Smooth Operator (A Teddy Fay Novel) - Hardcover

Woods, Stuart; Hall, Parnell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399185267 ISBN 13: 9780399185267

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2016

Synopsis

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stone Barrington series comes the first novel in an extraordinary series starring an old fan favorite: Teddy Fay.

When President Kate Lee calls Stone Barrington to Washington on an urgent matter, it’s soon clear that a potentially disastrous situation requires the kind of help more delicate than even he can provide...and he knows just the right man for the job.

Teddy Fay: ex-CIA, master of disguise, and a gentleman not known for abiding by legal niceties in the pursuit of his own brand of justice.

About this title

About the Author:

Stuart Woods is the author of more than sixty novels, including the #1 New York Times bestselling Stone Barrington series. He is a native of Georgia and began his writing career in the advertising industry. Chiefs, his debut in 1981, won the Edgar Award. An avid sailor and pilot, Woods lives in Florida, Maine, and New Mexico.

Parnell Hall has been an actor, screenwriter, and singer/songwriter. He is a former president of the Private Eye Writers of America and a member of Sisters in Crime. He has been a finalist for an Edgar, 2 Lefty, and 3 Shamus Awards. Hall lives in New York City.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected copy proof***

Copyright © 2016 Stuart Woods

 

1.

 

Stone Barrington, clad only in a bathing suit and sunglasses, lay on the deck of the Mary Lou sipping a cool glass of Knob Creek. Stone was able to do that because Mary Lou Weston herself was manning the helm. Though perhaps manning was the wrong word. A striking blonde, she looked as if she’d be more at home on a runway than driving a boat.

"You sure you don't need me to do anything?" Stone called.

"On this little boat?" Mary Lou said. "I think I can handle it alone."

Stone smiled. Mary Lou referred to her little boat the way the genteel wealthy called their East Hampton mansions cottages. Granted, it was smaller than the Queen Mary. Still, it was one of the larger yachts on the Hudson River. Stone could practically walk across it to New Jersey.

"I was thinking more along the lines of rubbing lotion on your back."

"My back?"

"I could work around to your front. I'm quite flexible."

"MARY LOU, PREPARE TO BE BOARDED!"

Startled, Stone rolled over and looked for the disturbance.

A Coast Guard cutter was bearing down on them.

"Hey!" Mary Lou said. "Those idiots are going to swamp us!" She flailed her arms, trying to wave off the boat.

The cutter kept coming. As it drew closer, Stone recognized the man with the bullhorn standing in the bow.

"Dino?" he said incredulously.

"You know that jackass?" Mary Lou said.

"So do you," Stone told her.

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"You're a hard man to find," Dino Bacchetti called.

Dino Bacchetti and Stone Barrington had been partners on the detective squad at the 19th Precinct. When Stone left the police force and passed the bar exam, Dino had stayed on. Over the years he had risen through the ranks, and recently had been named police commissioner.

Mary Lou was steamed. "Who the hell do you think you are, stopping me in a Coast Guard cutter? You ought to be arrested."

Stone grinned. "I’m sure he should. Though you'll probably have a hard time finding a cop willing to do it. Mary Lou, allow me to present Police Commissioner Dino Bacchetti."

"Yeah, right," Mary Lou scoffed. "Like this joker's really the...Oh, my God!"

"Pleased to meet you," Dino called.

Mary Lou pushed the long blonde hair off her face, and gawked. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I have no idea," Stone said. "Are you coming aboard?"

Dino grinned. "Nah. I just always wanted to say that. Prepare to be boarded. Actually, you're the one coming aboard."

"Gee, Dino. You're a nice guy and all that, but you don't have her looks."

"Sorry, Stone. It's not an invitation."

"You're putting me under arrest?"

"If I have to. I was hoping you'd come quietly."

"What's the charge?"

"Not answering your cellphone."

Stone spread his arms. "Do you see a cellphone?"

"Where are your clothes?"

"Below deck."

"Get them. You're going places."

"Where?"

Dino shrugged. "Frankly, I don't know."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.

 

 

"So, what's going on?" Stone said as the Coast Guard cutter skimmed across the water.

"Where's your cellphone?"

"In my pants."

"Get it out of your pants."

Stone dug in the bag of clothes he was carrying, pulled his cellphone out of his pants pocket. "Now what?"

"You have to call Ann Keaton. She's been trying to reach you all day. When you didn’t answer, she got frustrated and called me."

"What does she want?"

"Damned if I know. She just wants you, and now isn't soon enough. I tried to stall her off and she read me the riot act, implied that if I didn't locate you the president would want to know why."

