“No,” Barton said wearily, “I’ll have to find a way out of this myself, which means I have to come up with nineteen million dollars by Tuesday.”
“If anyone can do it, Barton, you can.”
“Tell me, Stone, did you, by any chance, receive an invitation to a dinner party at Ab Kramer’s on Saturday night?”
“Yes, and Tatiana is coming up to Washington with me.”
“Oh, good. Carla’s coming up, too. Her engagement at the Carlyle has ended. Could you give her a lift?”
“Of course. Are you thinking of going to Ab for the money?” Stone asked.
“Ab would never make me that kind of loan.”
“You could sell him your secretary.”
“He already has one, remember?”
“Well, I’ll see you at the party,” Stone said. “It should be fun.”
“It may be more fun than you think,” Barton said. Then he hung up.
55
Before Stone left the house that evening, he called Tatiana. “How’s the cleanup going?” he asked.
“Pretty well, actually,” she replied.
“Would you like to join me for dinner, then?”
“Oh, I think I’m going to be very tired when we’re done. Will you forgive me, if I don’t?”
“Of course. I’ll be at Elaine’s with some friends, so if you feel like it, join us.”
“If I’m up to it,” she said.
Stone took a cab up to Elaine’s and found Dino and Genevieve sitting with Elaine. He joined them and ordered a drink.
“So, how’s it going?” Dino asked.
“So-so, I guess.”
“Any progress in finding our missing piece of furniture?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“So we’re going to miss the payoff, then?”
“Looks that way.”
“You don’t seem too upset about it.”
Stone shrugged. “You win some; you lose some.”
“Speaking of which,” Genevieve said, nodding toward the door, “here comes one of your losses.”
Stone looked toward the door and saw Eliza and Edgar arriving. Genevieve was waving them over.
“Hello, Stone,” Eliza said, permitting him to peck her on the cheek.