Shoot First(Stone Barrington #45)(22)
“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?”