Hot Mahogany (Stone Barrington 15)
Page 57
“I simply asked her nicely,” Stone replied. “Apparently, no one had bothered to do that.”
“I’ve already talked to Harlan, and he’s thrilled. He announced a new acquisition this morning, too.”
“I saw it in the Times. I guess you knew about this yesterday, Bill.”
“Sure. We did the legal work.”
“You might have dropped a hint.”
“Yeah, sure, and have the SEC all over us both like a case of the flu. Don’t worry; Harlan is sending you a check. I told him to pay you directly.”
“And I get to keep it all? Gee, whiz!”
“Don’t worry, the aircraft-leasing deal left us flush.”
“I never worry about you, Bill. Thanks.” He hung up, and Joan buzzed again.
“Yes?”
“A messenger just delivered a check from Harlan Deal for twenty-five thousand dollars! What the hell did you do for Harlan Deal? I didn’t even know you knew him!”
“Met him yesterday, did some work for him last evening.”
“Now I can pay the rest of the bills!”
“See how good I am to you?”
Bob Cantor met his old service buddy at “ 21.” He hadn’t been there in years, but Crow had, judging from the way they were greeted and seated. They were at a corner table on the ground floor, away from the hubbub of the horseshoe-shaped seating areas.
“So, Bob,” Crow said, “how you been?” Charlie was dressed in a five-thousand-dollar suit, a five-hundred-dollar shirt and a two-hundred-dollar necktie with a matching one-hundred-dollar pocket square. He still managed to look like a real estate tycoon who sold used cars on the side.
“I been good, Charlie, and from what I read about you in the papers, so have you.”
“Oh yeah. Boy, it’s been sweet.” He ordered martinis for both of them.
Cantor took a small sip of his drink. “I was kind of surprised to hear from you, Charlie, after that blood oath we all took.”
“Come on, Bob, it’s been thirty years; we can talk now without any problems.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“How have you spent the last thirty?”
“Well, I joined the NYPD when I got back from ’Nam and did twenty-five years there, fifteen of them as a detective, then I retired.”
“How do you spend your time now?”
“Oh, I dabble in photography,” Cantor said, not mentioning that he sometimes kicked in a bedroom door before dabbling. “And you’re in the real estate game?”
“I am.”
“Married?”
“Third time lucky, I hope. How about you?”
“Nah, I stayed a bachelor. I got a couple girls I see from time to time.”
They ordered lunch and chatted amiably, as if they were dear old friends. Cantor finally popped the question. “Seen any of the other guys?”