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Back Strategic Moves Save as PDF
Chapters (66)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. FIFTY-FIVE
  59. FIFTY-SIX
  60. FIFTY-SEVEN
  61. FIFTY-EIGHT
  62. FIFTY-NINE
  63. SIXTY
  64. SIXTY-ONE
  65. Acknowledgements
  66. AUTHOR’S NOTE

“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

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?”

Lance brightened visibly. “No, I didn’t send him to the Aleutians after all,” he said. “Instead, I sent him back to the Farm for torture-resistance training. That way, he will actually be tortured.”

“Oh,” Stone said, reluctantly admiring the way Lance’s mind worked.

“I’m feeling better,” Lance said, downing the remains of his martini and waving for another.

“I’m glad we could be of help,” Stone said.

“Where is Pablo now?” Lance asked.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Frankly, I thought I had overreacted to the idea of a threat against him when I assigned those Strategic Services people to protect him, but it turns out there really is a threat.”

“Uh-oh,” Dino said.

“Funny, that’s what I said when I heard,” Lance said.

“Heard what?” Stone asked.

“The boys over at NSA have picked up more satphone chatter about him.”

“And what was the source of the chatter?”

“Northwestern Pakistan,” Lance replied. “Less than forty miles from the former cave facility at Tora Bora.”

“Speaking of Tora Bora, any more news?”

“Estimates are that we killed about two hundred of the bastards in the bombing raid,” Lance said, “and not a few mules.”

“Does any of them have a name?”

“That will take time; we’ll have to count noses—or rather, missing noses.”

“Anything on the condition of bin Laden’s nose?”

“Nothing, as yet.”

“Let’s get back to the chat about Pablo,” Stone said.

“Oh, yes. It seems they have made the connection between Pablo and the bombing raid, and they’re even more furious than usual.”

“And how did they make that connection?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I have my suspicions.”

“And what do you suspect?”