Dirt (Stone Barrington 2)

“You’re trying to turn us into Wasps, aren’t you?” Dino demanded. “I can’t even wear my own clothes to meet these people; neither can you, come to think of it.”

“Dino,” Mary Ann said, “don’t look a gift horse, you know? We’re taking the apartment; we’re getting out of Brooklyn. Try and be happy about it.”

“I’m trying, I’m trying,” Dino said.

“Try harder.”

“Tell you what,” Stone said. “Dryer is going to be in that theater for at least another hour. Let’s finish our pasta, eat our dessert, drink our coffee, and then wander over to the Shubert and tail this guy home. I’d really like to know where he lives, wouldn’t you, Dino?”

“Fuggeddaboudit!” Dino screamed.

Chapter 46

By the time they got out of the cab it had started raining, and the two women ran into the theater lobby. Dino turned up his collar. “This is just great,” he said. “I might as well be back on the beat.”

“A little beat work will do you good,” Stone said. The four of them huddled in the lobby until Stone could find an usher.

“Should be over any minute now,” the man said.

“You planning to do this on foot?” Dino asked Stone.

“Ah, maybe not. You want to get us a cab?”

“We just gave up a cab, and it’s raining. It’s a known fact that all New York City cabs go off duty the minute it starts to rain, and on top of that, a couple of thousand people are going to come pouring out of this theater in a minute, and they’re all going to be trying to hail the same cab.”

Arrington spoke up. “There are two entrances to this theater,” she said. “This one and one in Shubert Alley. We’d better cover both, don’t you think?”

“I don’t want Dryer to see you,” Stone said. “Do you think you could try hailing a cab for us and just wait in it until we come out?”

“You’re sweet.”

“Here, take my hat.” He placed his fedora on her head; it came down over her ears. “Best get one going east on Forty-fourth.”

Arrington took a deep breath and ran into the street, waving her arms. Mary Ann stood her ground. “This guy doesn’t know me; I’m staying right here.”

“Could you keep an eye on Arrington, so we’ll know where she is if we have to move in a hurry?”

“That I can do.”

“I’ll take the alley,” Stone said. “Holler if you see him.”

“Right,” Dino said. “I hope he looks like his picture.”

“Me, too.” Stone left the lobby and walked up Shubert Alley, which ran between 44th and 45th Streets. The alley offered no shelter, and he stood there, getting wet. Shortly, a door opened and a trickle of people began leaving the theater, followed by a flood. Stone tried to search the faces without turning head on to them. After all, Dryer knew what he looked like. The theater was half empty when he heard Dino’s voice.

“Stone!”

He looked toward the corner of 45th and saw Dino waving for him. He hurried toward him.

“He just got into a limo with some other people,” Dino said, pointing at a line of limousines lining the curb.

“Where’s Arrington? Did she find a cab?”

“I don’t know; she went off toward Eighth Avenue.”

The line of limos started to move.

“Shit,” Dino said. “Where is she?”