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“Some place where Tom can see you from the street.”
“Okay.”
“When you’ve got the buy set up, tell Sharpe you want the delivery at your apartment. He ought to be comfortable there now.”
“All right. Then after we bust him, you and I will celebrate.”
“You’re on,” Stone said. He hung up, and the phone rang immediately.
“It’s Tiffany Baldwin,” Joan said.
“Hello?”
“What did you do to get the commissioner to get you out of my meeting?” she asked.
“I think he thought that if I kept eating Danish, he might have to perform the Heimlich maneuver,” Stone replied. “Did anything happen after I left?”
“Not a hell of a lot. I don’t think I trust Lieutenant Doyle,” she said.
“You have good instincts,” Stone said. Line two began flashing on his phone. “I’ve got another call coming in,” he said, “so I’m going to have to go.”
“Let’s get together.”
“Maybe after this is over. Bye.” Stone hung up and waited for Joan’s voice.
“Brian Doyle on two,” she said.
“Hello?”
“It’s Brian.”
“Hi, there.”
“What was that you pulled with the commissioner?”
“He offered me a ride home, and it was raining like hell.”
“If you think you can pull something behind my back, Stone…”
“Didn’t you notice that he asked me to step outside? It wasn’t my idea.”
“All the same…”
“What happened at the meeting?”
“We just got our priorities straight with the U.S. Attorney.”
“And how do you intend to proceed?”
“I’ve been thinking about it, and I believe Derek Sharpe and Sig Larson are going to run for it soon.”
“Oh? Why do you think that?”
“I think they’re too smart to think they can get away with what they’re doing forever.”
“That’s very insightful of you, Brian,” Stone said. “You might very well be right.”