“I think Lance always knows more than he’s telling. He surprised me last night, with this consultant thing.”
“I think I might do it,” she said, arranging herself next to him. “This is a very nice bed. Does it vibrate?”
“Yep.”
“I’m getting tired of my job,” she said.
“Which job? Me?”
“No, my chief’s job in Orchid Beach.”
“I thought you loved it.”
“I did for a long time, but it’s becoming more and more routine. I mean, I’ve improved the department, trained people better and all that, but it’s not as though I have to do it for a living.”
“That’s right, you’re retired army; you have a pension.”
“Yes, and Jackson left me very nicely fixed, too.”
“That was very nice of Jackson. Why don’t you travel, see some of the world?”
“I’m an army brat,” she said. “I’ve seen the world twice.”
“What do you want to do, then?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m enjoying myself in New York, but I’m not sure I’d want to live here.”
“New York is a better place to live than to visit,” Stone said.
“If you say so.”
“You’ve hardly started to see it. We haven’t eaten anywhere except Elaine’s.”
“Do you ever eat anywhere but Elaine’s?”
“On occasion,” Stone said dryly. “Why don’t I take you somewhere else tonight?”
“I’m yours.”
After lunch Stone showered and went down to his office.
“Good afternoon,” Joan said pointedly.
“Don’t start. I’m still tired.”
“I won’t ask why.”
“I just didn’t get much sleep, that’s all.”
“I won’t ask why.”
“Anything happening?”
She handed him a large brown envelope. “This was hand-delivered half an hour ago.”
Stone took the envelope to his desk and opened it. Inside were two contracts, for Holly and himself. Lance hadn’t wasted much time. The employer was listed as the Woodsmoke Corporation; its address was in the Seagram building. He read Holly’s first.
It was surprisingly brief and straightforward. It guaranteed her a thousand dollars a day, or any part of a day, and deluxe travel, should she need to.