The men shook their heads.
“And was this John Kravitz a friend of yours? His name was the one I was actually given when I was coming up here.”
Kravitz had not been a close friend, and the men seemed stunned to learn that he had been involved with the bombing in Washington.
“That’s really a shame,” said Annabelle.
One of the men said that he believed John Kravitz to be innocent.
“But I heard on the news that they found bomb-making material at his home. That’s pretty serious.”
Whether the man had heard this too wasn’t clear. He insisted that Kravitz was innocent.
“And were you all there when the people were killed?”
They nodded.
“That must have been horrible. I guess you’re lucky you weren’t killed too.”
They had been out in the fields, they told her. They had heard and seen nothing.
“I guess the police have questioned you,” said Annabelle.
The surly looks on the men’s faces confirmed that.
“Well, it looks like whoever did it might get away. Too bad,” she said. Annabelle left that comment hanging out there to see what reaction it might inspire. One of the men whispered something to the first. He looked at Annabelle.
“The police didn’t ask about the basketball hoop,” he said.
“Basketball hoop?” Annabelle feigned ignorance even though Stone had told her about the missing hoop.
“We had a basketball hoop up at one of the outbuildings. We would play ball there at lunch. John played too sometimes. He was good.”
“And what happened to the hoop?”
The first man glanced over at his companion who’d whispered to him.
“What’s up?” Annabelle asked innocently.
“Miguel saw something that night.”
“What night?”
“The night before the people were killed. He came back to pick up his sweater he left there.”
“What did he see?”
“He saw someone taking down the basketball hoop.”
“Taking down the hoop? Did he see who it was?”
“No. But it wasn’t John. It was a smaller man. And older. Then another man came. Another stranger. They talked.”
“Miguel, did you hear what they said?”
Miguel shook his head. “They spoke a funny language. I didn’t understand it.”
“Did you try and talk to them?”
“No. I was afraid. I was hiding behind another building.”
“Did you tell the police this?”
“They didn’t ask.”
“Okay,” said Annabelle. “Well, I guess we’ll have to look somewhere else for the trees. Thanks.”
She returned to the table with Reuben and filled him in on the parts he hadn’t overheard.
“Taking down a basketball hoop. And speaking a funny language, huh?”
“Well, it obviously wasn’t Spanish.”
When they left the bar a man who had been sitting near the jukebox sipping on a beer followed them. When their car pulled out, so did his. And then he clicked a number on his phone and spoke into it. A half mile away another vehicle started up and sped toward the direction Annabelle and Reuben were traveling.
CHAPTER 43
Stone was sitting at a desk in Chapman’s room at the British embassy listening to the sound of the shower running. A minute later Chapman walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a white terrycloth robe, her feet bare. She was drying her hair with a towel.
“Getting a bloody night’s sleep and bathing with regularity is a little tough around you lot,” she said.
“I’m sure it’s the time difference,” he said. Stone was going over some documents on the table and occasionally glancing at the laptop computer set up on the desk. He paused to look around the room.
“MI6 takes good care of its agents.”
“The British embassy is known for its first-class accommodations,” noted Chapman as she sat on the couch. “And a hotel just doesn’t cut it when one is examining classified documents and carrying a laptop with highly secret data.” She rose. “Give me a sec to dress and we’ll have a spot of tea.”
She left the room and Stone could hear drawers and doors opening and closing. A few minutes later she came out dressed in a skirt, blouse, no hose and no shoes. She was just finishing buttoning her blouse. He glanced away when she looked up at him.
“Feel better?” he said casually.
“Loads, thanks. I’m famished.” She picked up the phone, ordered tea and some food and joined Stone at the desk.
“Any word from your friends, the Camel Club?”
“Caleb called during his lunch hour. He faxed the list over of upcoming events at the park.” Stone picked up two sheets of paper. “Here they are. There are lots of potential targets on there, unfortunately.”
Chapman ran her eye down the list. “I see what you mean. Any of them stand out among the others?”
“A few. Two that the president was going to be attending. Other heads of state, congressmen, celebrities. But narrowing it down will be difficult.”
“But my PM isn’t in the mix.” She put down the papers and looked thoughtful. “You know, chances are very good that I’ll be pulled off this little caper.”
“Because of no proven threat against the PM?”
“That’s right. MI6 doesn’t have unlimited resources.”
“But the implications of what is being planned here could have global repercussions that reach to the UK.”
“That’s what I’ll say in my next report. Because I’d like to see this through. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you have to carry on without me.”
Stone didn’t say anything for a few moments. “I hope that’s not the case,” he said.
She looked at him closely. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It was meant as one.”
When the tea and food came they ate and drank while going over the evidence once more.
“Nothing from Garchik and his mysterious debris?” Chapman asked as she took a bite of a hot scone.
“No. Weaver from NIC has cut me off. FBI too, obviously. ATF may be next.” He looked at her. “Guilt by association, I’m afraid. You won’t be too popular either.”
“I’ve dealt with worse. Got on the wrong side of the queen once.”
Stone looked intrigued. “How?”
“Misunderstanding that was more her fault than mine. But she’s the queen so there you are. But it eventually got sorted out.” She took another bite of scone. “But from what I’ve learned about you, you’re a man who’s used to rocking the boat.”
“That was never my intent,” Stone said quietly.
She leaned back in her chair. “You expect me to believe that?”
“I did my job, even when I didn’t agree with it. In that regard I was weak.”
“You were trained to follow orders. We all are.”
“It’s never that simple.”
“If it isn’t that simple our world goes to hell in a hurry.”
“Well maybe sometimes it should go to hell.”
“And I guess it did for you.”
“You ever been married?”
“No.”
“Ever want to be?”
Chapman looked down, “I guess most women want to be, don’t they?”
“I think most men do too. I did. I was married. I had a woman I loved and a little girl who meant everything to me.”
Stone grew silent.
Chapman finally broke the quiet. “And you lost them?”
“And the fault was entirely mine.”
“You didn’t pull the bloody trigger, Oliver.”
“I might as well have. You don’t voluntarily leave a job like mine. And I shouldn’t have married. I shouldn’t have had a child.”
“Sometimes you can’t control those things. You can’t control love.”
Stone looked at her. Chapman was staring directly at him.