“I hope I see him on the street, so I can get just one clear shot at him.”
“Holly, this is not the O.K. Corral, and you are not Wyatt Earp. This is New York City; millions of people live here, and most of them are on the street every day.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
Stone sighed. “I hope to God you do.”
“Did you call your friend Eduardo?”
“And when would I have had a chance to do that?” Stone put his empty cup into the paper bag and handed it to Holly. “All right, I’ll do it now.” He got out his cell phone and dialed the number. Pete answered and connected him.
“Good morning, Stone,” Eduardo said. “Have you had any luck finding this Trini fellow?”
“No, Eduardo, and this morning he killed an FBI agent who was guarding him and wounded another.”
“This man must be stopped,” Eduardo said.
“He’s on the run now, and I’d be grateful for any help you could give me in locating him.”
“I’ll make some calls,” Eduardo said. “Are you at home?”
“No, I’m on my cell phone.” Stone gave him the number, and Eduardo hung up.
“Happy?” he said to Holly.
“Deliriously,” she said grumpily.
A man in a raincoat walked up to Stone’s side of the car. “Excuse me,” he said.
Stone turned and looked up at him, only to find himself looking into both barrels of a sawed-off shotgun.
“I’ve got one over here, too,” Holly said.
“What can I do for you?” Stone asked, placing his hands on the steering wheel.
“You can do what you’re told,” the man said.
“Shoot,” Stone replied. “No, scrub that—I mean, your wish is my pleasure.”
“You got a good attitude,” the man said. “Get out of the car.”
44
THEY WERE MARCHED across the street and down the block by the two men wearing raincoats and carrying shotguns. As they moved down the street a pair of steel doors opened ahead of them and a freight elevator appeared.
“Hop on,” one of the men said.
They got on, the platform descended into the darkness below the sidewalk, and the doors closed above their heads. Before their eyes could become accustomed to the gloom, hands searched them and removed their weapons. Then they were shoved along a basement filled with crates of canned food and bottles of olive oil to a storeroom at the rear, where they were shoved rudely inside. The door was closed and bolted.
“All right, what now?” Holly said.
Stone couldn’t see her, or his own hand in front of his face. “You think I have a solution for this problem?”
“You’re resourceful. Think of something.”
“It’s your turn.”
She sighed loudly. “You want to just wait around here until Trini arrives and shoots us?”