when Lance Cabot walked in and, without a word, sat down, waving at a waiter. He did not speak until an icy martini sat before him.

Stone and Dino exchanged a glance.

“Good evening, Lance,” Dino said.

“Is it?”

“It was until a moment ago,” Stone said. “What do you want?”

“Peace on Earth,” Lance replied, speaking into his martini, “or at least in this little corner of the earth.”

Stone had never seen Lance so dejected, and he fought the tendency to feel sorry for him. “All right, what has disturbed the peace of your corner of the earth this evening?”

“I did it to myself,” Lance said.

Dino spoke up. “This man is an impostor. The real Lance Cabot would never say a thing like that.”

“I agree,” Stone said. “Are you feeling bad about sending that nice young fellow Todd Bacon off to the Aleutians?”