Worst Fears Realized (Stone Barrington 5)

S TONE SLEPT WELL BUT WOKE UP DISORIENTED. He sat up and blinked, wondering where he was, but after a few seconds it came to him. He was in his new cottage, in Connecticut, and he needed pictures on the walls.

He got up, showered, and made breakfast, missing the morning Times. He looked at Carolyn Klemm’s list and found the delivery service. He’d have to arrange that and also subscribe to the local paper, the Litchfield County Times. Then Warkowski came back into his mind. He picked up the phone and called Dino.

“Yeah?” Dino said sleepily.

“Come on, Dino, it’s nearly nine o’clock; wake up,”

“I’m awake,” Dino said. “You are one stupid son of a bitch, do you know that?”

“What, I get up too early for you?”

“I’m talking about Dolce.”

“What about her?”

“I warned you about her, but you just had to go and…”

“Oh, come on, Dino; she seems like a nice enough girl.”

“You’re way out of your depth there, pal, I’m telling you.”

“Dino, she’s a beautiful, bright woman.”

“She’s coming up there today, isn’t she?”

“How do you know all this stuff?”

“She has a sister; she talks to her.”

“Oh.” He hadn’t, after all, asked her not to tell Mary Ann. “Listen, I ran into Warkowski at dinner last night.”

“Père or fils?”

“Père.”

“You had dinner at Sing Sing?”

“No, Warkowski and his wife were over here on what he called a weekend outing—the Mayflower Inn makes it a popular destination. We happened to be in the same restaurant.”

“Great. What did he have for dinner?”

“Dino, listen; you need to make an official request of Warkowski for information as to Mitteldorfer’s whereabouts.”

“I’m not going to ask that bastard for anything. And what makes you think he would help?”

“Even if he ignores you, the request will be on the record; you’ll have covered your ass.”

“And it’s worth covering. You’re right; I’ll fax him. You talked to the guy?”

“Yes, I asked him if he knew where Mitteldorfer was, and he said no. He was unhelpful, but he said if you sent him an official request, he’d respond.”

“Yeah, I know what his response will be. What else did you tell him?”

“That I knew Mitteldorfer had done his investing for him.”

“Did he deny it?”

“No, but he didn’t confirm it, either.”