FAHD SNAPPED INTO the phone, “They what!”
“Flew to Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. They’d landed before we even confirmed the flight plan.”
“What’s their next stop?”
“We don’t know. Stone Barrington has submitted no further flight plan. We’re looking, but we can’t find it.”
“I suppose a man with his amount of money could bribe someone to keep it off the books.”
“He can’t take off without filing a flight plan. It isn’t safe for other aircraft.”
“Is the plane still there?”
“We have men on the way to the airport. Confirming a flight didn’t take off isn’t as easy as confirming one did.”
“It’s a diversion. They knew we would be checking reservations at JFK, so they flew to Dulles. Check reservations on every plane leaving Dulles for France for the names Stone Barrington, Dino Bacchetti, and Billy Barnett.”
Fahd slammed the phone down, went to the door, and bellowed, “Joram!”
The techie looked up from his computer. “Yes, sir?”
“Get in here.”
Joram swallowed hard, got up, and went into the other room, wondering what he could possibly have done wrong.
“Sit at that computer. I need you to find some information, and I don’t want to keep yelling for you.”
“Yes, sir. What do you need, sir?”
“Find out where Stone Barrington stays when he goes to Paris.”
Joram looked up the question on the Internet. The answer came back almost immediately.
“Sir?”
“Yes?”
“Stone Barrington owns a house in Paris. He bought it fairly recently. It’s a modest house, but quite large enough to accommodate his friends.”
“Excellent,” Fahd said. He called Glenville, an independent agent he used sometimes in Paris. Glenville would have more flexibility than his other main contact in Paris, a carefully placed mole in the CIA office. “A man named Billy Barnett is en route to Paris. We’ve lost him along the way, but he’s traveling with two men: Stone Barrington and Police Commissioner Dino Bacchetti. Stone Barrington owns a house in town. Intercept Barnett there, and follow him wherever he goes. Don’t let him know he’s being followed, but don’t let him out of your sight. Let me know when you have him, and I’ll send further instructions.”