“If I find an apartment I like, what’s the procedure?”
“You sign an offer and give Margo some earnest money. Condos are the easiest to buy quickly. Co-ops require a lengthy application process, sight of your tax returns, and a personal interview with the board. It can take two or three months, but I may be able to help hurry the process along, depending on the building, and of course, you already have living quarters here, if you’re comfortable with that.”
“Of course I am.”
“Feel free to give this address as your own.”
“Thank you. May I hire you as my attorney?”
“Of course. I’m happy to have you for a client, and when you mention my name, always say that I’m with Woodman & Weld. That carries some weight around town.”
“I’ll remember.”
“We’ll likely dine with Dino and Viv this evening. I’ll let you know about that.”
“I’ll look forward to seeing them.”
“If you want an office to work from, Arthur Steele will arrange one in his building. You’re entitled to that as a board member, when you’re in town. If you buy a residence here, you’ll have to make your own office arrangements, or better yet, have a home office.”
“You’re full of advice,” Meg said.
“If my friends would just follow my advice,” Stone said, “their lives would be so much richer, fuller, and happier.”
“Do your friends resist your advice?”
“Almost always.”
“Why?”
“Because they think it can’t be all that great if they’re not paying for it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Meg said. “So far, your advice has been impeccable.”
“I like that word,” Stone replied.
* * *
—
“MEG IS on the move,” Gino Bellini said to Veronica, holding up his iPhone. They were in the rental Mercedes, driving down Park Avenue.
“And just when we were about to pin her down,” Veronica said.
“Wait a minute.” They were stopped at a traffic light at Fifty-seventh and Park. Gino pointed across the intersection. “She’s right there,” he said. “She must be in the green Bentley.” The light changed and their driver moved on.
“Make a U-turn as soon as possible,” Gino said to their driver.
The driver did so.
“Now step on it. Look for a green Bentley.”
The driver moved into the right lane, which was clear for the moment, in order to catch up. A few blocks up Park, he did catch up, but the Bentley was in the left-hand lane, turning left.
“Shit!” Gino yelled.
“I’m sorry, sir, they switched lanes on me just as I was catching up to them.”
“Can you figure where they’re going?”
“They’re driving west on Sixty-sixth Street, so they could either turn downtown on Fifth Avenue or cross Central Park on that street.”
Gino watched his iPhone. “They’ve turned down Fifth Avenue,” he said. “How long to catch up with them?”
“No way of telling, sir, in this traffic.”
“Oh, the hell with it,” he said. Gino’s cell phone rang.
“Yeah?”
“It’s Joe Cross,” a man’s voice said.
“Dirty Joe, how are you?”
“Not so good. I missed another chance.”
“I’m not surprised to hear it. She’s in New York. What happened?”
“I caught her and this guy on a little island west of Key West, but the wind and water didn’t cooperate, and they had a friend on another boat who was armed. We had to get out of there fast, and as it was, the guy put a bullet in my radar, an expensive repair.”
“Add it to your bill,” Gino said, “and get your ass to New York.” He gave the man his new address. “Find a hotel nearby and be at my place at ten AM tomorrow.”
“Done. Can I overnight a package to myself at your address?”
“Containing what?”
“Firearms. I can’t buy them there, and I don’t know yet where my hotel will be.”
“Sure, you do that.” Gino hung up.
“You’re going to use him again?” Veronica asked.
“How many hit men do I know?” he whispered to her, conscious of the driver’s big ears.
17
Meg returned to Stone’s house a little after five, and Fred hauled several shopping bags and boxes up to the master suite. Stone was at his desk, and he made them a drink from his office bar.
“A good day, I hope?”
“A very good one. Tonight I’ll be a new woman—you won’t recognize me. In fact, I may be a new woman every night for a week.”
“You bought that many clothes?”
“I did.”
“Look at any apartments?”
“Didn’t have time for that—another day. Where are we dining?”
“At Patroon, a favorite restaurant of ours. You’ll like it.”
“Can I dress to kill?”
“Sort of. It’s not all that formal, though, so don’t overdo it.”
“You give such good advice,” she said.
“Told you so.”
* * *
—
DIRTY JOE and Jungle Jane were packing for their trip. “Did you get the weapons off?” she asked.
“On their way. They’ll be at Gino’s house.”
“Where are we staying?”
Joe sat down on the bed and did some Googling. “Best deal that’s close to Gino’s is the Lombardy, on East Fifty-sixth Street, off Park Avenue. There’s a suite available.”
“Sounds good,” she replied. “Gino is paying anyway.”
“I booked for a week. If we get it done, we can take a few days off, see a musical or something.”
“How will I be armed?”
“The little .380. I’ll have a .45, both with silencers and three magazines.”
“Sounds good.”
“If Gino can nail her down, we’ll both take her. She won’t survive the crossfire.”
“Good deal.”
* * *
—
THEY WERE SETTLED into a booth at Patroon, with drinks and menus before them.
“How was your day?” Viv asked Meg.
“Just lovely.”
“How did your security detail work out?”
“They were perfect. I felt safe at all times. You do good work.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Viv said.
“Did I tell you,” Stone said to Meg, “that Strategic Services is the second-largest security company in the world?”
“Nope. Who’s the largest, Viv?”
“I keep trying to forget their name,” Viv said.
“What’s your job there?”
“Executive VP for security. I used to be chief operating officer, but I didn’t like the business side, so I asked for the change.”
“She’s a happier woman since then,” Dino said.
“I worry less,” said Viv. “I didn’t like thinking about the bottom line all the time. I just assemble the right teams for the work in hand.”
“Viv was quite a cop,” Stone said. “She saved Dino’s life, took out an assassin, and on another occasion, she fired a single shot from a handgun at a terrorist driving a car packed with explosives, from nearly a block away, and put the round through the back window and into the back of the driver’s head. The bomb, if it had gone off, would have taken out a big chunk of Second Avenue. She got a medal and a big reward for that one.”
“I didn’t know policemen could accept rewards,” Meg said.
“As it happened, she had resigned from the NYPD that morning to marry Dino later that same day.”
“Good timing, Viv!” Meg said. “Can an ex-cop carry a weapon in this city?”
“There are two sitting at this table,” Stone said, “not to mention one serving officer.”
“Once again, I’m well protected!”
“You also have an excellent steak knife handy, if things get out of hand,” Stone said.
* * *
—
GINO AND VERONICA BELLINI glided to a halt in front of the restaurant. “Here we are,” he said, and he waited for their driver to open the door for them.
“And how do you know this place?”
“I don’t. I read about it in a novel.”
The door opened, and they went inside the restaurant and Gino gave his name. They were escorted to a table against a wall and sat side by side with a good view of the whole place. Drinks and menus were delivered.
“Holy shit,” Gino said.
“You put that so gracefully, Gino,” Veronica said drily. “What does it mean?”
“Look across the room, center booth, under some photographs on the wall.”
“I see two couples having dinner.”
“Exactly. The blonde is Meg Harmon.”