6 Stone Barrington Novels (41 page)

Stone took a pen from his pocket, stuck it through the trigger guard of the pistol and lifted it from the safe. “Then it will have the fingerprints of the killer on it. Now we'll know for sure who killed Vance.”

Manolo shook his head. “I'm afraid not, Mr. Barrington; I wiped the gun clean before I hid it. I was so sure that Mrs. Calder had done it. Of course, after this morning in court, I don't think so anymore.”

“Does Arrington know you hid the pistol?”

“No. I never told her.”

Stone put the pistol on top of the chest of drawers, then, weak at the knees, sat down on the sofa. “So we'll never know for sure.”

“I know,” Manolo said. “I'm a little surprised that you don't, Mr. Barrington.” He picked up the pistol by the trigger guard, put it back in the safe's rear compartment, and closed it.

“I'll leave it there for a while; then I'll get rid of it and send the jewelry box to Mrs. Calder.”

Stone was beyond arguing with him.

 

 

 

S
TONE STAYED IN L.A. FOR A COUPLE OF MORE DAYS, paying the last of the bills to come to the bungalow and seeing that Vance Calder's estate was released to Arrington.

After he had packed his bags and was ready to leave the bungalow, Lou Regenstein came into Vance's study.

“Good morning, Lou.”

“You on your way home, Stone?”

“Yes, I'm done here. Louise can pack up Vance's things and send them to the house. Manolo and Isabel are still there.”

“Have you talked to Arrington?”

“No, she isn't speaking to me.”

“I should think she'd be grateful to you for everything you've done for her.”

“Maybe, but there are other things she's not grateful to me for.”

“The business in the tabloid?”

Stone nodded. “Among other things.”

“Well, I want you to know that I am certainly grateful to you. Arrington is now the second-largest stockholder in Centurion, after me, and together, the two of us control the company. If she'd gone to prison, God knows what would have happened here.”

“I'm glad it worked out all right.”

“Is there anything I can do for you, Stone?”

“You can have someone drive Vance's car back to the house,” he said, holding out the keys.

Lou accepted the keys. “I'll have my driver take you to the airport.” Lou picked up the phone and gave the order. “He'll be here in a minute.”

Stone looked around. “What will happen to Vance's bungalow?”

“Charlene Joiner is moving in, as soon as we've redecorated it to her specifications. She's Centurion's biggest star now.”

“She deserves it.”

They chatted for a few minutes, then Lou's chauffeur knocked at the door. “Shall I take your bags, Mr. Barrington?”

“Yes, thank you.” He shook hands with Lou. “Thanks for all your help.”

“Stone, you'll always have friends at Centurion. If there's ever anything, anything at all, we can do for you, just let me know.”

“When you speak to Arrington, tell her I'm thinking of her.”

“Of course.”

Stone left the bungalow and was about to get into Lou's limousine, when Charlene drove up in a convertible.

“Leaving without saying good-bye?” she called out.

Stone walked over to the car. “It's been a weird couple of days; I was going to call you from New York.”

“I get to New York once in a while. Shall I call you?”

He gave her his card. “I'd be hurt, if you didn't.” He leaned over and kissed her, then she drove away. Before she turned the corner, she waved, without looking back.

Stone got into the limo and settled into the deep-cushioned seat. He'd be home by bedtime.

 

Back in Turtle Bay, he let himself into the house. Joan had left for the day, but there was a note on the table in the foyer.

“A shipment arrived for you yesterday,” she wrote. “It's in the living room. And there was an envelope delivered by messenger this morning.”

Stone saw the envelope on the table and tucked it under his arm. He picked up his suitcases and started for the elevator, then he looked into the living room and set down the cases. Standing in the center of the living room was a clothes rack, and on it hung at least twenty suits. He walked into the room and looked around. On the floor were half a dozen large boxes filled with Vance Calder's Turnbull & Asser shirts and ties. Then he noticed a note pinned to one of the suits.

 

His heart gave a little leap, but then he saw that the note was dated a week before their parting scene, and it sank again.

He'd think about this later. Right now, he was tired from the trip. He picked up the suitcases, got into the elevator, and rode up to the master suite. Once there, he unpacked, then undressed and got into a nightshirt. Then he remembered the envelope.

He sat down on the bed and opened it. There were some papers and a cover letter, in a neat hand, on Eduardo Bianchi's personal letterhead.

 

Stone set the letter aside and looked at the papers. There were only two: One was the original of the marriage certificate he and Dolce had signed in Venice; the other was the page from the ledger they and their witnesses had signed in the mayor's office. These made up the whole record of his brief, disastrous marriage.

He took them to the fireplace, struck a match, and watched until they had been consumed. Then he got into bed, and with a profound sense of relief, tinged with sorrow, Stone fell asleep.

