“I mean, you got no idea what some folks will tell you in circumstances like this, you know?”
“I’m sure. But the fact remains, Larry, that you’re not going to get paid for this one, so why do it? You’ve already got the twenty-five thousand, so you haven’t wasted your time, but Bartlett isn’t going to pay off, now.” Stone did not like standing in this swamp, with things slithering around in it.
“He’s got a point, Larry,” Ernest said.
“Maybe,” Larry said, thoughtfully.
Ernest looked at his watch. “And we haven’t got all that much time before our plane.”
Larry looked at Stone. “I don’t guess you’d really pay me the fifty grand, would you?”
“Give me your address, and I’ll send you a check,” Stone replied.
Larry burst out laughing. “Come on, Ernest, let’s get outta here!” He got into the car, and Ernest drove off, spinning the wheels and throwing mud everywhere.
Stone stood in the swamp for a minute, trying to get his heart rate down, then the snake appeared again, and he started struggling for the shore.
Once on dry land, he lay down and, with the greatest possible effort, got his handcuffed hands under his ass and finally over his feet. Now, with his hands in front of him, he was able to get to the cell phone under his sweater on his belt. He punched in the number.
“The Shames yacht,” Dino said.
“Dino,” Stone said, “I need you to come and get me, and bring your handcuffs key.”
39
DINO FOUND THE WHOLE STORY HILARIOUS. “I DON’T believe it,” he cackled. “Bartlett bites you on the ass from the grave! I wish I had been there!”
“Dino, it wouldn’t have been funny, even if you were there.”
“And you thought it was Manning who bought the hit!” He cackled again.
“And it still isn’t funny.”
Stone went to his cabin, showered and changed, retrieved his laptop computer and brought it into the saloon.
“What are you doing with that?” Dino asked.
“The only address we have for Frederick James is an e-mail address, so I’m going to e-mail him.”
“Will he be able to tell you’re in Palm Beach?”
“No. The return address will be the same as if I’d sent it from New York.”
“Okay, why not?”
Stone made some adjustments in his telephone dialing program, logged on to his Internet provider and went to e-mail.
TO: FREDERICK JAMES
FROM: STONE BARRINGTON
DEAR MR. JAMES:
I UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ME. IF SO, YOU MAY REACH ME AT THE ABOVE E-MAIL ADDRESS, OR TELEPHONE ME AT (917) 555-1455. I THINK YOU AND I MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DISCUSS THAT WOULD REACT TO YOUR BENEFIT.
Stone sent the e-mail. “Let’s see if that raises him.”
“And what if it does?”