Reckless Abandon (6 page)
STONE WOKE WITH a crick in his neck, the result of napping most of the afternoon with Holly’s head on his shoulder. That was all they had done, nap, and he wasn’t too happy about that, but somehow, he hadn’t felt it was the right time to go further.
The sound of his hairdryer was coming from the bathroom, then it stopped, and Holly emerged, stark naked, her underwear in her hands. “I’m going to take Daisy for a nice long walk,” she said. “I’ll be back in time for dinner.”
“Wear something,” he called after her, while appreciating the sight of her departure. “I wouldn’t want you to get arrested.”
She laughed and disappeared upstairs.
Stone got up, still groggy, and got into a shower. He emerged feeling brighter. The phone rang.
“Hello?”
“It’s Dino. Dinner?”
“Sure, meet me at Elaine’s. Lance Cabot will be there.”
“No shit? The CIA guy?”
“One and the same.”
“How’d Herbie’s courtroom appearance go?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Tell me anyway.”
Stone told him.
“I don’t believe it.”
“See?”
“Goldstein did that? I thought he was Mr. Ironass.”
“Lance says he’s a patriot.”
“He’s lucky Goldstein didn’t have him arrested on the spot. I wouldn’t mess with that guy on a bet, especially about a DUI.”
“A DUI that included violence upon the crotch of a police officer. Turns out the cop was Dierdre Monahan’s little brother, and she caught the case.”
“You’re lucky Lance showed up.”
“Herbie was lucky. I had negotiated thirty days in Rikers for him, and he got off with a suspended sentence because of whatever Lance said to Goldstein.”
“Go figure.”
“Yeah. Eight-thirty?”
“See ya.” Dino hung up.
Holly came back into the room, this time, to Stone’s disappointment, fully dressed. “Is there some sort of park that’s closer to your house than Central Park?” she asked.
“Not so’s you’d notice it,” Stone said. “In Manhattan, a park is often the space where a building used to be. By the way, did I mention the leash law?”
“No, but I figured. Not in the park, of course.”
“Especially in the park. It’s a hundred-buck fine.”
“That’s cruel to dogs.”
“And to dog owners.”
“You’re perfectly serious about this?”
“You didn’t believe me about picking up the dog poop, either, did you? We do things differently in New York.”
“This is taking some getting used to.”
“Daisy seems to be managing.”
“She’s very adaptable, like me.”
“
You’re
adaptable?”
“Of course. Have you heard any complaints from me? I mean, any
at all
?”
“Only about having to pick up dog poop.”
“That’s about Daisy, not about me.”
“You’re the one picking it up. Daisy is just doing what comes naturally.”
“All right. Have you heard any complaints from me, except about Daisy?”
“Not so far.”
“That sounds as though you’re expecting some.”
“I hope not.”
She came over, grabbed him by the front of his robe, and kissed him. “Don’t worry about it.” She turned and walked down the stairs, followed closely by Daisy.
They got a cab to Elaine’s. As they approached the restaurant, Stone noticed a man standing out front, just uptown from the yellow awning, holding a briefcase. He looked out of place somehow. Stone wasn’t sure how. “Driver, stop here,” he said. The cab halted a couple of doors up, and Stone looked hard at the man. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and switched hands with the briefcase. Stone noted a Cadillac double-parked just downtown from the entrance.
“That’s seven-fifty,” the cabbie said.
“Drive around the block,” Stone said.
“Huh?”
“Start the meter again and drive around the block to your right, slowly.”
“Whatever you say, mister.” He pulled away from the curb.
Stone got out his cell phone.
“Are we early?” Holly asked. “Do you have a thing about being early?”
“Shhh,” Stone said. “Dino?”
“Yeah, I’m on my way.”
“Listen, do you remember a few years back we had that weapons guy come into the precinct and show us a lot of stuff?”
“Vaguely,” Dino said. “What about it?”
“Do you remember that Heckler & Koch thing he showed us with the H&K machine gun in the briefcase? There was a hole in one end that took the barrel, and the shell casings were routed to the bottom of the case when the thing was fired?”
“Yeah, I think I do.”
“Well, there’s a suspicious character standing outside Elaine’s holding a briefcase that looks just like the H&K one, and it has a hole in it.”
“Where are you?” Dino asked.
“Driving around the block, slowly,” Stone replied.
“Keep doing that until you hear from me,” Dino said. “I’m on it.”
