Unnatural Acts (Stone Barrington 23)

“Whatever you want.”

“A jealous ex-husband could show up. Can you handle that?”

“I can handle whatever you want.”

She looked at her watch. “Let’s go.”

Dino’s driver stopped on Seventy-fifth Street, half a block short of Madison Avenue, as instructed.

“Okay, listen up,” Dino said from the front passenger seat.

“We’re listening,” Viv said from the backseat.

“This is not going to be as easy as it sounds,” he said.

“It doesn’t sound easy,” Rosie replied.

“It’s even harder than that. Shelley Bach is a very, very smart woman.”

“She doesn’t have a monopoly,” Viv said.

“You start thinking like that, and she’ll have you for dinner.”

“All right, all right.”

“Shelley will be armed.”

“How do you know that?” Rosie asked.

“She was an FBI agent for twenty-odd years. She got used to packing, and she likes it.”

“Does she take it off in bed?” Viv asked.

“Goddammit, will you two take this seriously?”

“We’re listening, boss,” Viv said contritely.

“She will suspect that I’m going to try to take her, and she will act accordingly. She will suspect that I will have help, and she’ll act accordingly.” Dino handed them the photograph he had printed from the FBI website. “This is what she looks like, sort of.”

“What do you mean, sort of?”

“Last time I saw her, she was a flaming redhead. She will have done what she can to alter her appearance. What she can’t alter is that she’s tall-taller than I am, in heels.”

Rosie put her hand over her mouth, then took it away. “So we’re looking for a tall woman who isn’t a blonde or a redhead?”

“That’s a start. She dresses well, and I don’t think that will change. I want you two to go in first and sit at the bar. If you order booze, don’t drink it. Order some food, a salad or something. It will give you something to do. I don’t want you getting bored.”

“What do we do if we spot her?”

“You’re not going to spot her. I don’t even

want you looking around the room after you get there. Got that?”

“Got it, boss,” Viv said.

“Start a conversation with each other-talk about something that absorbs your attention.”

“Who’s going to look for Shelley?”