"She's trying to get me for the president?"

"She didn't say that. She didn't mention Kate except as a threat."

"I guess I better call her." Stone punched in the number on speed dial. "Ann, what the hell is going on?”

"Finally!" Ann said. "Can't you leave your cellphone on?"

"It's on and I'm calling. What is it?"

"Kate wants you at the state dinner."

"What state dinner?"

"The one tonight, honoring the French president."

"Tonight? Do you know what time it is?"

"Yes, I know what time it is," Ann said impatiently. "I've been trying to reach you all afternoon."

"The president wants me at a state dinner?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know? You're the chief of staff."

"That's right. I'm the chief of staff, and I don't know. I know everything, and I don't know this."

"All right, what do you know?"

"Dino will drop you at the heliport. You're taking a helicopter to Washington. A car will meet you there and take you to the White House."

"I don't get to land on the lawn?"

"That's just in the movies."

"No, they actually do it."

"Well, you don't. You land at the heliport. A limo will be waiting."

"I can't go to a state dinner. I'm wearing a bathing suit."

"No problem. Your car will stop at Henry Cassini's to pick up your new tux. They've had your measurements for two hours, they swear they'll be ready."

"You know my measurements?"

"I know which pant leg you put on first."

"I thought that was a state secret."

"It is. We'll have to disappear the tailor after he makes the tux."

"Seriously, what's this all about?"

"I wish I knew. I don't like things I don't know."

"Me neither. Will I see you this evening?"

"I’m afraid not. I have to go out to dinner with the congressman Kate bumped to make room for you at the table. Listen, I have to go. Will you apologize to Dino for me? I may have said some things that could be considered disrespectful to the office of the commissioner."

"Don't worry," Stone assured her. "I'll handle it." He clicked off the phone.

"So," Dino said, "what did she want?"

"She wants to know who you slept with to get the job."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2A.

 

Ann Keaton hung up the phone with a huge weight off her mind. Ann was an excellent White House chief of staff under normal circumstances, and she prided herself in handling crisis situations. Run in a last minute guest for a fully-booked State Dinner? No problem. She had changed the guest list, arranged for a place at the table, even taken care of getting the new place card printed. And, when it turned out it would take some time to reach the surprise guest who didn't even know he was coming, she had arranged to have a tuxedo made, just in case when she finally located him he would not have access to his.

And then Stone Barrington had thrown a monkey wrench into her carefully laid plans by being totally unreachable.

Well, she'd handled the situation, and it had only taken a limousine, a helicopter, a Coast Guard cutter, and an intervention by the New York commissioner of police. All in all, a pretty good day's work.

Now, was there anything else?

Oh, yes.

Ann sighed and picked up the phone.

 

Paul Wagner knew it was Ann. Her calls were important, and he'd assigned her her own special ringtone. He whipped his cellphone out of his pocket and slipped into his loving boyfriend mode. Ann couldn't see his face, but it was important to get just the right vocal intonation.

"Hi, sweetheart," he said.

"Paul. Listen-"

Paul laughed. "Oh, for goodness sakes. I've had dinner reservations for two weeks. Do you know how hard it was to get them?"

"Something came up."

"It always does." Paul said it good-naturedly, but with just enough barb in it to keep her talking. "What's up?"

"It's silly, but I have to go out with a congressman."

"You're kidding."

"It's a spur of the moment thing. He got bumped from his table to make room for a late addition of Kate's."

"You'll pardon me, but just who is so all-fired important he's interfering with our dinner?"

"Stone Barrington."

Paul put just the right jealous boyfriend inflection into his voice. "The man you used to be involved with?"

"He's not coming to see me, he's coming to see Kate. I have to take care of Congressman Jenkins, from East Podunk."

"Sweetheart-"

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you. I'm just in a bind."

Paul kept her on the phone as long as he dared, picking up as many details as possible, most of them silly and inconsequential, like tracking Stone down on the Hudson River and having to get a tux made at the last minute. Paul needed all the information he could get. It had seemed like a cushy job, cozying up to the attractive White House chief of staff, and he was happy to do it, but they weren't going to keep paying him unless he had something to show for it.

Paul had no idea whether this particular tidbit was worth anything, but evaluating the intel wasn't his job. His job was passing things along.

Paul punched the number into his cellphone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2B.

 

Abdul-Hakim sized up the young man seated across the kitchen table from him. Salih was young and inexperienced, but his inexperience was what made him valuable. He was on no watch lists, nor was he likely to be. An American citizen, the son of upstanding convenience store owners, he had no blot on his record.