Stone closed his cell phone.
“What’s going on?” Holly asked.
“This afternoon, you said you were following Trini in a Cadillac?”
“Yes.” She put a hand to her mouth. “And there was a Cadillac double-parked outside Elaine’s. It was black, too, just like the one I followed.”
“Yeah. I didn’t ask you what happened with your pursuit.”
“I lost him in Brooklyn. I think it was Brooklyn, anyway. I followed him across a bridge.”
“Any chance the Cadillac could have followed you back to my house?”
Holly sank down in her seat. “Oh, my God. You were right. New York is not like Orchid Beach.”
THE CAB WENT around the block again, and when they turned downtown on Second again, Stone told the driver to stop at the corner before the restaurant. He opened the door and got out so he could see better. Holly did the same on the other side.
Dino’s car was double-parked a few yards ahead of them, and Stone could make out a commotion on the sidewalk in front of Elaine’s. A man Stone recognized as Dino’s cop driver was pointing a gun into the Cadillac and barking orders.
“Holly, do you have my Walther with you?” Stone asked.
“In my purse,” Holly said.
“Get back in the cab and hand me the gun.” He leaned down, reached across the backseat, and accepted the pistol.
“There’s one in the chamber and six in the magazine,” she said.
“Please stay in the cab until I wave you in.” Stone gave the cabbie a twenty, then closed the door and went to the sidewalk and started down the street toward Elaine’s with the Walther in his hand. He could see now that Dino was on the sidewalk, cuffing the man with the briefcase.
Then, as he approached and Dino was dragging the man to his feet, the rear door of the Cadillac opened, and Lance Cabot got out, his hands in the air.
“Stone!” he yelled. “That guy is mine!” He nodded toward the handcuffed man.
Stone walked up to Dino. “Hang on,” he said. “That’s Lance Cabot over there at the car, and he says this guy belongs to him.”
Dino looked back and forth from his captive to the Cadillac. “All right, Mike,” he yelled to his driver, “we’re clear, no problem.” He unlocked the handcuffs and handed the man his briefcase. “Is there a machine gun in here, pal?” he asked him.
“Talk to Cabot,” the man said.
Lance walked up and offered his hand to Dino. “I’m Lance Cabot,” he said. “I’m sorry about the misunderstanding.”
Dino shook his hand. “Don’t worry about it. It was all Stone’s fault.”
“That’s right,” Holly said from behind Stone. “I’m a witness.”
“Thanks so much, everybody,” Stone said. “How did I call this wrong?”
“Well, you weren’t
entirely
wrong,” Dino replied. “You just didn’t know who you were dealing with.”
“It’s dinnertime,” Stone said, and they went into Elaine’s.
Elaine was at a front table, and she waved them over. “Are you guys having street fights outside my place again?”
“Just a misunderstanding,” Stone said. “Elaine, this is Lance Cabot, and, Lance, you haven’t met Holly Barker, either.” Everybody shook hands, and Stone didn’t like the way Holly was looking at Lance.
They settled in at a table.
Lance turned to Holly. “Are you the police chief in Orchid Beach, Florida?”
“That’s right,” Holly replied, looking stunned. “How could you know that?”
“Anybody who pays attention knows that,” Lance said.
Holly seemed to melt a little in her seat, annoying Stone. “So, Lance,” he said, “do you normally travel with bodyguards who have machine guns in briefcases?”
“No, not normally,” Lance replied smoothly, as if he had been asked if he wore pleated pants. “Just today.”
“What’s so dangerous about today?” Stone asked.
“Well, around lunchtime today I picked up a tail.”
Stone felt a penny drop. “Yes? Where?”
“I was in Little Italy doing some business, and I picked up on an evil-looking black Mercedes following me. We lost it in Brooklyn, but policy is, when you pick up a tail, you increase security.”
Holly hid behind her menu.
“A wise policy,” Stone agreed. “Holly, can we get you a drink?”
Holly lowered the menu to eye level. “Knob Creek on the rocks,” she said, then raised the menu again.
“Make it two,” Lance said.
“Three Knob Creeks on the rocks and whatever poison Lieutenant Bacchetti is having this evening,” Stone told the waiter.
“Dino,” Lance said, “your reputation precedes you.”
“Oh, yeah?” Dino asked.
“We have a list of reliable police officers in various cities who we sometimes deal with. You’re on it.”
