D.C. Dead

Son of Stone
^†Bel-Air Dead
^†Strategic Moves
^†Santa Fe Edge
^§Lucid Intervals
^†Kisser
^†Hothouse Orchid*
Loitering with Intent
^†Mounting Fears
^‡Hot Mahogany
^†Santa Fe Dead
^§Beverly Hills Dead
Shoot Him If He Runs
^†Fresh Disasters
^†Short Straw
^§Dark Harbor
^†Iron Orchid*
Two-Dollar Bill
^†The Prince of
Beverly Hills
Reckless Abandon
^†Capital Crimes
^‡Dirty Work
^†Blood Orchid*
The Short Forever
^†Orchid Blues*
Cold Paradise
^†L.A. Dead
^†The Run
^‡Worst Fears Realized
^†Orchid Beach*
Swimming to Catalina
^†Dead in the Water
^†Dirt
^†Choke
Imperfect Strangers
Heat
Dead Eyes
L.A. Times
Santa Fe Rules
^§New York Dead
^†Palindrome
Grass Roos
^‡White Cargo
Deep lie
^‡Under the Lake
Run Before the Wind
^‡Chiefes
^‡

TRAVEL

A Romantic’s Guide to the Country Inns of Britain and Ireland (1979)

MEMOIR

Blue Water, Green Skipper (1977)

*A Holly Barker Novel
^†A Stone Barrington Novel

^‡A Will Lee Novel
^§An Ed Eagle Novel

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PUTNAM

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Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England

Copyright © 2012 by Stuart Woods All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. Published simultaneously in Canada

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Woods, Stuart.

D.C. dead / Stuart Woods. p. cm.

ISBN : 978-1-101-55366-4

1. Barrington, Stone (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Private investigators—Fiction. 3. Washington (D.C.)—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3573.O642D3

2011

2011039497 813’.54—dc23

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

ALWAYS LEARNING

PEARSON

http://us.penguingroup.com

This book is for Emmi Storrs

STONE BARRINGTON AND DINO BACCHETTI ENTERED ELAINE’S on a Sunday evening, and drinks were brought to them immediately.

They took their usual table, and Elaine came over afonG|nd sat down. “You two are oddly dressed,” she said. “For you. What’s going on?”

“Oh,” Stone said, “we delivered our sons to Yale for their freshman year this afternoon, and we’re dressed for humping boxes of their gear up to their apartment.”

Elaine nodded. “So the boys are off?”

“They’re off,” Dino said.

“No wonder you both look so glum,” Elaine said.

Stone looked at Dino. “Do I look glum?”

“Yeah,” Dino said.

“So do you.”

“You’re empty nesters now,” Elaine chortled. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

Stone shook his head. “Nine months ago I didn’t have a son, at least not one I’d ever met. Now I don’t have a son again.”

Elaine reached over and patted his cheek. “You haven’t lost a son,” she said, “you’ve gained a college boy.” She got up and continued her rounds of the regulars’ tables.

“I guess that’s one way to look at it,” Stone said. “Do you think he’ll ever come home again?”

“Probably not,” Dino replied. “You’ve seen the last of that kid.”

“Oh, shut up. You’re in the same spot.”

“Nah,” Dino said, “you’re worse off. At least I’m not used to having Ben around the house all the time. He’s been at prep school for four years, and then his mother yanked him to her place every chance she got. This afternoon, why didn’t you raise the subject of visits home?”

“I thought about it,” Stone said, “but I was afraid I wouldn’t like the answer. After all, the kid’s got the money he was paid for his film, which is more than I had a year ago, so he doesn’t need me for anything.”

“He just doesn’t need you for buying stuff,” Dino pointed out. “He still needs a father.”

“You really think so?”

“Ben needs me, I’m sure of that. Why wouldn’t Peter need you, what with his mother dead and all?”

“He’s got Hattie. They’re sleeping together, you know.”

Dino laughed aloud. “No shit? What were
you
doing your freshman year?”

Stone shrugged. “Fucking my brains out, if I recall correctly.”