3

Stone drove to the airport the following morning to get a better look at his hangar. As he entered the airport he saw the sheriff’s office, so he parked, went inside and asked for an application for an airport security pass. Shortly, he found himself taking a computer-based course in airport rules, then he was photographed, fingerprinted, and, finally, given his pass, which he was told to wear on a chain around his neck for easy identification.

Thus armed, he used his new pass to open the security gate, then drove over to his hangar. It was big, almost but not quite big enough for two airplanes. It looked well-built and secure, which relieved him, because he had bought it sight unseen. His cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“It’s me,” Holly said. “Slight misunderstanding with the arrival airport: we’re landing at the Naval Air Station, not Key West International. Better security and more anonymity. It’s on Boca Chica, just north of Key West, and the guard at the gate will have your name. I’ll be there in forty minutes.”

“Got it,” Stone replied. “I’ll see you there.” He hung up and switched on his GPS in the car, and the route became obvious. Twenty minutes later, he gave his name to the guard at the gate, his car was searched, and he was admitted and told where to park.

A few minutes later, from his parking spot, he saw a Gulfstream, emblazoned with the legend, “United States of America,” touching down on the runway. He waited in his car, as instructed, until Holly appeared, dressed in jeans, a tanktop, her red hair covered by a head scarf, and dark glasses, followed by a crew member with her carry-on bag. She walked over to the car, avoided hugging or kissing him, and got into the front passenger seat, while Stone and the crewman put her baggage into the trunk.

Stone got in and drove off toward the gate.

“I’m sorry to be standoffish,” Holly said, “but I didn’t want to get recognized while throwing myself at a man. I’ll throw myself at you when we get home.”

“I’ll look forward to it. How’d it go in Cuba?’

“Oh, it was mostly ceremonial; not a lot else got done.” As the gate opened for them they heard the Gulfstream’s engines restarting.

“Nice ride,” Stone said.

“It is, isn’t it? I mean, it’s not Air Force One, but it’s roomy enough for a single girl and her bags. I left my security team aboard; they don’t like that but, from time to time, I insist, and I haven’t been kidnapped by terrorists yet.”

Stone gave her a little tour of the town, then drove her to the house.

“That’s convenient,” she said, nodding toward Bare Assets.

“It would have been, if you hadn’t come.”

They got out of the car, got her luggage, and went into the house.

“This is wonderful,” Holly said, as they passed through the house on the way to the master suite.

“The other half of the dressing room is yours,” Stone said. “You unpack, and I’ll let Anna know we’re ready for lunch.”

---

AFTER INTRODUCTIONS HAD been made and lunch eaten, they settled onto a sofa in the outdoor living room, shaded by a large awning.

“There’s something I’ve got to talk to you about,” Holly said. “I need your advice.”

Stone sipped his iced tea. “Your attorney is at your disposal.”

“Well, it’s not an attorney-client talk, but it’s just as confidential.”

“My ears are open and my lips sealed.”

“I know we’ve talked about spending a lot more time together after Kate’s second term is over . . .”

“Yes, and I’m looking forward to that.”

“I’ve been looking forward to it, too,” Holly said, “but something—something rather shocking—has come up.”

Stone didn’t like the sound of that. “Oh? Have you gotten a better offer?”

“I’ll let you decide if it’s a better offer,” she said. “Kate invited me to lunch at the White House a few days ago, and we had a serious talk. Will was there, too.”

“Listen,” Stone said. “I don’t care if she wants you to be the ambassador to Timbuktu for the rest of her term, as long as you come back to me.”

“What Kate proposed wouldn’t require me to move abroad, just across town.”

Stone choked on his iced tea.

“This is all your fault,” she said. “When I made that address to the UN after I’d been shot, with my arm in a sling, that set off something of a firestorm, and I suddenly became a national heroine and an international star.”

“I remember,” Stone said, dreading what was coming. “And there’s something I should tell you about that attack; perhaps I should have told you sooner.”

“What?” she asked, looking baffled.

“Turns out the guy wasn’t shooting at you; he was shooting at me. You just got in the way at the last second, as we were leaving Dino’s apartment house.”

“Are you telling me that I took a bullet for you?”

“I’m afraid so. Everyone just assumed it was an assassination attempt.”

“Who else knows about this?”

“Dino, Viv, and me; nobody else.”

Holly began laughing. “This is rich,” she said. “I suddenly became the nation’s heroine because that guy couldn’t shoot straight?”

“I’m afraid so. However, your heroic behavior was all yours. I had nothing to do with it, so you’re still the nation’s heroine.”

“Kate would laugh her ass off, if I told her.”

“I wouldn’t tell her just yet.”

“Have you guessed?”

“Maybe. Why don’t you just tell me and put me out of my misery?”

“Kate and Will, during our lunch—which included one Bloody Mary each—suggested that I would make an excellent president. What’s more, they said they would be willing to back me to the hilt, if I choose to run. Kate and Will think that, with their support, I’d sail through the primaries, and the Republicans haven’t got a great candidate available, so . . .”

“So, you have to choose between your country and me?”

Holly took a deep breath. “Not necessarily,” she said. “I was sort of hoping I could have my cake . . .”

“First Gentleman?” Stone asked.

“I was afraid you’d put it that way.”

“Holly, I would be nothing but a liability for you. The press would drag out every escapade, every woman, that’s ever happened to me.”

“Not if they don’t find out about us until after the election. Then we’d have four years for you to charm the media out of their socks, and I’d get reelected.”

Stone shook his head. “I’d be no good at it at all.”

“You’d be great at it. Look how well Will has done in that position.”

“Will’s an ex-president, and he has a son to look after, and that’s kept them off his back. I have no credentials to match those.”

“Are you suggesting that I get pregnant?”

“I’m suggesting nothing of the kind. I have a question, though, and it’s the only one you have to answer.”

“And what is that?”

“Do you really want it? Do you have the fire in the belly?”

Holly’s shoulders sagged. “God help me, I do.”

“I was afraid of that,” Stone said. “I guess that settles everything.”

“That’s not all the advice I need,” Holly said. “There’s something else.”