Family Jewels (8 page)

17

S
tone fed Bob, then led him to the elevator, stood him up on his hind legs and held his paw to the elevator button. “Remember this,” he said. The door opened, and Bob walked on. Stone put his finger on the office-level button. “Remember this, too, it’s a two-step process.” He pressed the button and the elevator and Bob went down.

Stone got his breakfast from the dumbwaiter, set it on the bed, and got back in. His phone rang. “Yes?”

“It’s Joan. I was standing in your office when Bob got off the elevator alone. How’d he do that?”

“I explained it to him.”

“Oh.”

“Bob’s had his breakfast and wants to go out. May I eat mine now? You won’t have to take me out.”

“Enjoy.” Joan hung up.

Later, Stone was at his desk when Joan buzzed. “Dino on one.”

He pressed the button. “Good morning.”

“Yeah, you too. My guys found your pal Biggers, two blocks from your house. He said he’d just gotten off a Second Avenue bus.”

“And they bought that?”

“No, they searched him and found no gun.”

“So, he ditched it.”

“Probably. He was wearing a .45 holster on his belt.”

“Aha!”

“No aha. They couldn’t arrest him for carrying a concealed holster.”

“Why not? I should think that would be prima facie evidence of carrying a gun.”

“He said he had worn the same pants for two days and forgot that the holster was on his belt.”

“So he confessed to having a gun on him the day before.”

“Yeah, but he said he wasn’t in the city then.”

“Yeah, but you have a witness who saw him carrying a gun.”

“Who, you?”

“Yeah, me.”

“You know as well as I do that eyewitness testimony is often wrong.”

“Not when
I’m
the eyewitness.”

“You have a high opinion of your own perspicacity.”

“I know a .45 caliber Glock when I see it—that’s perspicacious enough.”

“Not in a court of law. A good defense attorney would call your perspicaciousness into question. He’d say you
wanted
to see a .45 Glock in the man’s hand, therefore you
thought
you saw it.”

“My perspifuckingcaciousness is just fine, thank you. I remind you that I’m a veteran police officer.”

“You
were
a veteran police officer. The clock goes back to zero when you retire.”

“Well, then, I’m a veteran
former
police officer.”

“I don’t have time to mince words with you, I have thirty-six thousand, six hundred police officers to command.”

“Mince
this
!” Stone shouted into the phone, but it was too late; Dino had already hung up.

Joan was standing in the doorway, leaning against the jamb. “You seem a little on edge,” she said.

“I’m just fine.”

“No, you’re steaming—even Bob noticed.” She nodded toward the dog, who was sitting next to Stone’s desk, staring anxiously at him.

“Bob, I’m just fine,” he said.

“Bob’s not buying it,” Joan said. “Why don’t you get out of town for a while, until they pick up this guy.”

“Where would you like me to go?”

“Pick something from your extensive list of real estate holdings,” she said, “and go.”

“I just got back,” Stone pointed out.

“That’s no excuse.”

“You’re just trying to get rid of me.”

“Nope, Harvey Biggers is trying to get rid of you.”

“He’s not smart enough to get rid of me.”

“He doesn’t have to be smart, he just has to be lucky.”

“Arguing with you is like arguing with Dino.”

She brightened. “Thank you very much.”

“It wasn’t meant as a compliment.”

“I knew that, but I liked it anyway.”

Stone leaned on his elbows and put his face in his hands. Bob walked over and rested his chin on Stone’s knee, slowly wagging his tail.

“Bob and I think you should get out of town,” Joan said. The phone rang, and she picked up the one on Stone’s desk. “The Barrington Practice,” she said, “or Woodman & Weld, take your pick.”

Stone made a groaning noise.

“Well, hi there, how are you?” Joan said, brightening. “He’s right here.” She handed Stone the phone. “It’s Ed Eagle, calling from Santa Fe.”

“You’re just saying that to cheer me up,” Stone said, taking the phone from her.

18

S
tone was genuinely glad to hear from Ed Eagle. “Ed, how are you?”

“Better than middling, I guess. How about you?”

“Not too bad.”

“You very busy these days?”

“No, I spent some time in England and just got back a couple of weeks ago.”

“I have an invitation for you.”

“I accept.”

“Hang on, let me finish. Susannah is having a birthday, and I’m throwing a party for her.”

“I accept.”

“It’s in Santa Fe this weekend.”

“I accept. Which birthday?”

“Don’t ask. How soon can you get your ass out here?”

“Is tomorrow too soon?”

“Certainly not. What are you flying these days?”