“That’s news to me,” Dino said.
Lance turned to Holly. “I’ll see that your name is placed on it, too.”
Holly put down the menu. “How nice,” she said, noncommittally.
“He’s turning us all into spies,” Dino whispered loudly.
“Oh, nothing as sinister as that. Sometimes, during the course of our work, we stumble across criminal activity that, technically, is outside our purview. When that happens, it’s nice to know some people in local law enforcement.”
“Tell me,” Stone said, “in the course of your work have you run across somebody named Trini Rodriguez?”
Lance furrowed his brow. “I don’t believe so.”
“How about a Robert Marshall?”
Lance shook his head. “Nope.”
“I think I’d better come clean,” Holly said. “It was Stone’s car that was following you today.”
Lance turned to Stone and looked at him askance.
“Don’t point that thing at me,” Stone said. “Go on, Holly.”
“And I was driving it.”
The drinks arrived, and Lance raised his glass. “To coincidence,” he said. “You put enough coincidences together, and what you get is . . .” He gazed at Holly. “. . . fate.”
Holly blushed. “Let me explain. I’m in New York looking for a man named Trini Rodriguez, who may be using the name Robert Marshall.”
“Why?” Lance asked.
“Multiple homicides,” Holly replied. “Today, he came out of the La Boheme coffeehouse and got into your car.”
“
That
was Trini Rodriguez?” Lance asked.
“Yep. What was he doing with you?”
“Well, I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you it was nothing to do with multiple homicides.”
“What name did he give you?” Holly asked.
“I was told he was called Bobo. He was to assist me in some enquiries, as the British would put it.”
“Did he?”
“I’m afraid I can’t answer that.”
“Swell,” Holly said. “First, the FBI protects this bastard, and now the CIA.”
Lance looked around and made a tamping motion with his hand. “Please. I wish I could help you, Holly, but until today I’d never clapped eyes on Mr. Rodriguez, and I never expect to again. However, if he should cross my line of vision again, I’ll be glad to call you. May I have your number?”
Holly gave him her card while Stone rolled his eyes.
“Anything else you can tell me about him or about the people who sent you to him?”
“Alas, no,” Lance said sadly. “The nature of the work, I’m afraid.” He turned to Stone. “By the way,” he said, “have you, by any chance, heard from Herbert J. Fisher?”
“No, I haven’t,” Stone said. “Should I have?”
“Just a thought. Herbie didn’t make his flight to Saint Thomas this evening.”
“I thought you had a man on him,” Stone said.
“I thought so, too, but Herbie, the little shit, eluded him. Herbie is out there in the land, somewhere, in his red Mustang, moving about with reckless abandon.”
“That’s just terrific,” Stone said. “If I hear from him, what shall I tell him?”
“Tell him to go and stand on the corner of Forty-second Street and Broadway, then call me,” Lance replied. “I’ll have someone go there and shoot him.”
Stone wasn’t at all sure he was kidding.
THEY HAD FINISHED dinner and were standing on the sidewalk in front of Elaine’s, saying their goodbyes. Dino got into his waiting car and was driven away.
“May I give you a lift?” Lance said to Holly and Stone.
They spoke at the same time. “No,” Stone replied. “Yes,” Holly said.
Lance opened a rear door and motioned them in. “Stone, I know where you live. Holly, where can I take you?”
“You can take us both to my house,” Stone said.
“Ah,” Lance mused. He gave the driver an address, then pressed a button and a thick glass partition rolled up, separating them from the two men in the front seat. “Actually,” Lance said, “there’s something I’d like to talk to the two of you about.”
“Shoot,” Holly said. She was sitting between Lance and Stone.
“You may have read in the papers that the Agency is working very hard on terrorism since nine/eleven.”
“I believe I’ve seen reports to that effect,” Stone said.
“As a result, we’re stretched a little thin these days, and we’ve had to neglect some other matters, particularly those which require attention on our own soil.”
Stone snorted. “And I thought you folks were proscribed from dealing with home matters.”
“Formerly, yes. Since nine/eleven, things have changed a bit.”
“I’ll bet,” Stone said.
“Stone,” Holly said, “could you just shut up so we can hear what Lance has to say?”
“Thank you, Holly,” Lance said. “I couldn’t have put it better myself.”
Stone smoldered in silence.
