She started looking around for hidden cameras.
“No prank.”
She studied him for a moment. “It would be easier to believe if it was.”
“Do you have any questions?”
“Only about a million.”
“That you’d like to ask now?”
“I wouldn’t even know where to start,” she said, shrugging and shaking her head.
Stone smiled kindly and stood. “In that case, I’ll be on my way. When you do figure out what you want to ask, you have my number.”
She started to get up, but Stone held up a hand to stop her.
“No need to show me out. I remember the way.”
She nodded absently and was lost in thought before Stone could even turn for the door.
After a short flight toRockland and an equally short flight to Islesboro, Stone and Dino deplaned to find Seth Hotchkiss waiting for them with his 1938 Ford Woodie station wagon. They loaded up their luggage and headed out.
Seth and his wife, Mary, were the caretakers of Stone’s homeon the island. Stone had inherited the place from his cousin, Dick Stone, a former high-ranking CIA official.
Because of Dick’s association with the Agency, the house had been built with extras that no other home on the island had, save perhaps that of Stone’s neighbor and retired CIA assassin, Ed Rawls. The walls were reinforced, all the windows were bulletproof to the point of being able to thwart even high-caliber rounds, and a secret office had been constructed inside that had direct access to CIA systems.
As was tradition on the first night back in Maine, Mary prepared lobster for dinner.
Stone retrieved a bottle of Smith-Madrone Chardonnay from his collection to pair with it. He was pouring a glass for Dino when a memory flashed into his mind.
“You can stop anytime…” Dino said.
Stone blinked and looked down. The glass was nearly full. He lifted the bottle.
“Sorry.”
“Are you all right?” Dino asked. “It looked like you’d disappeared there for a moment.”
“I remembered something. At least, I think I did.”
“Well, that clears things up.”
“From the night of the accident.”
“Ah. Nowthat’sinteresting.”
“I think Trenton and I were on the upper deck, having an after-dinner drink.”
“And?”
Stone concentrated on the memory, then shook his head. “That’s it.”
“I take back my interesting comment.”
“If I’m starting to remember things, that’s got to be a good sign, right?”
“True. Let me know if you remember Trenton telling you how he was going to sink his boat. Until then…” Dino carefully picked up his glass. “…I’d better get started on this or I’ll never finish.”
