“Hello?”
“It’s Dino; you’re back in your own house?”
“Yeah, I figure with Erwin dead and Mitteldorfer’s picture on TV, the bad guys are in disarray, so it’s safe here.”
“I’m glad to see you out of the witch’s bed and back into your own.”
“Dino, Dolce is on her way over here right now, and I want you to stop saying all these terrible things about her.”
“I haven’t said anything that wasn’t true.”
“I like her, Dino; I’ll grant you, she can be a little overbearing at times, but I like her. I like her father, too. You may as well know that it was he who found out about the doctored tape used in the Dante trial, so we both owe him.”
“I don’t want to owe him,” Dino said.
“Well, that’s tough; you do, anyway, and I, for one, am glad to have all the help he can give us. I want my life back, you know?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m trying to figure out whether to bring Mary Ann and Ben home.”
“Not yet; let’s be cautious for a few more days. Maybe the TV news story will produce some calls.”
“By the way, we got the warrant on Deacon’s place; Andy’s going to execute it tomorrow morning, as soon as he’s out of his apartment.”
“What do you expect to find?”
“Probably nothing; the guy’s not stupid enough to take the knife home. But we’ve got to make the effort. The fact that he was around the corner when Susan was killed isn’t enough.”
“Why don’t you brace Mick Kelly, too?”
“Good idea; I’ll have him picked up at the same time as Deacon.”
“Tomorrow morning, call me on my cell phone if you find out anything; I’d like to have as much ammunition as possible when I testify.”
“Sure.”
“Oh, by the way, Johnny Donato was here this afternoon.”
“Oh, Jesus,” Dino said. “You see what happens when you ignore my advice?”
“Tell me what you know about the guy, Dino.”
“Well, he’s not just a soldier, but he’s not a capo, either, though the word is, he might be one of these days, if somebody doesn’t pop him.”
“Is he dangerous?”
“Who knows? He might call a hit on you, if he thought he could get away with it. In my judgment, he wouldn’t have the guts to do the job himself.”
“He showed me his gun, and I showed him mine.”
Dino laughed. “That’ll keep him off the block, anyway. Guys like Donato aren’t used to dealing with people who are as well armed as they are. You ought to be grateful to the guy, Stone; he’s a buffer between you and Dolce. As long as he’s alive, she can’t do anything permanent.”
“What makes you think she’d want to do anything permanent with me?” Stone asked.
“I don’t know, Stone. Eduardo apparently thinks highly of you, and he doesn’t have a history of admiring Dolce’s boyfriends.”
“And where are you getting this?”
“From Mary Ann, where else?”