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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

Stone took Willa home and got back to his house to find that two more men had been added to Cantor’s workforce.

“Stone,” Cantor said, taking a small black box from his pocket and pressing a button. “This will keep us from being overheard. There’s a bug on every phone in the house, including your office and Joan’s. You want me to duplicate them all?”

“Every one of them.”

“How much time have I got? The video installation takes longer, if you don’t want them to notice.”

“Six o’clock Monday morning,” Stone said.

“I can do that, probably by midnight tomorrow.”

“Good man.”

Cantor pressed the button again and gave Stone a thumbs-up.

Stone woke the following morning and, when he went downstairs to retrieve the Times, found Cantor and his crew in the kitchen, drinking coffee and eating breakfast.

“We raided the icebox,” Cantor said.

“That’s okay.”

“And we’ll be done by lunchtime.”

“Great news,” Stone said, pouring himself some coffee.

“The stuff these people have installed in your house leads me to believe that these people are not exactly your garden-variety industrial spies,” Cantor said. “This looks more like government work, and of a high order.”

“I’m glad to know my tax dollars are being spent on the best,” Stone said.

“But my stuff is more than good enough to pick up what you want.”

“Good. When we’re all done, make two copies of everything. I want my client to have a copy.”

“Easily done,” Cantor said. “Keep this in your pocket; it will work from there. If you come to a point in your meetings where you don’t want your image or voice recorded, just press the button. All they’ll get is static and snow. When you want to let them record again, press the button once more.”

Stone put the device in his pocket. “Right,” he said, then he went back upstairs with his coffee, a muffin, and the Times and settled in for a morning of reading, watching the Sunday morning political shows, and doing the crossword puzzle.

He thought about alerting Pablo to his suspicions about Lance, but decided not to. He would be on hand to protect his client.

FORTY

FORTY

At eight o’clock sharp on Monday morning Stone’s doorbell rang, and he admitted Pablo. Holding a finger to his lips, he walked his client through the kitchen and out to the back garden.

“What’s up?” Pablo asked.

“The whole house is wired for pictures and sound. I wanted to talk to you for a few minutes without their seeing or hearing us.”

“All right.”

Stone showed him the device Cantor had left him. “I’ve installed my own system, parallel to theirs, and something else, as well. If I need to talk to you without being seen or overheard, all I have to do is press this button, and their system won’t see or hear anything.”