“A Citation CJ3 Plus.”

“Then you can do it nonstop?”

“As long as there isn’t a two-hundred-knot headwind.”

“See you late tomorrow afternoon, then?”

“Perfect.”

“Don’t rent a car, I’ll loan you one. It’ll be at the airport.”

“Great.”

“And there’s something I want to show you.”

“What’s that?”

“You’ll see.”

“By the way, I have a houseguest named Bob. May I bring him along?”

“Sure, as long as you don’t mind sleeping in the same bed. We’ve got a full house.”

“No problem, Bob can sleep on the floor.”

“Stone, is there something you want to tell me?”

“Lots of things, but not now.”

“By the way, when you get to the airport, read the instructions in the manual before you start the car.”

“I know how to start a car, Ed.”

“Trust me—read the instructions.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Can you find your way to the house sober?”

“I can.”

“Then we’ll see you tomorrow. Drinks are at six.”

“I’ll flight-plan for the cocktail hour.”

“See you then.”

“See you.” Stone hung up feeling elated.

“You look better already,” Joan said.

“I feel better already.”

“Bob looks relieved,” she said.

“Are you relieved, Bob?”

Bob wagged all over.

“You want me to pack you a bag?”

“That would be great.”

“How long?”

“Say a week, to be safe, and pack Bob a bag, too.”

—

T
he following morning at ten, Stone sat at the end of runway 24 at Teterboro Airport.

“November One, Two, Three, Tango Foxtrot, cleared for takeoff,” the tower controller said.

“N123TF, cleared for takeoff.”

Stone flipped on the pitot heat, strobes, and landing light, taxied onto the runway, and pushed the throttles forward, glancing at the pilot’s display as the airspeed climbed. At a speed labeled R for rotate, Stone pulled back on the yoke, and
the jet rose from the concrete and climbed. He retracted the landing gear and the flaps and, at 450 feet, switched on the autopilot, which would now fly the departure procedure known as RUDY4.

Shortly, he got a vector and a new altitude from the departure controller and, to his surprise, was given flight level 400, or 40,000 feet, and was cleared direct SAF.

Twenty minutes later he was at altitude and on course. He adjusted the air-conditioning, chose the symphony channel on the Sirius Satellite Radio, and picked up the
New York Times
crossword puzzle. He glanced over a shoulder to see how his new crew was doing and saw Bob sitting on a rear seat, looking intently out the window. Stone had laid a blanket in the aisle for him, and a moment later Bob hopped down, curled up, and went to sleep.

Stone concentrated on the puzzle. Each time he moved to the next clue, he looked up, did an instrument scan, made an adjustment, if necessary, then returned to the puzzle. Three and a half hours later he was descending into Santa Fe, with fifty minutes of fuel left, and he set down smoothly on runway 20.

As he taxied to a halt at the FBO (fixed-base operator) and stopped for chocking, a sleek dark sports car pulled up to the nose of the airplane. He wasn’t sure what it was.

He picked up the checklist and went through the shutdown procedure, then got up and opened the door. Bob preceded
him onto the ramp, and he gave the key to a lineman, who opened the forward baggage compartment and loaded his and Bob’s luggage into the rear of the car. It was a tight fit.

Stone walked around the car and found the Aston Martin winged logo. The lineman walked Bob over to some grass to do some business while Stone sat in the driver’s seat and looked around. He couldn’t find a key or a start button, and there was no gearshift lever present in the usual place.

“You know this car?” the lineman asked.

“I don’t.”

“I had to read up on it before I took it out of the hangar. Here’s what you do. First, set the handbrake, since the gearbox has no Park setting. Put your foot on the brake, and put this into that slot on the panel.” He handed Stone a little black box, and he slid it into the slot. “Now push it all the way in.” Stone did so, and the car leapt to life with an attractive roar.

“Now you got two choices. You can shift up with the right paddle and down with the left paddle, or you can push the D button on the panel, which will give you an automatic transmission. You lift your foot a little to change gears, or let the car decide. When you stop, pull on both paddles for neutral, or push the N button, apply the handbrake, and push the key again.” Stone tried that, and the key popped out.

“Got it,” Stone said, and drove over to the electric gate. A moment later he was cruising away, with Bob in the passenger seat.

—

B
y the time he spotted the stone eagle on the road above the village of Tesuque, Stone felt at home in the car. He pulled into the drive and Ed Eagle, all six feet seven inches of him, walked out of the house to greet him.

19

S
tone and Ed shook hands and hugged, while Bob helped Ed’s man with the luggage. “Good flight?” Ed asked as they walked into the house.

