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“So keep my enemies closer?”

“Friends and enemies closer,” corrected McElroy

Stone looked at Chapman “How do you feel about this?”

She said flippantly, “My boss has spoken And I play by house rules”

“That’s not what I asked you,” he said sharply

Chapman lost her playful look “I need to find out anted o the last mile with you”

“Well put,” McElroy said as he rose, clutching the armchair for support “I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to have seen you again It has really done ood”

“One thing Weaver showed me the video feed of the park surveillance Unfortunately, it cut off after the explosion Went to static”

“Did it now?” McElroy peered at Chapman “Mary, perhaps you can provide Oliver with the full video”

“I thought there ht be more”

McElroy smiled “There’s always more”

Stone’s ed upward “Been back to Iran?”

McElroy smiled “I wouldn’t dream of it unless you ith me Mary will provide you with our files to date Good luck” A few seconds later he’d disappeared into an interior roo Chapman and Stone alone

“I need a ride back to my place,” he said

“And then?” she said

“And then we’ll go over your files”

“Okay, but weout of time”

“Oh, there’s no question about it We are running out of time”

CHAPTER 12

WHEN HE AND CHAPMAN RETURNED to the caretaker’s cottage, Stone put on a pot of hot water for tea while the MI6 agent took the files from her briefcase and spread them out over Stone’s desk She also loaded a DVD into her laptop

With a frown she said, “You knoould prefer to meet in a more secure place These files are all classified”

Stone looked up from the stove and said cheerfully, “Not to worry, I don’t have any security clearances, so as soon as I look at them they’ll be immediately declassified”

“Bloody hell,” murmured Chapman

Teacups in hand, they sat at the desk and began to go over the docuaze fleiftly over the papers and photos, his agile and experiencedthe important from the trivial

After he was finished Chapman said, “Would you like to see the full feed?”

He nodded “I’ why I was shown the edited version at NIC”

“Don’t ask , not mine”

“I’ if the edited version is the only one they have”

To this, Chapman simply stared stoically at the screen

They watched the feed It was picture only, no audio After the explosion happened, the feed went to static, but only for a second as though the detonation had nals When the video resumed, Stone saw the remainder of the feed Flames and white smoke covered Jackson’s statue, or where it used to be The fence and cannons had also been flung away like feathers It was a ht the park had been nearly deserted, and the security teams typically kept to the perimeter of the park

Stone saw hient slowly rose and staggered away