“And if it goes wrong, what happens to Hildy Parsons?”
“There’s that, too,” Stone said. “And that’s my principal interest in all this.”
“Mine, too.”
Mitzi came back into the room. “Brian says to go ahead with the buy but not to bust Sharpe, just let him walk out with the money.”
“Are the bills marked?”
“If they are, Brian didn’t tell me.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Sharpe owns an ultraviolet light,” Stone said. “He’ll be looking for marks.”
“Too late to change plans now,” Mitzi said. She went to the big Sub-Zero fridge, opened the freezer, and took out a large plastic bag.
“That’s your safe?” Stone asked.
“I’ve got a real safe,” Rita said. “My jewelry’s in it, but there’s room for that, too.”
Stone took the bag and fished out a bundle of hundred-dollar bills. He flipped through them like a deck of cards. “I can’t see anything. I don’t suppose you have an ultraviolet light?”
“Nope,” Rita said.
“Where’s the safe?”
“In the study,” Rita replied.
“Why don’t you put this in the safe and let Sharpe see you take it out? It’ll be good for his morale.”
“What would be good for his morale is for me to fuck him,” Mitzi said. “He’s already made a big pass at me, and I’m expecting more of the same this morning.”
“Slap him hard across the chops,” Stone said.
“I think that would just make him mad.”
“Rita, does the phone system in the apartment allow you to call between extensions?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the extension number for the study?”
“Eleven.”
“Okay, Mitzi,” Stone said, “I’m going to give you three minutes with Sharpe, then call that extension. Answer it, say, ‘Send him up,’ and tell Sharpe your driver is on the way up.”
“Okay.”
“What if she’s unable to answer the phone?” Rita asked.
“Then I’ll interrupt you,” Stone said. “By that time you should have completed the deal. Make sure you do that immediately after he arrives. Tell him you have to be somewhere. Make up something.”
“What if Sharpe wants to meet your friends from Charleston?” Rita asked.
“I’ll tell him they’re just in town for the day and have a full schedule,” Mitzi replied.
“I’m sure you can handle anything he throws at you,” Stone said.
“I’m moved by your confidence in me, sir,” Mitzi said, curtseying.
Rita spoke up. “If he throws his dick at you, there’s a large pair of scissors on the desk in the study.”
“Always use the right tools,” Mitzi said. “That’s what my daddy always told me.”
The phone rang, and Rita answered. “Send him up,” she said.
Stone looked at his watch. “Already?”
“It’s Tom,” Rita said. “Don’t have a heart attack.”
“What do you want me to do?” Emma asked.
“Put on your maid’s uniform, just in case Sharpe comes to the kitchen.”
Emma put down her coffee cup and left the room. “Be right back,” she said.
Mitzi looked at Stone. “You’re more nervous than I am,” she said.
“I have a better imagination than you do,” Stone replied. “I can think of a dozen things that can go wrong.”
39
TOM ARRIVED AND WAS GIVEN a croissant and some coffee. “Are you playing in this game?” he asked Stone.
“Only if I’m needed from the bench,” Stone replied.
Emma returned to the kitchen wearing a maid’s uniform, but not the one she had worn when she served canapés. The skirt was short, the stockings were black fishnet, and the bodice was tight and featured lots of cleavage.
Stone burst out laughing. “Can you come and play maid at my house?” he asked.
“Emma,” Rita said, pointing at the door, “you get out of that garb right now and put on the uniform I gave you. This is not a French farce.”
“I don’t know about that,” Stone said, watching her go.
The phone rang, and Mitzi picked it up. “Send him up,” she said, then hung up. “It’s Sharpe. He’s half an hour early.”
“Rita,” Stone said, “get that money into the safe and make sure that Mitzi knows how to open it-then get to your room.” The two women ran out of the kitchen.
Emma came back wearing a more prosaic maid’s uniform.
“Emma,” Stone said, “as soon as Rita is back in her room, let Sharpe in, show him to the study, and get back here. You, Tom, and I will be drinking coffee together, should he decide to have a look around.”
“Got it,” Emma said.
“Okay!” Rita yelled from down the hall just as the doorbell rang.
“You’re on,” Stone said to Emma, and she started down the hall.
MITZI SAT DOWN at the desk in the study and began writing a letter to her father on Rita’s creamy stationery. She heard Emma go to the front door, and a moment later there was a knock on the study door. “Come in,” Mitzi said.
Emma opened the door and stepped inside. “Miss Reynolds, Mr. Sharpe is here.” She let him in, backed out, and closed the door.
Sharpe stood by the door holding a large briefcase and looking nervous. “You didn’t tell me the maid would be here.”
“She’s here every day,” Mitzi said.
“Who else is in the apartment?”
“Just the maid and Stone. He’s down the hall in the kitchen having breakfast.”
“I don’t think you understand how sensitive this transaction is,” Sharpe said.
“I don’t think you understand that nobody in the kitchen cares what you and I are doing in here,” Mitzi said. She stood, slid back a shelf of fake book spines, and started opening the safe. “I’m glad you’re early,” she said. “I’ve got things to do this morning. Did you bring the drugs?”
“Do you have the money?”
Mitzi opened the safe, removed a brown envelope, and took out several bundles of bills. “There you are,” she said. “Count it, and let’s get this done.” She left the safe open and kept the desk between them.
Sharpe set his briefcase on the desk, picked up some bills, and began counting them. “It’s not that I don’t trust you,” he said, “but my supplier would take offense if I didn’t show up with the correct amount.”
“I understand,” Mitzi said, sitting down again.
Sharpe continued to count. “So you and Stone are an item, huh?”
“You’ve seen us together before. I like him a lot.”
“Didn’t he used to be a cop?”
“He retired years ago, I believe; now he’s a lawyer.”
“So he’s not going to come in here and bust me?”
Mitzi laughed. “No, he is not.”
Sharpe finished counting the money. He opened his briefcase and put the bills inside, then closed it.
“And where are the goods?” Mitzi asked.
“You’ll get them as soon as I deliver the money,” Sharpe said.
“Our deal was cash on delivery,” Mitzi said. “You’ve got the cash, now deliver.”
“I’ll be back in an hour.”
“I won’t be here in an hour,” Mitzi said. “The deal’s off; leave the money on the desk and go.”
“Now you listen to me…” Sharpe began.
The phone rang, and Mitzi picked it up. “Hello?”
“Everything all right?” Stone asked.
“Yes,” she replied. “Send him up, please.” She hung up. “My driver is on the way up,” she said to Sharpe. “And you’re not leaving here with my money.”
Sharpe opened the briefcase again and extracted two packages wrapped in opaque plastic and sealed with tape. “I was only joking,” he said. “Here are your goods. I’ll be going.”
“Just a minute,” Mitzi said, picking up the large pair of brass scissors on the desk. She began working on the tape of the larger package.
“I thought you were in a hurry,” Sharpe said nervously.
“I am, but I just want to see this stuff.” She got the package open and smelled it. “That smells like marijuana,” she said.