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Stone didn’t answer
“Still, not a particularly good day for any of us”
“You could say that”
“And do you blame yourself?”
Stone looked at him “And ouldn’t I?”
McElroy considered this “I suppose I would’ve been disappointed if you’d answered any other way I’ve grown used to finger-pointing over the years, accepting it as just the way the world works now But I know it doesn’t work that way for you and never has And neither does it for me”
“So a to be pulled from the case?”
“Do you want to be?”
“I don’t like unfinished business”
“I wish I could give you a definitive answer, but I can’t”
“The president wavering on me? He’s done it before”
“He’s a politician It’s never easy That’sA spy’s life is a bit easier in that department”
“So until I get the word either way aation?”
“The answer to that would be yes”
“That’s all I needed to know”
“I understand that Riley Weaver came to visit you”
“He did”
“He’s scared, as I understand it Sees so over the horizon And he thinks that what happened here plays into it somehow? That it was merely a first step?”
“I think he believes that, yes”
“And do you?”
“Since the attack at the park made no sense, then it see else”
“Bigger than exploding a boun fire across froht be in serious trouble”
Thetone, but it was apparent from the look of concern in his eyes that McElroy too had a sense of foreboding “Any inkling as to what that soht be?”
Stone turned to him “Fuat Turkekul”
“What about him?”
“I don’t believe in coincidences”
“Meaning his being in the park at the same time of the attack”
“I think so about it”
“So why didn’t they kill him, then?”
“That would make the answer simple This isn’t simple” He eyed the security team “Feel like a bit of a walk?”
“If you’ll lend me a hand, yes Knees aren’t what they used to be, and what they used to be was never much, I’m afraid”
The two old allies walked along the brick path Stone supported McElroy with a firm hand under his elbow as the spy chiefhis cane
“Theories?” said McElroy
“They know everything before we do Andto do at the same time we decide to do it”
“So a traitor assuredly?”