Wild Card (Stone Barrington #49)(53)

“Sure,” Elise said, “and thanks for thinking of that.” She picked up the study phone and dialed a number. “No answer,” Elise said. “I’ll try her cell.” She dialed another number. “Mom?” she said, then lapsed into Sicilian. She stopped and covered the receiver. “Should she go back to her apartment?” she asked.

“No,” Dino said firmly. “Where is she now?”

“She just got out of a movie on Sixth Avenue, at Eighth Street.”

“I’ll have an unmarked car pick her up. Tell her to stay near the box office.”

Elise spoke to her mother in Sicilian at some length. Finally, she said goodbye and hung up. “She took some convincing,” she said, “but she’ll be there.”

Dino got on the phone and gave the orders. “Tell them to call me when they’ve got her aboard.” He accepted another drink from Stone.

“She’ll be all right here for a day or two,” Elise said. “She and I wear the same size of everything, so she can wear my clothes.”

“Tomorrow, we’ll send her to her apartment with a policewoman to escort her,” Dino said, “so she can pick up some things.”

Bob Cantor came back. “Sherry’s already out,” he said. “I think Mrs. . . . Miss Hartley gave her something.”

“Bob,” Elise said, “I just thought of something.”

“What’s that?”

“I forgot to turn off your bugs before I left the office today.”

Dino brightened. “Maybe we’ll hear something we can use, even if not in court.”

“I’ve got the bugs on a recorder,” Bob said.

“Something else,” Elise said. “If we pick anything up, it could be in Sicilian, so you’ll need either my mother or me to translate for you.”

“Good,” Dino said. “My Sicilian is pretty rusty.” His cell phone rang. “Bacchetti.” His brow furrowed. “Where exactly are you? Keep looking.” He hung up and turned to Elise. “My cops can’t find your mother at the theater.”





41


Elise ran to the phone and dialed her mother’s cell phone. “Mom, call me immediately, please.” She hung up. “No answer. I left her a voice mail. I’ll text her, too.” She sent the text, then sat down to wait.

“Let’s not get too excited,” Stone said. “There may be a good reason she didn’t answer.”

“I have this awful feeling,” Elise said. “This is all my fault; if I hadn’t left my answering machine on . . .”

Dino’s phone rang. “Bacchetti.” He listened. “Your instructions are the same.” He hung up.

Before he could speak, Elise’s phone rang. “Mom?” She lapsed into Sicilian, then finally hung up. “She went back inside to use the ladies’ room, and there was no signal in there. They’re on the way here now.”

Stone asked Fred to meet her in the garage and bring her up to the study. “All right,” he said to the room, “everybody’s safe now. We’ll have some dinner when she gets here. Elise, what’s your mother’s name?”

“Elena Grant.”



* * *



? ? ?

    Shortly, Fred entered the study with Elena, and Elise introduced everybody. Elena recognized Dino and let loose with a stream of Sicilian, while Dino tried gamely to keep up.

“Mom,” Elise said. “Let’s speak English.”

“Sure,” Elena said. “His Sicilian is pretty spotty, anyway.”

“It’s been a long time,” Dino said defensively.

Elise took her mother into the living room and spent several minutes explaining what was going on, then dinner was served, and they all sat down.



* * *



? ? ?

Dino put the phone down and picked up his after-dinner cognac. “Okay, I’ve nailed down a hotel suite for them over on Lex, not so far away. They can move in tomorrow morning.”

“That’s good news,” Stone said.

“I had a call from the D.A.,” Dino said, “but I didn’t return it. I’ll let the son of a bitch wait until tomorrow morning. There’s nothing he can do tonight, anyway.”

“Tell him we have a growing crowd of fugitives from Thomas justice,” Stone said.

“I don’t think that would move him.”

“What would move him?”

“Maybe if the Thomases canceled their campaign contribution.”

Stone laughed. “That sounds like our D.A.”



* * *



? ? ?

    Stone was in bed when Jamie called. “I was just wondering about you,” he said.

“Wondering if I was dead or alive? Well, I’m alive, by the grace of God. No exploding flowers today. Maybe they’ve lost track of me.”

“Don’t count on that. Listen to your security people, they’ve done a great job so far.”

“Well, I’m not in a coffin—not even in traction. I guess that’s something.”

“How are you handling the road?”