Dark Harbor (Stone Barrington 12)

“This is Maine, not the Bahamas,” Dino said. “That water is fucking cold.”

“That’s why you’re wearing the wet suit,” Stone said. “See? We’ve thought of your every need.”

“But…”

Stone pushed him into the water.

Dino sputtered to

the surface. “You’re going to pay for that, goddammit!”

“Now, here’s what you do,” Stone said, handing him a shovel and a length of rope.

Chapter 45

STONE LET THE water drain off the safe, then dried it carefully, before he and Seth carried it into the house.

“What do you think it weighs?” Stone asked Seth.

“Fifty, sixty pounds,” Seth replied.

“Could one man handle it?”

“You want to try?”

“Nope.”

“I reckon a pretty strong fella could handle it. ”Course, he might drop it trying to get it into a boat.“

They got the safe into the study, laid some newspapers on the desk and rested the steel box on top of it, lying on its back. Lance was working away at the computer in Dick’s office.

“The dial is gone,” Stone said.

Lance spoke up. “That means they tried to open it, failed, then sawed it out of the cabinet.”

Stone peered at the safe closely. He could see the bolt that locked it through the crack between the door and the jamb. “I don’t have a clue how to handle this,” he said.

“Send Dino back in the water to look for the dial,” Lance said. “It’ll simplify things.”

Dino was out on the deck, half out of the wet suit. Stone went out and broke the news to him.

“Your turn,” Dino said.

“Put it back on, Dino; you’re the only one the suit fits.”

Dino sighed and began struggling back into the wet suit. “What am I looking for again?”

“The dial from the front of the safe. It’s got to be…” Stone stopped. “Wait a minute.” He went back into the study and opened the cabinet where the safe had been. He rummaged through some papers on the shelf below, and his hand found something of solid metal. He held up the dial. “Never mind, Dino; I found it.”

“Great!” Dino yelled from the deck and started getting out of the wet suit again.

“Got it, Lance,” Stone called.

“In a minute,” Lance replied. He made more key-tapping noises in the little office.

Dino came into the study in a towel. “I’m going to get a shower,” he said. “Anything else that has to be retrieved from the bottom is gonna be retrieved by somebody else.”

“All right, all right,” Stone said.