Joan came in with something for him to sign. “You look funny,” she said.
“Tim Rutledge is apparently in the city.”
“Jesus, I thought he’d be in Mexico, like you said.”
“I was wrong, apparently. Dino is sending a car to pick up Peter at school.”
“That’s good.”
Stone picked up the phone and called Mike Freeman at Strategic Services.
“Hi, Stone, how are you?”
“A little worried, Mike,” Stone said.
“What’s wrong?”
Stone explained. “I think I’d like someone armed to be with Peter for a few days.”
“Certainly. Do you want him picked up at school?”
“Dino’s sending a police car for him. Could you have someone here tomorrow morning at seven-thirty to drive him to school? He can use my car.”
“O
f course. There’ll be two men, and they’ll be our best.”
“Thank you, Mike.”
“Did Sean Patrick call you about Arrington’s G-III?”
“Yes, he did. We sent him copies of everything we had on the airplane, and he’s sending someone down to Virginia to look at it and interview the crew.”
“That would be Milt Kaplan. I recommended him, and he’ll see the worth of the airplane immediately. If Sean turns out not to want it, we could lease it from you until it sells.”
“That’s a nice thought, but as a board member, I wouldn’t want you to spend all that money when you already have two airplanes.”
Mike laughed. “All right, I’ll take your advice.” They chatted for a moment, then said good-bye.
Joan buzzed him. “Peter’s on line two,” she said.
“Peter?”
“Yes, Dad. I got your message. There’s a police car outside right now.”
“Good. Get in it and come home.”
“Can I drop Hattie off on the way?”
“Sure, that’s fine.”
“I’ll be home in half an hour or so.”
Stone hung up feeling relieved.
61
A t half past four Peter came into Stone’s office, shucking off his coat. “Anything new about Rutledge?”