“Does Lance know?” Dino asked.
“I told him yesterday. If he’d had to hear it on the news he wouldn’t have liked it.”
“When do you start?”
“One second after Kate takes the oath, so I won’t be flying back to New York with you. I’ve got to find an apartment here as soon as possible.”
Stone had a thought. “How about in Georgetown, on Pennsylvania Avenue?”
“Sounds good. Do you know somebody?”
“I do. Let me call him.” Stone took his cell phone into the bedroom and called Bruce Willard, who had briefly been his client. Bruce had an antique shop on Pennsylvania Avenue, and he lived in an apartment above the store. He had also recently inherited a house in Georgetown from his lover, so he would be moving soon.
“Hello, Stone,” Bruce said. “You in town for the inaugural?”
“I am, and I’ve brought a friend along who is going to be serving in an important job on the White House staff. She needs a place to live. Are you moving out of your apartment?”
“I moved a week ago, and I need a good tenant.”
“I recommend her highly. When can she see it?”
“I’ll be here all afternoon.”
“I’ll send her over in a couple of hours. Her name is Holly Barker.”
“I’ll look forward to meeting her.”
They hung up, and Stone went back to the living room. “You can see the place after lunch.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I’ve never seen it, but the owner has very good taste — he owns a high-end antique shop, and the apartment is over that. He inherited a Georgetown house from his friend, and he’s already moved out of the apartment. Benny will drive you over there.”
“Any idea how much the rent is?”
“None at all. Make sure he likes you.”
“I’ll try.”
Holly’s limo pulled up before the shop, and she took a moment to look it over before she went up the steps. The building was wide, and she took that to mean that the apartment would be, too. She walked into the shop and a handsome, middle-aged man greeted her and introduced himself. “Hi, I’m Bruce Willard. I expect you’re Holly Barker.”
“I am,” Holly said, looking around. “What a beautiful shop.”
“Thank you — we try. Would you like to see the apartment?”
“Yes, thank you.”
He took her into the hallway to the elevator and pressed a button. “There are two apartments. My shop manager lives on the second floor, and the third and fourth floors were my apartment until last week. The house I’m moving into is fully furnished, so I can leave whatever of my things you might like.”
The door opened into a foyer, and that into a beautiful living room. A spiral staircase rose to the floor above.
“The elevator goes to the fourth floor, too, which will make it easier to move in. Stone says you’re going to work at the White House. In what position?”
“I can’t say, until the president has announced it publicly,” Holly replied. “It happened only yesterday.”
“I’m ex-army,” Bruce said.
“So am I. I commanded an MP company and later was exec of a regiment.”
Bruce grinned at that and showed her the well-equipped kitchen and the study, then he took her upstairs, where there were two bedrooms with baths.
“It’s all wonderful,” Holly said. “Can a government employee afford it?”
Bruce mentioned a number.
“That’s very generous of you,” Holly said.
“I want the right person. How can I not fall for an ex — army officer with a White House job, who arrives in a limo?”
Holly offered her hand. “Done, then.”
“When would you like to move in?”
“I’ve already packed some boxes in my New York apartment. I’ll call the movers and tell them to start moving me. Stone and my other friends are going back to the city the day after tomorrow. I’d like to start sleeping here then, if that’s all right.”
“I’ll have the housekeeper clean it within an inch of its life,” Bruce said. “Oh, the rent includes cleaning, electricity, and gas.”
Holly couldn’t help it; she hugged him. “Promise not to let me buy too many things in your shop.”
“I’ll promise you no such thing, only good prices.” He took her downstairs and gave her the keys to the building and the apartment, and she wrote him a check for the first month’s rent. Bruce said her lease would start the first of the month, and he wouldn’t take a security deposit.
Holly burst into the suite at the Hay-Adams and threw herself at Stone. “It’s perfect! How did you do that?”
“You did it. I just referred you.”
“I’m moving in the day after tomorrow!”
“I’m delighted for you.”
“I can’t tell you how much trouble this is going to save me. I won’t have to sneak off work to hunt for an apartment.”
They dined in the hotel’s restaurant that evening. The place was choked with Democrats from all over the country, with a sprinkling of senators and congressmen thrown in for spice.
Then, the following afternoon, a sunny and cold one, they sat in good seats down front and watched as Kate Lee took the oath and made a very good inaugural address, keeping it brief. They went back to the White House and attended a very crowded reception in the East Room. Kate glowed and hugged everybody, and Will shook their hands. “Nobody will pay attention to me anymore,” he said to Stone, with mock sadness. “Will you come see me sometime?”
“I’ll take you flying in my new airplane,” Stone said.
“Is there room for a couple of Secret Service agents?”
“There is. I’ll even let you fly it.”
“Sold!” Will said. “I’m going to New York in a couple of days. Want to have dinner?”
“Sure. Would you like to fly up with us?”
“Would I ever!”
“We’ll leave at your convenience.”
“I’ll call you.”
Then they went back to the Hay-Adams to get dressed for Senator Salton’s dinner party.
7
Everett Salton’s house was more imposing than Stone had imagined. Set back from the street on an acre or more, it had a curving driveway to the house and back to the street, and there were a dozen cars ahead of them.
Finally, Benny deposited them at the front door and drove away, to a side street, to wait for Stone’s call. The door was opened by a butler before they could ring the bell, and Ev Salton and his wife greeted them in the foyer. “Good evening, Stone, and this must be Holly Barker.” Holly shook his hand, and he leaned in. “Congratulations on your appointment. You’ll do well, if everything I’ve heard about you is true.” He straightened. “Everybody, this is my wife, Alexandra, and welcome to our home.”
Alexandra Salton was nearly as tall as her husband, and she was dressed in a gorgeous, floor-length gown and wearing spectacular diamond jewelry. “I look forward to getting to know all of you,” she said to the group, then they were herded into a large drawing room, where there was a bar set up and several waiters circulating with drinks and canapés.
“The Saltons live well,” Holly said.
Dino spoke up. “Ev comes from very old, very large money.”
“And he spends it well,” Stone said. He had already spotted half a dozen senators he knew from the Sunday morning political shows, and a couple of them were at the opposite end of the political spectrum from Salton. One of them was a first-term, firebrand right-winger from Arizona, the sort who had no trouble speaking ill of his own party when he ran out of lies about Democrats. His name was Trent Barber, and he was said to have presidential aspirations, but then that was true of most of the senators Stone had met.
“You’re staring at Barber,” Dino said. “Don’t start any arguments here.”