Worst Fears Realized (Stone Barrington 5)

“Her happiness, her stability are as important to me as anything else in my life. Other things—my grandson, for instance—are equally important, but Dolce holds a special place in my heart. She is so very like me; she understands so many things-the moral ambiguities of a rich life, the necessity of justice to success, the proper use of resources. I want very much for her to be a complete woman. Of course, for some time that has been impossible. Now…”

Stone’s cell phone rang. Embarrassed, he dug into his pocket for the instrument. “Eduardo, I apologize, but only a couple of people have this number, and I should answer it.”

“Of course,” Bianchi said. “Please do so.”

“Hello?”

“It’s Dino; are you with Eduardo?”

“Yes.”

“Good thing I called.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ll explain in a minute; that’s how long it will take me to get to his front door. Meet me out front; you’re going to miss dinner.”

“Dino, what the hell is going on?”

“Mitteldorfer has surfaced.”

“I’ll be right there.” Stone closed the phone and stood up. “Eduardo, I’m very sorry, but I’m not going to be able to stay for dinner. That was Dino, and the man we’ve been looking for, the one who threatened Mary Ann and Ben, has turned up. Dino is coming for me now.”

Bianchi stood up. “I understand, Stone. I’m very sorry our conversation was interrupted. I hope we can resume it very soon.”

“Please make my apologies to Dolce and Mary Ann.”

“Of course.”

The two men shook hands, and Stone hurried toward the front door. As Pietro opened it, he heard the police siren growing closer.

62

T HE CAR BARELY STOPPED MOVING FOR Stone to get in. He grappled with his seat belt as Dino spun the car to the left out of the driveway, spraying gravel. “Tell me about it, Dino,” he said, when the car was stable again.

“A doorman at an apartment house on Park Avenue called,” Dino said, roaring around another car, lights flashing, siren wailing. “He recognized Peter Hausman from the sketch in the papers, but it took him some time to get up the nerve to call. Mitteldorfer has been living in his building, under the name of Howard Menzies.”

“He’s sticking with his initials, then.”

“Yeah; maybe he has monogrammed hankies. Anyway, Hausman showed up at the building after we busted his brother. Then, this evening, Mitteldorfer sells his brand-new Mercedes back to the dealer at a big loss, packs up, and heads for Kennedy. Said he was taking his wife’s ashes back to her ’homeland.’”

“And the ashes would be Eloise Enzberg?”

“You guessed it. The doorman recognized her photograph when Andy Anderson showed it to him.”

“So he’s headed for Germany?”

“I’m not counting on it; there are flights leaving for London, Paris, Rome, and half a dozen other cities, in addition to four destinations in Germany, and they’re all going within the next hour. All the passenger lists are being checked for Menzies and Hausman. Andy’s meeting us at the airport; well know more then.” Dino swung right onto the shoulder to get around a truck.

“If we live that long,” Stone said, gritting his teeth. Dino was a fast driver at the most relaxed of times, but an emergency brought out the Fanzio in him. “Did you crack Deacon?”

“Nope; couldn’t get a word out of him; he’s too smart for that.”

“Shit!”

Dino grinned. “But I cracked Mick Kelly like an egg; cut him a deal.”

“Can Kelly hang it on him?”