“No. Would you like to tell me where they are?”
“Why do you want to find them?”
“I told you, it’s a personal matter. One of them – Tommy, I think – has my wristwatch; it has a lot of sentimental value.”
She smiled. “Tommy always loved watches. Strange thing.”
“Where is he?”
“In New York; but you know that already.”
“Yes. Do you have an address for him?”
“Last I heard, Tommy had an apartment on Ninety-first Street.”
“Not any more; he’s moved. Do you know where?”
She crossed her arms. “He may be a bastard,” she said, “but he’s my little brother.”
“If you tell me where to find him, I may be able to keep him from getting into more trouble than he’s already in.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Stealing, mostly.”
“From you?”
“Among others.”
“I talked to him last night, for the first time in more than a year; he said he was about to strike it rich.”
“Did he say how?”
“He said that he possessed very valuable knowledge. That’s all he said.”
“And you don’t know where he’s living?”
She looked at the floor and shook her head.
He couldn’t blame her. He walked to where she stood, kissed her on the cheek, and left.
Chapter 51
Stone drove slowly back toward the city, through slush, ice, and fresh snow, which had turned into a blizzard. In spite of his recent shower he felt somehow dirty. His sex life had always been serendipitous, and he liked it that way; in the normal course of his life he would have enjoyed his encounter with Lou Burch and reflected pleasantly on it, but his life had taken a new course with Arrington, and it troubled him that he had not once thought of her until he was back in the car. Guilt was new to him, and he didn’t like it.
Just short of the George Washington Bridge traffic came to a complete halt, and he began to fear that it might be permanent. He got out his pocket phone and called Dino.
“Afternoon,” Dino said.
“Already?” Stone looked at his watch; it was nearly two.
“Happens every day.”
“Dino, I’ve finally got something on our boys.”
“Shoot.”
“An old acquaintance did some checking for me with what I believe was Central Intelligence. Turns out our boy, Jonathan, who has an electronics degree, underwent some training by those people and spent several years in their employ. He eventually got bounced. His real name is Thomas Bruce, and his brother’s name is Charles. Charlie is probably out of jail recently; he was doing five to seven at Chino, in California, and my guess is he’s jumped parole. That ought to be enough to pick him up on.”