“Meg will be safe here this week,” Dino said, “but somehow I get the feeling that she’ll be flying to New York with us this weekend.”
“I’ll admit that crossed my mind,” Stone said. “Let’s see how it goes.”
“That would put her in the same city as the Bellinis,” Dino pointed out.
“That crossed my mind, too. She’d best stay with me, I guess.”
“I guessed,” Dino replied.
* * *
—
VIV AND MEG were making dinner while Stone and Dino talked.
“You know,” Meg said, “I’m glad I met you all. This is a lot more fun than dining with the crusty board of the Steele Group.”
“Thanks, we’re enjoying you, too.”
“Stone seems to be almost too good to be true,” Meg said. “Is there anything I should know about him?”
“Stone used to be on the NYPD, and he and Dino were partners in the old days, so they’ve been best friends forever. Stone, believe me, is a perfectly straightforward man. He’s what he seems to be.”
“I’m delighted to hear it,” Meg said. “I had a marriage that didn’t survive the first year of my start-up, and I didn’t have much of a social life while I was building my company. Since the buyout, everything has changed but isn’t necessarily better. Anybody who reads the Wall Street Journal knows how rich I am, and I’ve had to be very careful about the men I meet.”
“I can understand that,” Viv replied. “I don’t think Stone is as rich as you are, but he’s very well off, indeed. He doesn’t need your money.”
* * *
—
THEY HAD PASTA at the outdoor dining table.
“I know you’re in software,” Stone said to Meg. “What are you working on these days?”
“A lot of things,” she replied, “but the one that’s taking up most of our resources is the self-driving car. We’ve stolen a march on most of our competitors, and our system is in the final stages of testing.”
“Have you tried it out in New York yet?” Stone asked. “That should be a challenge for it.”
“As we speak,” she replied. “We have six vehicles—four cars and two delivery trucks—on your streets. And we’re going to put on a demonstration for the Steele board this week in Key West.”
* * *
—
THE BELLINIS were now using the name Beresford on passports and credit cards, which Gino thought sounded classy. They dined at the 21 Club early and then went to see Hamilton. “These seats were twenty-five hundred each from the hotel concierge,” he said to Veronica. “But who gives a fuck? We may not be as rich as we ought to be, but we’re rich enough for right now.”
“I’m happy,” Veronica said, “but you’re not going to be until Meg is dead and buried.”
“But then I’ll be very, very happy,” he said. “I’ll keep suing them until they come up with a big settlement. With Meg gone, they’ll fold.”
“I hope you’re right,” Veronica said.
* * *
—
AFTER DINNER, during which a couple of bottles of wine were consumed, they all ended up in the spa, and Stone was impressed with how comfortable Meg was, being naked with new friends.
She had a shower in the master bathroom, then dressed.
“I was hoping you’d stay,” Stone said.
“Not tonight, but I won’t keep you waiting long.”
“I’ll drive you to the Casa Marina.”
“That won’t be necessary,” she said. “I called for a car. Just lead me to your front door.”
He did so, and a sleek car with a small antenna array on top was parked just outside. As they approached it, the rear door slid open, and Meg got in. “This is my pride and joy,” she said, giving him a kiss.
The door slid shut, and the car moved silently away, turning at the corner.
Stone went back inside. “Is Meg gone?” Viv asked.
“Her car came for her,” Stone said. “No driver, just the car.”
* * *
—
TEN MINUTES LATER, the front doorbell rang, and Stone answered it.
Meg stood there, looking unhappy.
“I hope the car didn’t have an accident,” Stone said, bringing her in.
“It didn’t,” Meg replied. “It just stopped. One of my techs is with it now.”
“You look as though you could use a drink,” Stone said.
“I certainly could,” she replied, and he poured her a gimlet.
“Did the tech figure it out?”
“He thinks it’s a software problem,” she replied.
“Software is what you do, isn’t it?”
“It is, and we have rewritten it half a dozen times over the past two years. I would think it was impossible that we would still have a bug, but while the tech was there, he got a call. All six of our vehicles in New York stopped, too.”
“So, they all have the same software bug?”
“So it seems,” she said. “I’ve already called a team into the office to get to work on it.” She yawned. “I’m tired,” she said.
“Then why don’t you stay the night?”
She looked up at him. “Are your intentions honorable?”
“Only as honorable as they need to be,” Stone replied.
5
On Monday morning the directors of the Steele Group reassembled at the golf course.
“How’s Al Harris?” Stone asked Arthur.
“On the mend. He insisted that we play today, and he swears he’ll be at the board meeting on Friday.”
“Did he have surgery?”
“Yes, and his arm will be in a sling for a bit.”
“When you speak to him, tell him I wish him well and look forward to seeing him at the board meeting.”
They had to wait five minutes for Meg to show up, and when she did it was in a taxi. Stone supposed she was saving her driverless car for its demonstration to the board, if it was working again.
“Sorry about that,” she said to Arthur. “I don’t need to warm up. I did my stretches in the backseat of the cab.”
“You have the honor,” Arthur said, ushering her onto the tee. She hit it straight for a good two hundred yards.
Stone still sliced his drive, but not into the rough. He had a shot at the green with a good lie.
Arthur’s went straight and landed a yard behind Meg’s.
Arthur Jr. hooked into the deep rough.
“I can’t get him to take lessons,” Arthur said to Stone as their cart trundled down the fairway. “He’s convinced he can teach himself, like that left-handed pro who says he’s never had a lesson. What’s his name?”
“Bubba Watson,” Stone replied.
“Tell me,” Arthur said, “how do you like your rental house?”
“It’s wonderful,” Stone said. “I’ve had to resist finding out who the owner is and making an offer.”
“That’s right, you have the house-buying disease, don’t you?”
“I’m afraid so. I did sell one, though.”
“Which one?”
“Washington, Connecticut. I just wasn’t using it.”
“Do you think you’d use a house here?” Arthur asked.
“A warm place in winter is very inviting,” Stone replied, “even if it’s only for long weekends.”
They all hit their second shots and drove on.
* * *
—
AT THE FINISH, Arthur reviewed their scorecards, and Meg had won it on handicap. Arthur was second, and Stone was third.
“I guess we had the lucky foursome,” Arthur said.
Stone was putting his and Meg’s clubs into the convertible when the now-familiar police detectives drove up.
“Back already?” Stone asked. “What’s new?”
“We didn’t get the Bellinis, but our guys found the weapon,” Harry Kaufelt reported. “It’s a goddamned Kalashnikov. I wonder what that means.”
“Probably nothing,” Stone said. “It was available, and the guy bought it, and it might have been a lucky thing for us. A lot of those weapons are old and war-worn, and its accuracy may have suffered.”
“Did you hear more than one shot?” Harry asked.
“No, I think that’s all there was. Have you located the vehicle?”
“Got that, too, stolen and abandoned near the airport, and it was cleaned of any evidence. We got Bellini’s phone number in California and called it. A housekeeper said the Bellinis are on vacation in Europe, and she doesn’t know when they’ll be back.”