Choppy Water - Stuart Woods Page 0,9

night, Kate.” Holly hung up and went back to the kitchen, where she found blueberry pie being served.

“Everything okay?” Stone asked.

“Fine,” Holly replied. “They’re keeping all of this from the public for as long as possible. That will make it easier for us to move around.”

“I spoke to Faith and she and her copilot will move the airplane to Bar Harbor as soon as weather permits.”

“Good.”

From somewhere outside, they could hear the barking of a dog.

“Not to worry,” Bill said, “he’s not angry, just enthusiastic.”

“How can you tell?”

“You get to know their voices after a while, like that of an old friend.”

7

Stone woke a little before seven, as was his custom, and ran a finger down Holly’s spine. She turned and came into his arms. There was no talking, just plain, hungry sex, until they were both exhausted.

“I asked for breakfast up here at seven-thirty,” Holly said.

“You know me too well.”

“Why is it so dark at this hour?”

Stone got up, found the cord, and swept open twelve feet of curtains. It didn’t get much brighter in the room. Rain was still falling, sometimes traveling horizontally, and the large trees outside were bending with the wind. At the bottom of the large rear garden, which swept down to Broad Cove, he could see a dock, where a Hinckley motor yacht was moored, at times obscured by rain. The cove was sheltered enough that the wind did not disturb it unduly, just created whitecaps.

“Wow!” Holly said, sitting up on the side of the bed. “So that’s what a Maine hurricane looks like.”

Stone turned on the TV and found the Weather Channel. “It’s not the whole thing, just the western edge.”

There was a knock at the door and a male voice shouted, “Breakfast!”

“Just a moment, please!” Holly shouted back. They both found robes in their respective dressing rooms, then she went to the door and let Jim, carrying a large tray, into the room. “Just set it on the bed, Jim,” she said, and he did, then left.

“Seven-thirty sharp,” Stone said.

They got back into bed and used their remote controls to raise them into sitting positions. Stone found a morning program and they listened to the news, while they tucked into their sausages and eggs.

Toward the end of the half hour, a good photograph of Holly appeared on-screen, and the young news reader said, “President-elect Holly Barker continues her disappearing act, having not been spotted anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard, or elsewhere for that matter. You go, girl!”

Holly got a laugh out of that.

“What do you want to do today?” Stone said.

“Oh, I don’t know, how about a long walk?”

Stone laughed. “Check in with me when you get back.”

“You mean you don’t want to be soaking wet and windburned?”

“I mean exactly that.”

“Well, there’s plenty to read,” she said, indicating the bookcase surrounding the TV.

“And there are more on the shelves on the landing, outside our door, and there’s a study somewhere downstairs.”

The lights and TV suddenly went out, but five seconds later they came back on.

“There’s a generator, just like at my house.”

The satellite TV took a minute or two to reset before the picture was restored.

There was another knock on the door.

“Come in!” Holly shouted.

Dino and Viv walked in. “Tennis, anyone?” Dino said.

“Water polo, more likely,” Stone replied.

“Viv has put a gun to my head and demanded a walk. So we’re going to take some boots and slickers from the mudroom two floors down and wander down the road, see who we see.”

“Better you than me,” Stone said.

“I’ll come,” Holly said. “Give me five minutes.” She headed for her dressing room with Viv tagging along.

Dino turned around one of the two armchairs facing the TV and sat down. “Well, it’s not exactly what we’d planned, is it?”

“None of it,” Stone said. “I think Holly’s still depressed about what happened to her detail. Thanks for suggesting the walk. I think trying not to drown will put her mind at ease for a while.”

“It is goddamned awful out there. Maybe I’ll let the two go by themselves.”

“There’ll be at least four agents along,” Stone said, “and maybe a dog. The summer people have gone, but maybe there’s a year-round resident or two. Tell her not to get recognized.”

“I think they should send an agent ahead to warn them if somebody pops up. Then they can turn back,” Dino said.

The women came back. “Ready, Dino?”

“I’m chickening out,” Dino said. “Send up a pot of coffee, will you? Maybe Stone and I can find an old