“It’s surprisingly benign,” Holly said, “and it doesn’t mention a title, though it mentions the rank.”

“I noticed that.”

“All you need is a sentence allowing you to resign at will, and the title, which should be descriptive of the job. He’s not going to be able to keep this from the top-level people at the Agency, and the title will tell them where you stand.”

Stone made a note about adding the out clause. His cell phone rang, and he answered it.

“Did you get the contract?” Lance asked.

“Yes. My adviser and I have just finished reading it.”

“Is Holly there?”

“Yes, I’ll put you on speaker.”

“Any questions?”

“I want an out clause,” Stone said.

“It will be my job to see that you never want out.”

“Yes, but you may decide to move on to better things, and I don’t want to be at the mercy of a director I don’t know.”

“Done. There’s something else, though,” Lance said.

“What’s that?”

“I had conceived your role as a covert one, but on reflection I think it might be better if it became known. I wouldn’t make a public announcement, just let the word get around.”

“All right. It occurs to me that some people should know from the outset: my secretary, Joan Robertson, and, of course, Dino and Viv Bacchetti.”

“No problem there. Dino and Viv are both consultants already, as you know.”

“I didn’t know about Viv.”

“Now you do. You can tell anyone you like, but be discreet.”

“Lance, will you announce it inside the Agency?” Holly asked.

“I’ll send out a selective memo. The right people will know.”

“I’m sure you’ll guard against Hugh English looking at Stone as a threat.”

“Certainly. I’ll reassure him.”

“What about his title?” Holly asked.

“Did you have something in mind, Holly?”

“Perhaps something like ‘senior adviser to the director’? Give him the rank of a deputy director but don’t broadcast it.”

“I like it,” Lance said. “It won’t rile Hugh English too much. Stone, what do you think?”

“Sure, fine.”

“I’ll get the thing retyped and fax it again in a few minutes.”

“All right,” Stone said, and hung up.

—

A few minutes later, the fax machine began spitting out pages. Stone read, signed, and initialed them in the appropriate places and faxed them back.

“Well,” Holly said, “you’re on the hook now. That’s what we say about a newly acquired asset at the Agency.”

“On the hook for what?”

“For whatever Lance wants from you.”

“Interesting about Viv being a consultant.”

“And a prized one,” Holly said. “She’s in an ideal position at Special Services to glean business information.”