“Here and in Houston. She’s a widow, not a divorcée.”
“How long?”
“Last year sometime. She seems excited about seeing you again.”
Shames grinned like a schoolboy. “That sounds good.”
“Thad, I have a lot else to tell you about Liz Harding,” Stone said, adopting a serious mien.
“That sounds bad.”
“It’s not, necessarily, but there are things that, since you’re my client, I have to tell you about her.”
“I’ll just shut up and listen,” Shames said.
Stone started at the beginning and told Shames the story of Allison/Liz—all of it, leaving out nothing except his own affair with Allison. When he had finished, he polished off the rest of his drink, sat back and waited for questions. There weren’t any.
“That’s extraordinary,” Shames said. He got to his feet. “I think I’ll have a nap before dinner. Will you excuse me?”
Stone got up. “Of course. Thad, I want to be sure you understand about the husband, Paul Manning.”
“Ex-husband, isn’t he?”
“Ex-Paul Manning. She doesn’t know what he’s calling himself these days.”
“Well, if he’s legally dead, she’s twice-widowed, isn’t she?”
“In a manner of speaking. I’m not sure what the legal ramifications are. I’ve never run into anything quite like this before.”
“She considers herself single?”
“Yes, she does.”
“Then as far as I’m concerned, she’s single, and that’s an end to it.”
“It is,” Stone said, “unless Paul Manning turns up. I think you have to consider him a dangerous man.”
“Well, he doesn’t sound stupid, so I don’t think he’s dangerous. He’s gotten away with a triple murder and major insurance fraud, so I think he has to count himself lucky, don’t you?”
“I suppose.”
“Don’t worry about Manning, Stone. He’s not going to risk screwing up his life by exposing his own past.”
“I hope you’re right,” Stone said.
“You will pick up Liz tomorrow night? I have a lot on my plate, what with all these guests coming.”
“Of course.”
“Thanks.” Shames disappeared into the bedroom and closed the door behind him.
Stone went back to his own cabin. Thad was right, of course. Paul Manning wasn’t stupid, and, if Stone could just find him and talk to him, he’d be a rich man from the settlement Allison/Liz wanted to make with him. And then, he thought, sighing, he’d be free of this whole business, Thad Shames would have the girl of his dreams, and everybody could get on with the business of living happily ever after.
Sometime after midnight, Stone was wakened from a deep sleep by someone crawling into bed with him. He had been dreaming, and what was happening seemed an extension of his dream.
“Arrington?” he said sleepily.
“Whoa!” Callie said, sitting up and crossing her legs.