Marty walked him through another door into a storeroom filled with components and wiring, then into a large garage. Sandy counted four unmarked vans and half a dozen cars. "I keep larger equipment and my vans in here, and my employees park here, too. That's about as big a draw as health insurance. You got any idea what it costs to park in this city these days?"
"Tell me about it," Sandy said. He turned and saw a staircase going up to a windowed office in the high-ceilinged garage. "More work space?" He noted that blinds were pulled down over the windows.
"Nah, just storage," Marty said, steering him back toward the retail shop.
"I'll be back in a little later with your fourteen grand," Sandy said.
"You do that," Marty said, turning back toward his office. "Bye-bye. Nice doing business with you."
Sandy picked up his wire in the shop, then walked back to his car. He got out his cell phone and called Lance.
"Yes?"
"It's Sandy. Martin Block gave me the ten-cent tour. He's got four vans that the lady could be moved in, and there's a room I didn't get to see, up a flight of stairs in the garage. If Block has her, that's where she'll be. By the way, there are two cops in a Crown Vic sitting near the building, drinking coffee and eating doughnuts."
"Good work, Sandy."
"Oh, one more thing, Lance."
"What?"
"I'm going to need fourteen thousand dollars."
"What?"
47
STONE'S CELL PHONE RANG, and he picked it up. "Yes?"
"It's Lance. My man is back; he's cased the building, and there's one room where Arrington is probably being held. Part of the building is a garage, and the room is up a flight of stairs. It's the only logical place they would keep her."
"Then let's get in there."
"No, I don't think so. Billy Bob is supposed to call you midafternoon, right?"
"Right."
"Billy Bob will give you some complicated routing to meet him at some place or other. They'll track your movement, then, at some stage, either exchange you for Arrington or keep you both."
"That had occurred to me."
"They'll move her in one of Block's vans-he's got four. We'll raid the place as they're leaving-they won't be ready for us then."
"And what if Arrington isn't there?"
"Then we'll sequester everybody on the premises, so they can't call Billy Bob, and you'll have to go through with the meet. If Arrington isn't at Block's business now, it seems likely that they'll take you or both of you back there, and we'll be ready for them."
"And if Billy Bob doesn't have Arrington there now, and if he doesn't take her back there, what?"
"We'll be on your tail. We'll plant a transmitter on you, and we'll have a chopper on the job. When he gets wherever he's going, we'll be right on top of him."
"It sounds good, except for one thing."
"What's that?"
"Suppose he just shoots us both and dumps our bodies."
"Well," Lance drawled, "there is that. We can't cover every contingency, can we? The upside is, we'll at least take Billy Bob, and we'll roll up Block's operation."
"I'm sure that will be very comforting to me when I'm dead. How is Peter?"
"He's a sensible lad; he's curious about your and his mother's whereabouts, but Corey is handling him well, and he seems happy enough."
"Bring him back to the city, will you? When we've got Arrington back, I want to reunite them immediately."
Lance was silent for a moment.
"Take him to my house; I'm going there myself."
"Is there another way in besides the front door and your office door?"
Stone explained how to get into the common garden behind the houses and to his back door."
"All right, I'll have him there in two hours. Where's Dino?"
"He's right here."
"Tell him Sandy spotted two of his men, sitting outside Block's in a Crown Victoria, eating doughnuts. Tell him to pull them off before Block spots them. I've already got a team in the neighborhood."
"Right." Stone hung up. "Lance's man made your two guys outside Block's. You see what I mean?"
"How does he know they're mine?" Dino asked.
"They're in a Crown Vic, eating doughnuts, how else?"
"Shit," Dino said. He got on the phone and ordered the two men back to the precinct. "And when you get there," he said to them, "you'd better not be wearing black shoes and white socks."
"I'm going back to my place," Stone said, standing up.
"You think that's safe?"
"Billy Bob won't expect me to be there, and anyway, he thinks he's going to grab me later this afternoon."
"I'll come with you," Dino said.
STONE AND DINO drove back to his house and parked in the garage, while Dino's car and driver followed.
"Call your driver and tell him not to park in my block," Stone said. "I don't want anybody to make the car, if we're being watched."
"Oh, all right," Dino said and made the call.
As they approached the house, Stone took Dino's shoulder. "Get down in the footwell. If they're watching, I want them to think I'm alone."
Dino grumbled but followed instructions.
When they were inside the garage and the door was closed, Stone said, "All right, we're in. You can get up."
Stone looked at his watch. "One o'clock," he said. He led Dino upstairs to his bedroom and began unpacking the guns and ammo he had taken with him. He handed Dino the box containing Lance's Keltec. "Take a look at that."
Dino opened the box. "Jesus, it looks like a toy."
"It's a three-eighty-caliber, and it weighs ten ounces, loaded."
Dino handled the little gun. "Billy Bob is going to tell you to come unarmed," he said.
"I suppose so."
"Then go armed. Wear something on your belt. You got an ankle holster?"
"No."
Dino pulled up his right trouser leg and undid the Velcro fastening of his own, which held a snub-nosed Smith amp; Wesson.38 special. "You can take mine."
"What's the point?" Stone said. "He's going to search me thoroughly."
"You still got that Thunderwear I gave you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"For Christmas, dummy, the Thunderwear."
"Christ, I'd forgotten about that." Stone went into his dressing room and rooted around in the bottom drawer of his dresser. "Here it is."
"Put it on."
"Dino…"
"Just do it."
Stone took off his trousers and boxer shorts and put on the Thunderwear. Dino screwed the silencer into the Keltec, shoved a magazine into the butt, racked the slide and handed it to Stone. "See if it will fit with the silencer."
Stone took the gun and slipped it into the pouch in the undershorts. "Too long."
"Take the silencer off and try again."
Stone unscrewed the silencer and stuck the gun into the Thunderwear, then inserted the silencer next to it. "Fits nicely."
"Put your pants back on, you're embarrassing me," Dino said.
Stone put his pants back on.
"You've got a three-eighty or two, haven't you?"
"In the gun safe."
"Put on a three-eighty holster and a double-magazine pouch."
Stone did so and stuck his Walther PPKS into the holster.
"Now put the two spare Keltec magazines into the pouch. When they search you, they'll take the Walther, but probably not the ammo."
Stone did so.
Dino handed him the ankle holster with the S amp;W. "Now put this on."
Stone wrapped the Velcro around his ankle and secured it.
"Now, when they search you, they'll find the Walther and the snub-nose-your piece and backup piece-but guys don't like to feel around other guys' crotches, so they'll probably miss the Keltec."
"It's worth a try," Stone said.