"Are you ready?" Abdul-Hakim said.

"Yes," Salih said.

Abdul-Hakim was sure he was. It was Abdul-Hakim's job to know, just as it was his job to know every aspect of the operation. A handsome, clean-cut, Middle-Eastern man in an Armani suit, Abdul-Hakim could have passed for a corporate CEO. In fact, he could have passed for many things, and did.

"One more thing," Abdul-Hakim said.

"What's that?"

Abdul-Hakim placed a box of rifle shells on the table. "Use these."

"Why?"

Abdul-Hakim's smile was frosty. "Because I am asking you to. Use them, and leave the expended shell casing behind."

He reached in his jacket pocket, took out an ID, and slid it across the table. "This is also for you. A driver's license, in the name of Nehan Othman. This is what you will present at security, so they will not have a record of your name."

"I understand."

Abdul-Hakim slid a fat envelope across the table. "Ten thousand now, ten thousand more when it is done. I will not see you again until it is over." He stood up.

Salih stood also. "I will walk you out."

"No, you will not. You will wait here at least ten minutes before you even stick your head out the door."

Salih sat back down.

 

Abdul-Hakim's cellphone rang as he came out the front door of the apartment house. He pulled it out of his pocket, and looked at the Caller ID. It was the money man, the man paying him to set up and run the whole complicated operation. What could he possibly want now?

Abdul-Hakim tried to keep the irritation out of his voice. "I just spoke to him. We're all set."

"Something came up."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3

 

 

Stone was ushered off the helicopter into a black limo driven by a liveried youth who looked barely tall enough to reach the gas pedal. He took off without a word and without even glancing at his passenger, drove skillfully into downtown DC, and pulled up in front of the exclusive tailor shop of Henry Cassini. A sign on the door said “closed,” but the lights were on inside. This was not unusual. Cassini lived above the shop and often worked late.

Before Stone could even ring the bell the door was yanked open by the tailor himself. An older man with sculptured white hair who was always impeccably dressed in finer suits of his own design, Cassini had a reputation for being genial and deferential to his customers. Tonight, however, he seemed slightly hassled.

"Come in, come in. I just finished." He cast an appraising eye over Stone and nodded. "They got the measurements right. Good. It's in the changing room. Put it on and come out."

The tux fit perfectly, as did the shoes supplied with it. Stone adjusted the bow tie and stepped out into the shop.

Cassini was pacing anxiously. "Let me see, let me see. Ah. Yes. Perfect. Turn around. Good. They got it right. You're all set. Take your wallet and keys, anything else you need. Your clothes will be sent on to your hotel.”

Cassini ushered Stone back out the front door, where the driver was waiting by the car. Stone hopped in and, once more, the driver took off without a word, and headed for the White House.

Stone settled back in the seat and watched as the lights flashed by in the gathering darkness. It was late for a White House dinner. He'd have missed the reception and would be lucky to get a cocktail before sitting down.

Stone felt himself tensing up. And it wasn't just the thought of keeping the president waiting. Kate Lee was a friend, wouldn’t think him rude in any case, even if she hadn't summoned him peremptorily at the last minute. No, something else was wrong.

The car took a right-hand turn, and Stone realized what it was. The car behind followed them into the turn. It had been following them for some time.

"Take a left at the light," Stone said.

The driver was startled just to be spoken to. He half turned in his seat. "That isn't the way."

"Don't turn around. Just keep driving. Do what I say. I know you have your orders. I'm countermanding them. If you don't want to listen to me, tomorrow you can spend your last day on the job hearing a lot of people tell you why you should have."

"What's going on?"

"We're being followed. Don't turn around! Don't do anything out of the ordinary. Take a left at the light if you want to make sure. Watch the rearview mirror. When the lights come with us, you'll know I'm right."

The driver turned left at the light.

The car followed.

"Oh, my God!"

"Take it easy. Don't speed up or slow down. Don't react at all. Get back on course."

The driver made two rights and a left, coming out on the street they'd been on before.

The other car came with them.

"Who are they?"

"I don't know. Let's assume they're friendly until they prove differently."

"Like how?"

"Like that," Stone said, ducking low in his seat.

The block was dark. The window on the passenger's side slid down, and a long barrel emerged. The barrel flashed. A burst of gunfire shattered the rear window of the limo.

"Stay low!" Stone warned. "Do you have a gun?"

The driver was horrified. "No."

"Neither do I. All right, I have to get out."

"Now?"

"Yes, or t...

About this edition

• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0399185267
• ISBN 13: 9780399185267
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352