 

 

 

I AM GRATEFUL TO MY NEW EDITOR, DAVID HIGHFILL, AND my new publisher, Phyllis Grann, for their enthusiasm and hard work on this book. I look forward to working with them both in the future.

I must thank my agents, Morton Janklow and Anne Sibbald, and all the people at Janklow & Nesbit, for their continuing fine management of my career and their meticulous attention to every detail of my business affairs.

I must also thank my wife, Chris, who reads every manuscript, for her good judgment and acute insight, as well as for her love.

I AM HAPPY TO HEAR FROM READERS, BUT YOU SHOULD know that if you write to me in care of my publisher, three to six months will pass before I receive your letter, and when it finally arrives it will be one among many, and I will not be able to reply.

However, if you have access to the Internet, you may visit my Web site at
www.stuartwoods.com
, where there is a button for sending me e-mail. So far, I have been able to reply to all of my e-mail, and I will continue to try to do so.

If you send me an e-mail and do not receive a reply, it is because you are one among an alarming number of people who have entered their e-mail return address incorrectly in their mail software. I have many of my replies returned as undeliverable.

Remember: e-mail, reply; snail mail, no reply.

When you e-mail me, please do not send attachments, as I never open these. They can take twenty minutes to download, and they often contain viruses.

Please do not place me on your mailing list for funny stories, prayers, political causes, charitable fund-raising, petitions, or sentimental claptrap. I get enough of that from people I already know. Generally speaking, when I get e-mail addressed to a large number of people, I immediately delete it without reading it.

Please do not send me your ideas for a book, as I have a policy of writing only what I myself invent. If you send me story ideas, I will immediately delete them without reading them. If you have a good idea for a book, write it yourself, but I will not be able to advise you on how to get it published. Buy a copy of
Writer's Market
at any bookstore; that will tell you how.

Anyone with a request concerning events or appearances may e-mail it to me or send it to: The Publicity Department, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014.

Those ambitious fold who wish to buy film, dramatic, or television rights to my books should contact Matthew Snyder, Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90212-1825.

Those who wish to conduct business of a more literary nature should contact Anne Sibbald, Janklow & Nesbit, 445 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022.

If you want to know if I will be signing books in your city, please visit my Web site,
www.stuartwoods.com
, where the tour schedule will be published a month or so in advance. If you wish me to do a book signing in your locality, ask your favorite bookseller to contact his Putnam representative or the G. P. Putnam's Sons Publicity Department with the request.

If you find typographical or editorial errors in my book and feel an irresistible urge to tell someone, please write to Putnam, address above. Do not e-mail your discoveries to me, as I will already have learned about them from others.

All my novels are still in print in paperback and can be found at or ordered from any bookstore. If you wish to obtain hardcover copies of earlier novels or of the two nonfiction books, a good used-book store or one of the online bookstores can help you find them. Otherwise, you will have to go to a great many garage sales.

“A delightful tale of sex and violence among the very rich . . . a delicious climax . . . a
Sopranos
-style shoot-out . . . slick, sophisticated fun.”

—
The Washington Post

 

“Roller-coaster plotting.”

—
The Denver Post

 

“Follows an honorable whodunit tradition. . . . All villains fall before him, and all beautiful women find him irresistible.”

—
Forth Worth Star-Telegram

 

“Plenty of action plus a surprise ending. Replete with lavish homes, gourmet meals, sleek yachts, and willing women—this is an entertaining thriller.”

—
The Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News
(FL)

 

“It is Woods's talent—taking an elementary formula and building a rapidly evolving plot—that differentiates much of his work from the genre's time-worn conventions. . . . Fans of the Stone Barrington series will find
Cold Paradise
a requisite read.”

—
Dayton Daily News

“Scrumptious!”

—
The New York Times

 

“Alive with action . . . so delightfully, typically Woods, it will send his fans into paroxysms of joy. . . . Entertainment novels can't get any better than this.”

—The Associated Press

 

“The best novel in the series. With an exclamation point, Stuart Woods makes it evident that he is a force in the mystery genre.”

—
Midwest Book Review

 

“One of the smoothest writers in the pop-literature biz and always a pleasure to read. . . . A stylish whodunit.”

—
The Detroit News

 

“Barrington's fans will likely welcome the detective's newest California-chic adventure.”—
Publishers Weekly

 

“An exciting story, and Stuart Woods tells it well.”

—
Winston-Salem Journal

 

“[A] nerve-racking thriller.”

—
The Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News
(FL)

“An action-packed puzzler.”

—
People

 

“Keeps you turning page after page.”

—
The Washington Post

 

“A whale of a story.”

—
The New York Times

 

“Blackmail, murder, suspense, love—what else could you want in a book?”—

 

“Terrific.”

—Pat Conroy

 

“A fast-paced thriller.”

—
Rocky Mountain News

 

“Another gem. . . . A book to read and get chills from on even the hottest day.”

—
The San Diego Union-Tribune