“Can we assume you’ve made inquiries about our host?” Stone asked.
Lance glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on them, then whispered, “She’s played it very close to the vest.”
Stone grinned. “So your team didn’t know about it.”
“If you will excuse me,” Lance said, “I need to make the rounds.”
Stone leaned toward Tamlyn. “That’s code for ‘see what everyone else knows.’ ”
“I figured that one out myself,” she said.
“That reminds me,” Lance said. He pulled out a business card and offered it to Tamlyn. “If you’re ever looking for alternate employment, do give me a call.”
“Thanks, but I’m very happy where I am.”
“Of course you are. But it’s always good to have options, is it not?”
“If you don’t take it, he won’t go away,” Stone said.
She took the card. “Thank you, Director. I’ll keep you in mind if my situation changes.”
“That’s all I ask,” Lance said. “Until next time.”
He left.
As Tamlyn looked at the card, Stone said, “I have a suggestion, if you’d like to hear it.”
“Please,” she said.
“Drop that in the first rubbish bin you see. Better yet, burn it.”
“You sound as if you speak from experience.”
“He does,” Dino said.
“You worked for the Agency?”
“I spent some time at the Farm—the CIA’s training facility. But I was never an agent. Though, in the interest of full disclosure, both Dino and I are Agency consultants.”
“Currently?”
Stone nodded.
“What does it mean to be a consultant for the CIA?”
“Mostly it means getting calls from Lance at inconvenient times to provide information that could have waited until later to obtain,” Dino said.
“Dino’s just bitter because the last time Lance contacted him he was on a weekend getaway with Viv in the Bahamas.”
“Couldn’t you have just not answered?” Tamlyn asked.
“I didn’t answer. Which is why he had one of the resort staff bring a phone to me at the pool.”
Holding up Lance’s business card, Tamlyn said, “Does anyone have a match?”
After mingling with the otherguests for a while, Stone caught Tamlyn stifling a yawn.
“It’s been a long day,” he said. “Why don’t we head back?”
