Page 111 of Near Miss

“They knew that would make you mad,” Stone said, “and they didn’t want that.”

“What did you used to do, Ed?” Carly asked.

“Pretty much what I do now, but in a more structured environment.”

“And where was that environment?”

“Pretty much all over Europe and Scandinavia,” Ed said. “Then I did a little stretch at the Atlanta federal prison.”

“What for?”

“For doing my work a little too well.”

“Tell her the truth, Ed,” Stone said.

“Okay, the Russkies set me up in a badger game, then blackmailed me into pretending to give them classified information. I had a hard time selling that to my betters, so they yanked me off the street and sent me inside.”

“Better let it go there, Carly,” Stone said. “You don’t want to know more.”

“I always want to know everything,” she said.

“That’s a character flaw you’re going to have to adjust.”

“Funny, I never thought of curiosity as a character flaw.”

“It is, in some circumstances.”

“Okay, I’ll drop it, for the time being.”

Later, Stone had time for a lecture. “Let me explain something to you,” he said to Carly.

“Good. I like explanations; then I can tell who’s lying.”

“Ed Rawls has spent his life in secrecy. He was a spy, after all, and an important one.”

“Has Ed done something he’s ashamed of?”

“We all have,” Stone said.

“Not I.”

“There will come a time, believe me, and you won’t enjoy reliving that time in your life. Ed has spent a good portion of his life killing people, and he is proud that he did it well, but ashamed that he did it at all. When you grill him, it causes him pain.”

“Oh, I get it.”

“Try and restrain yourself. If you think you might cause him pain, ask me first.”

“I can do that, I guess.”

“I hope to God you can.”

Chapter 57

Stone went down to breakfast the following morning because he wanted to be out of the bedroom before Carly woke and made further demands. Ed Rawls was already at the table.

Stone sat down. “Tell me about this Sergeant guy, Ed. He seems to cause you to become skittish. Why is that?”

“Sarge is an old Marine who got drummed out of the Corps for being too much himself.”

---