“Perfect. The winds were easy on me.” Stone looked ahead into the living room. “Uh-oh,” he said. Bob was standing stock-still in the middle of the room, cautiously regarding a nearly identical Labrador retriever.

“That’s Earl,” Ed said. “Let them sort it out.”

Some sniffing and circling took place, then Earl found a ball, showed it to Bob, and let it bounce from his mouth.

“They’re fast friends now,” Ed said. “Earl doesn’t usually share his ball with visitors.”

“Where’s Susannah?” Stone asked.

“She’s picking up someone at the airport.”

“And what was it you wanted to show me?”

“All in good time.”

Two other couples came into the room; one pair was Nicky and Vanessa Chalmers, the other he didn’t know.

“I understand you and the Chalmerses have met,” Ed said. “These other folks are Carlos and Candela Munoz, from San Antonio.”

Everyone shook hands. “Nicky is my newest client,” Stone said.

“And he’s one of my oldest,” Ed replied. “I defended his company against a lawsuit the first year I practiced, and we had a favorable outcome.”

“Stone,” Nicky said, “you didn’t think I hired you without a reference, did you?”

“I’m glad you chose Ed for that,” Stone replied.

Ed’s man, Juan, came back into the room and took drink orders, and everybody took a seat while he served them. The two dogs rolled happily on the floor.

Stone heard a car door slam outside, and Susannah and a slightly younger and even more beautiful version of her came into the house. Susannah hugged Stone. “This is my little sister, Gala,” she said. They shook hands, and she sat down next to Stone and ordered a drink. Stone could not take his eyes off Gala.

Ed passed by and whispered to Stone, “That’s what I wanted to show you.”

“Where do you hail from?” Stone asked Gala.

“Interesting question,” she said. “I’m not sure. I’ve been
living in Los Angeles the past few years, but I gave up the house there in a divorce. I got the Santa Fe house, and I’ve been redoing it, but I haven’t decided yet if this is home.”

“You could do worse,” Stone said.

“I
have
done worse,” she said, laughing. “I understand you live all over the place.”

“I can’t deny that, but I’m based in New York. I just keep getting offered houses I can’t refuse. In my defense, I did sell one this year.”

“You’re a lawyer, I understand. How do you get any work done?”

“It’s amazing how much work you can get done with a phone, a fax machine, and a computer. There seems to be less and less demand for face-to-face meetings, and even those can be done with the computer. What do you do?”

“I’m a screenwriter,” she said.

“How many face-to-face meetings do you have a year?”

“Not many,” she said. “I’m proof of your point, and my work is portable, so I can live wherever I like.” She nodded toward the two dogs. “Which one of those is yours?” she asked.

“Tell you the truth, I’m not sure. Oh, the one with the red collar is Bob, who flew out here with me. He’s a good crew.”

“What’s a good crew?”

“One who doesn’t complain about my flying.”

“Bob doesn’t look like the complaining sort,” she said.

“Not so far.”

“Have you known each other long?”

“Almost a week.”

“So you didn’t raise him from a pup?”

“No, I was visiting a client in East Hampton last weekend, and Bob seemed to prefer me to her. After I drove away, I found him in my backseat.”

“I heard that,” Nicky said. “I was there, and I can confirm it. Bob took to Stone immediately—the rest of us might have been chopped liver.”

“Including the lady next door,” Vanessa said.

“You don’t want to know about that,” Stone said to Gala. “Not before dinner anyway.”

“I’ll remind myself to ask after dinner,” she said.

“At your own risk.”

They talked for another half hour, then Juan called them to dinner. Stone found himself seated next to Gala, and he didn’t argue about it.

Later in the evening they had coffee in Ed’s study.

“Are you staying with the Eagles?” Stone asked Gala.

“No, I’m staying at my own place, in Tesuque village.”

“Can I give you a lift home later?”

“That won’t be necessary, I have my own car. You were kind enough to drive it from the airport for me.”

“I didn’t know,” Stone said. “Why was it at the airport?”

“I was in L.A., so the dealer delivered it to the airport. I flew into Albuquerque, and Susannah picked me up.”

“Where was it delivered from?”

“Broomfield, between Denver and Boulder. It’s the closest dealer.”

“You’re going to love the car,” Stone said.

“I’m sorry you can’t drive me home,” she said. “We’ll have to think of another excuse to get you to my house.”

“I don’t need an excuse.”

“Then why don’t you come to lunch tomorrow?”

“I can’t think of an excuse not to,” he replied.