“Stone, I hope you appreciate the need for absolute secrecy in this matter; I’m the only person outside the company itself who is privy to this new product, and I’ve given my word not to disclose the kind of information I think you’re talking about. Now if either you or Mitzi isn’t comfortable with that level of confidentiality, I’ll understand if you don’t want to participate.”
“Mitzi is more comfortable with it than I am,” Stone said, “and she’s the boss. She should be in touch with you today about her investment.”
“Great, Stone. I’ll look forward to hearing from her. Thanks for your help.” He hung up.
Stone called Mitzi’s cell. “Okay, I’ve baited the hook with Larsen.”
“Terrific.”
“How big a bad check are you going to give him?”
“Ten million dollars.”
“Whoa! Way too much. Your bogus net worth is only $39,000,000, remember? You’ll scare him off.”
“How much, then?”
“Five million, tops. What bank will it be on?”
“My Charleston bank, the real one. I’ve already talked with my guy there, and he understands and will not pay the check.”
“Suppose Larsen has his bank call and put a hold on the funds?”
“I thought of that. My guy will tell them it’s against bank policy; they’ll have to present the actual check.”
“That could work. When are you going to give Larsen the check?”
“Tomorrow morning; we’re meeting for coffee at the Carlyle Hotel at ten a.m.”
“Will Tom be able to see you?”
“Yes. I’d like it if you could be there, too.”
“Participating or just watching?”
“Participating.”
“I made a point of sounding as if I have reservations about the investment, and I’ll continue that pose at the meeting. The enthusiasm will have to come from you.”
“I’ll be enthusiastic,” Mitzi said.
“All right, I’ll meet you there at ten.”
“See you then. Dinner tomorrow night?”
“Just the two of us?”
“If you like.”
“I think that’s best for now.”
“I’ll try to make up for Rita’s absence.” She hung up.
STONE MET DINO for lunch at P. J. Clarke’s, and they both ordered a rare bacon cheeseburger and fries.
“I hear you and the commissioner are getting chummy,” Dino said.
“Where the hell did you hear that?”
“You can’t keep anything from me.”
“No, seriously, how did you know about it?”
“His driver is a buddy of my driver. What did the old man say to you?”
“He asked me why I never made detective first grade.”
“And what did you tell him?”
“The truth, what else?”
“You told him it was politics?”
“I did.”
“That sounds really lame, you know.”
“The commissioner didn’t think so. He said that he’d read my file and that he could read between the lines.”
“Why the hell would he read your file?”
“He said he read it when Brian asked to have me put on active status.”
“Why the hell should the commissioner be interested in you, Stone?”
“I guess he just likes the cut of my jib,” Stone said with a smirk.
“Horseshit. He was a captain downtown when all that went down.”
“He said he heard about it at the time,” Stone replied. “You’re beginning to sound jealous of my new relationship with the commissioner, Dino. You want me to put in a good word for you?”
“Yeah, sure,” Dino said. “Don’t you dare mention my name; I don’t want to be associated with you in the commissioner’s eyes.”
“And why the hell not? What’s wrong with being associated with me?”
“Because you’re a well-known pain in the ass in the department and a self-important fuckup.”
“I am not,” Stone said. “I have the reputation of a cop who did his job until he was wounded in the line of duty and given a medical retirement.”
“If that’s the way you want to think about it, go ahead. Still being in the department, I have a different viewpoint.”
“Who the hell said that about me, anyway?”
“Guys who served with us in the squad.”
“That crowd? Who gives a shit what they think? They’re a bunch of bums. Anyway, most of them are tending bar in Queens by now. I guess the commissioner bases his opinions on better information than squad room gossip.”
“You know, there are a lot of guys serving time in uncomfortable precincts who once thought the commissioner had a high opinion of them. He’s like that; you can’t read him.”
“I’m not reading him,” Stone said. “I was just telling you what he said. If you think he’s a liar, fine. Anyway, I’m not subject to a transfer to an uncomfortable place. This active crap is just a paperwork thing to make Brian Doyle think he’s my boss.”
“If you say so.”
“I say so,” Stone said. Then he looked across the room and saw Hildy Parsons being seated at a table alone.
“Excuse me,” Stone said. “Somebody I’ve got to talk to.” He got up and headed toward Hildy.
48
STONE WALKED UP to her table and held out his hand. “Hello, Hildy,” he said.
Hildy took his hand. “Oh, hello, Stone.”
“May I speak with you for a moment?”
“Sure, please sit down. I’m expecting a friend, but I’m a little early.”
“Hildy, I have some information for you, but I’m going to have to ask you to give me your word that you will not discuss this with any other person.”
“All right.”
“I mean, not with your father, not with Derek Sharpe, and not with anyone else.”
She looked at him suspiciously. “Are you going to try to talk me out of seeing Derek?”
“I’m not going to try to talk you out of anything. I just have important but highly confidential information to give you.”
“All right, I promise I won’t discuss it with anyone else.”
“I’ll trust you to do that.”
“Well, what is it?
“How much do you know about Derek?”
“I know that he’s from Texas and that he had a hardscrabble childhood.”
“Wrong. He’s the son of a prosperous junk dealer, and he grew up with money.”
“Look, I don’t need this from you, Stone. This smacks of something my father would do. Are you working for him?”
“I’m telling you this of my own knowledge,” Stone said.
“I don’t care whose knowledge it is-I don’t want to hear about it. I’m a grown woman, and I can judge people for myself.”
“All right, then let me tell you something you don’t know that might help you form your own judgment.”
She sighed. “All right, and then this conversation will be over.”
“If you continue to be close to Derek for so much as another day, it is likely that you will be arrested.” That seemed to register with her, so he continued. “And it is very likely that you will end up in prison.”
She stared at him wide-eyed but said nothing.
“That’s all I have to tell you,” Stone said. “If you pass that on to Derek, someone could get killed. I would advise you to absent yourself from Derek for a few days-a death in the family, a sick friend, any excuse.”
“Derek and I are about to take a vacation,” she said. “Out of the country.”
“If you go with him, you will find yourself a fugitive from justice,” Stone said. “I tell you this only because I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I hope you understand that.”
He started to rise, but she put her hand on his arm, and he sat down again.
“You seem like a trustworthy person,” she said, “but so does Derek.”
“One of us has ulterior motives,” Stone said. “One of us is lying to you. One of us wants your money. If you need a place to go for a few days I have a house in Turtle Bay with guest rooms.” He took a card from his coat pocket and handed it to her. “My secretary is there all day. May I tell her to expect you?”