“A couple of sightings, no collar.”
“Want me to collar him for you?”
“It’s a little more complicated than that, Ham. The Feds are involved, so is the Mafia. Grant’s up here. That’s why those guys are out in the street. They followed us to Connecticut, too.”
“I guess that boy is taking a proprietary interest in you.”
Stone laughed, and Holly shot him a glance.
“Don’t worry, it’s all business.”
“I liked him, till he got to running the Miami office,” Ham said. “After that, he was just another bureaucrat.”
“That’s what I hear,” Stone said.
“So who the hell are you, Stone?” Ham asked.
“Lawyer,” Stone replied.
“Oh.”
“Don’t take it so hard, Ham,” Holly said. “He’s also a retired cop.”
“Little young to be retired, aren’t you?”
“Bullet in the knee,” Stone said, realizing that he was adopting Ham’s mode of speech.
“Uh-huh,” Ham said. “Must of hurt.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“You two are going to be comparing scars in a minute,” Holly said.
“Who was that Herbie character?” Ham asked.
“Former client and current nuisance,” Stone replied.
“He’s dangerous.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You can smell it on him. He’d sell you to save his own ass.”
“You’re a fine judge of character, Ham.”
“I trained a lot of young men in the army. You get to know what to expect of them.”
The doorbell rang. Stone picked up a phone, pressed a button, and listened for a moment. “Come on in,” he said, pressing another button. He turned to Holly. “It’s Lance.”
“Who’s Lance?” Ham asked.
“Tell you what, Ham,” Stone said. “You meet him and tell me.”
27
LANCE AMBLED INTO the kitchen, dressed in a yellow cashmere turtleneck, a tweed jacket, cavalry twill trousers, and short alligator boots. He might have been a visiting movie star. Introductions were made, and he sat down. Daisy walked over and sniffed him. Lance scratched the top of her head, then ignored her.
“What’s up?” Lance asked.