Swimming to Catalina (Stone Barrington 4)

“Yes sir.”

“Pilot, if you were running for the border now, how would you do it?”

“I’d get out over the water and stay low, under the radar, sir.”

“Do it.”

It was clear to Stone that he was not going to make it to Ensenada, let alone to Panama. The helicopter was slowing rapidly. Stone reached into an inside pocket for his handkerchief and mopped his brow. When he replaced the handkerchief his hand came out holding both Mont Blanc pens.

Ippolito looked at Tommy and Zip. “When this thing is hovering, open the door, shoot Barrington and throw him out. And don’t make a mess in the helicopter, you got me?”

Both men nodded.

Stone had two shots to fire, and there were four men in the helicopter with him. Sturmack was still looking ill and didn’t seem much of a threat; Ippolito probably wasn’t armed. Tommy and Zip certainly were. He could go for the pilot, but that would just take everybody with him; he didn’t want to go at all.

They were hovering now. Zip reached out and slid back the door of the helicopter, and when he sat back, there was a gun in his hand.

Go for the weapons, Stone thought. He quickly raised both hands under the chins of the two goons and squeezed both pens. There was a very loud noise and blood and brains were suddenly everywhere. Stone reached over and took the gun from Zip’s dead hand.

David Sturmack’s face changed from ill to horrified. He began clawing at his chest as if he wanted to dig out his heart.

Ippolito looked at

him with disgust. “I should have known you weren’t up to this, David,” he said, then he grabbed Sturmack by the shoulder and pushed him out of the helicopter.

Stone watched him fall the fifty feet into the water, and that was a mistake. Suddenly Ippolito was all over him. The man was solidly built, and he was motivated. Stone was taking punches to the head from Ippolito’s right, while his left had hold of the barrel of the automatic in Stone’s right hand.

Stone fought back with his left, landed a couple of punches, but was taking more than he was giving. He took a hard fist to the temple, and his vision went blurry, then he was on the floor of the helicopter, on top of the corpses of Tommy and Zip, and Ippolito was on top of him, flailing away. Stone managed to turn on his left side, bringing Ippolito down to his level and limiting the power of his punches.

Then Ippolito gave up throwing punches and used his right to help his left hand deal with the gun. He grabbed hold of it with both hands and yanked, and it went off with a roar.

Stone saw the back of the pilot’s head explode.

The helicopter began to rotate, at first slowly, then faster and faster.

Stone couldn’t tell whether it was going up or down, until it hit the water with a crash. With the rear door open, the machine had no chance to float. Stone forgot about Ippolito and started trying to get out. The gun left his hand; he didn’t know if Ippolito had it or if it was going to the bottom.

Stone broke the surface. He seemed always to be doing that, he thought. How many good suits had he ruined? The black helicopter was gone now, but somehow it was still making noise; the air was filled with the sound of the rotor.

Then, as Stone watched, Ippolito broke the surface some six feet in front of him. He looked very angry, and he was holding Zip’s automatic, which, Stone reckoned, still had another twelve or fourteen rounds in the clip. Stone ducked under the water.

His eyes were open, and he saw something good: the water just next to Ippolito exploded, and the pistol that had been in the banker’s hand was sinking fast.

Stone surfaced. Above and in front of him was an LAPD helicopter; Rick Grant was sitting in its open door, his feet on the strut below him and a shotgun in his hands. The shotgun was pointed at Ippolito, who was angrily treading water.

Then Stone saw Dino, holding a bunch of life jackets, jump out of the police helicopter. He came up sputtering. “You owe me one Armani suit!” he yelled, handing Stone a life jacket and tossing one to Ippolito.

Stone grabbed him and kissed him on the forehead.

“Get off me!” Dino screamed. “The suit will be enough!”

Other helicopters arrived, and other people were in the water, dealing with Ippolito. Rick’s helicopter had its struts in the water now.

Stone and Dino started swimming for the chopper.

Epilogue

Stone sat at the window of his study in Turtle Bay and watched the season’s first snow fall on the gardens behind his house. The phone rang, and he picked it up.