“What, exactly, do you have in mind, Lance?” He was curious, but guarded, as he always was with Lance.

“Well,” Lance said, “you have homes in places where we do business, so to speak—New York, Los Angeles, England, and Paris. Perhaps it’s just as well that you disposed of your Connecticut property.”

Stone remained silent.

“Allow me to elucidate.”

“Please do,” Stone said.

“Because of your widespread holdings and your apparent ability to do business while visiting them, while doing not much work for Woodman & Weld . . .”

“Let me stop you right there,” Stone said. “I do a great deal more work for the firm than you are, perhaps, aware of.”

“I’m aware of a great deal,” Lance said. “It’s in the nature of what I do.”

“You are sometimes underinformed, Lance,” Stone said.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cast aspersions on your practice of the law.”

“Didn’t you?”

“I’m merely pointing out that, in spite of being an important partner at your firm, you manage to have a great deal of flexibility in the way that you do your work.”

“I suppose that may be true,” Stone said, then immediately regretted it. He had given Lance a foothold, and Lance could do a lot with a foothold.

“I’m merely suggesting that we might formalize our relationship just a bit.”

“How much of a bit?” Stone asked.

“Well, I believe that you might find more serious work with us a good deal more satisfying—even entertaining—than just being a consultant for the Agency.”

“Are you telling me that your firm is more fun than my firm?”

“Oh, most definitely, Stone. We have such a good time, saving the world. Wouldn’t you like to have a hand in saving it? At the end of it all, you might find your memories more gratifying than just having made it rain at Woodman & Weld.”

“I grant you that making rain at a law firm is not the most fun you can have, but the material rewards compensate quite nicely.”

“I know how much money you make there, Stone,” Lance said, “and I know how much money you have tucked away. You could shift gears in your life quite easily and never miss a meal, as it were.”

“I’ve thought about that,” Stone said, “but retirement doesn’t appeal to me.”

“Then why not do work that is more important than just making money?”

“Let me be frank, Lance. Being at your beck and call, as a consultant, is preferable to being at the end of your leash, no matter how long a leash it might be.”