“As I was saying,” Lance continued, “we’re stretched a little thin these days, and, as a result, I have been authorized to add a few . . . consultants, shall we say, to our roster.”
“Consultants?” Holly said. “What do you mean?”
“People who are sometimes in a position to render services to us, but who are not permanent employees.”
Stone couldn’t stand it anymore. “You mean people to whom you don’t have to pay pensions or offer medical plans?”
“You misunderstand,” Lance said. “I’m referring to people who have built lives outside our service, and who have independently acquired information or contacts that might be of use to us in the future. Let me give you a couple of examples. Stone, you were recently involved, quite inadvertently, of course, in a British intelligence operation dealing with an assassin who was causing problems in Europe and New York.” He paused.
“If you say so,” Stone said, surprised that Lance knew about this.
“We would have liked to know about this during the fact, instead of afterward,” Lance said. He didn’t wait for Stone to respond. “Holly, you were recently involved in a major federal investigation in Florida, and, as I understand it, you had a great deal to do with its successful conclusion. We would have been very pleased to know about that at a much earlier date. Is this making any sense at all to the two of you?”
“Sure,” Stone said, “you want us to become CIA snitches.”
“No, no,” Lance said placatingly. “We would like for you both, from time to time, to perhaps participate more actively in certain situations that might arise. Of course, we’re always receptive to pertinent information.”
“What sort of situations?” Holly asked.
“For instance, Stone has been of help to us in dealing with the Herbie Fisher problem, and, although that problem has not yet been entirely solved, that certainly isn’t Stone’s fault. Holly, you might similarly be of help in some other situation, on your own home turf. One never knows when.”
“I see, I think,” Holly said. “We’d just be on call, sort of.”
“Yes, sort of. And we’d never wish to interfere with your own duties in your main work.”
“And this is work for which we’d be paid?” Holly asked.
“Of course, and generously. Ask Stone.”
Stone spoke up. “There isn’t enough money in the CIA’s coffers to make it worthwhile dealing with Herbie Fisher and his problems.”
“Still, you didn’t come off all that badly, did you?” Lance asked. “What did you spend—a couple of hours?”
“Well, yes, it didn’t occupy a great deal of time,” Stone admitted, “and I was well paid.”
“You see?” Lance said, spreading his hands. “We’re starting to be of one mind.”
“And,” Holly said, “if we were consulting, so to speak, and we had some little problem, then the CIA might be helpful to us.”
“What sort of problem did you have in mind?” Lance asked, sounding slightly suspicious.
“Oh, nothing at present,” Holly said, “but you can never tell what might come up in the future, can you?”
“I suppose there might occur, at some point, circumstances in which we might be informally helpful,” Lance said, “but of course, I can’t make you any promises about that, it being so vague.”
“Of course not,” Stone said. “Tell me, is there a contract for this sort of service?”
“I suppose there could be,” Lance said, “if it were deemed necessary.”
They had pulled up in front of Stone’s house. “Tell you what, why don’t you send the contracts to me, and I’ll take a look at them,” Stone said.
“You’d be representing Holly, then?”
“Yes,” Holly said, “he would be.”
“All right, I’ll see what I can put together.”
“Good night, Lance,” Stone said, opening the door, “and thanks for the lift.”
“Same here,” Holly said.
Stone closed the car door and they walked up the front steps.
“Did you think that was really, really weird?” Holly asked as they entered the house.
“I think that anything to do with Lance is really, really weird,” Stone replied. They got on the elevator and headed upstairs. When Stone got off, Holly followed him to his bedroom.
She took him by the lapels and kissed him.
Stone kissed her back. “That was very nice,” he said.
“Just what do I have to do to get you into bed?” Holly asked, kissing him again.
“Well, I. . .” He was stopped by a tongue in his mouth.
“I mean, I’ve been parading around here half naked—no, entirely naked, and that usually gets results, but you actually fell asleep.”
“I’m sorry, I . . .”
She pushed off his jacket and began untying his tie. “A girl could feel hurt by such treatment, you know.” She was working on his buttons.
“Doesn’t Daisy have to go out?” Stone asked weakly.
“Daisy is half bladder; don’t worry about it.” She was working on her own buttons now. “You think I could have a little help here?”
“Anything at all I can do,” Stone said, feeling for her buttons, zippers, and snaps. “I certainly don’t want you to feel neglected.”
“I feel neglected,” she said. “Make it better.”
Stone did what he could.