Read Online Stuart Woods_Stone Barrington 12 by Dark Harbor - Free Book Online Page A

right. Ed was a second-generation guy; his father worked for Bill Donovan in the OSS during World War Two and was with Dulles when the Agency was created. Ed became a star in Operations; he initially made his name as a new agent in Vietnam. He had a talent for recruiting, even people whose language he didn’t speak, but it didn’t take him long to learn the language. He ran teams of South Vietnamese into Laos and the North to gather intelligence, take and interrogate prisoners and destroy weapons stockpiles; he jumped out of airplanes into the jungle, got what he was after and walked home if a chopper couldn’t get to him without attracting too much attention.
    â€œBy the time the war was over, he was a near legend, and by the time I met him, when I was in training, he was the actual thing. He was a great mentor, and everybody loved him, except the colleagues who had to compete with him.
    â€œAfter the Farm, he was posted to Berlin and made a whole new name for himself then. He preceded Dick in running the London station, then he got caught in bed with somebody’s wife and got sent to Stockholm, which was a demotion. Ed never could keep his cock in his pants, and the cold winters didn’t slow him down.
    â€œUnfortunately, one of his girls was a setup of the Soviets, and they took the usual embarrassing photographs. He was up against it, due to retire in a couple of years, and exposure would have gotten him fired, after his debacle in London. He began feeding them information, probably harmless stuff. Two of our people were designated to follow him to a possible meet with the Soviets, and they were both shot. Kate Rule, herself, found him out and got him sent to prison. He spent four or five years in the Atlanta Federal Prison, until the Agency got some backdoor information from a former source that seemed to clear him.
    â€œHe was also the source of a tip that put somebody we were looking for in a cottage on North Islesboro. That, apparently, tipped the balance, and the top echelon at Langley, including Kate Rule, recommended a presidential pardon. He also got a million-dollar reward and repaired to his ancestral home in Dark Harbor to amuse himself as best he could and await death. That’s about it.”
    â€œIs he somebody I can trust?”
    â€œTrust to what?”
    â€œTell me the truth.”
    â€œProbably, especially if it’s in his interest to do so. Why do you ask?”
    â€œRawls told me he thinks Dick’s death was work related.”
    A brief silence. “Did he give you any details?”
    â€œHe said he had some feelers out, and I’d have to be patient. He’s also afraid whoever killed Dick and his family may have a go at him as well, and he’s taken security precautions at his house. I wandered down his drive, exploring, and he trapped my car and drew down on me.”
    â€œWell, assuming prison didn’t send Ed around the bend, there may be something to it. We all have a certain amount of paranoia trained into us, and Ed would be no exception. Did he seem to make sense to you?”
    â€œYes, he did.”
    â€œThen I’d take him seriously and find out what, if anything, he has to offer. How could it hurt?”
    â€œWell, it’s not like I have anything else to go on.”
    â€œYou’ll find Ed an entertaining character, full of stories, and he’s very smart. You could do worse than to have him on your side.”
    â€œI didn’t see any evidence of a wife.”
    â€œShe bailed out when Ed was arrested, took half of everything and bought a house in Florida. Last I heard, she’d remarried.”
    â€œTell me, Lance, in what sort of repute is Rawls held by his former colleagues?”
    â€œSome are sympathetic; some hate his guts. Hugh English, whom Dick was succeeding as Deputy Director for Operations, was one of the haters, but he signed off on the pardon recommendation. Incidentally, I don’t