Cold Paradise (Stone Barrington 7)

James’s answer:

SIR: I DON’T KNOW WHAT KIND OF MANIAC YOU ARE, BUT YOU ARE FLIRTING WITH THE BIGGEST LAWSUIT YOU EVER HEARD OF, PLUS MAYBE CRIMINAL CHARGES OF EXTORTION. THIS CORRESPONDENCE IS AT AN END. I DON’T WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN.

Dino, looking over Stone’s shoulder, read the e-mail. “Well, that was certainly indignant. You think he’s bluffing?”

“Yes,” Stone said. “What’s more, I think we may have smoked him out. I don’t think we’ve heard the last of Mr. James.”

40

STONE WAS READING THE PAPERS THE FOLLOWING MORN ing, when Thad appeared on deck, carrying two briefcases. He gave them to Juanito. “Put these in the car, will you, please?”

“You leaving?” Stone asked.

“Yes. I’ve got to go back to New York, then back to the Coast again.”

“Thad, it might be a good idea if you took Liz with you.”

“Why?”

“Well, I don’t know if or when Paul Manning is going to turn up, but if he does, it might be better if Liz weren’t here.”

“What am I going to do with her in New York, lock her in a hotel suite? I’m going to be very busy for the next week or so, and I’d have little time to spend with her. And from what she tells me, I think she’d be afraid to go out shopping or anywhere else on her own.”

“You have a point,” Stone said.

“I’d feel much better if she were here with you and Callie and Dino.”

“For how long?” Stone asked.

“For as long as you’ll stay, or until you reach some sort of accommodation with Manning.”

“Thad, I can’t stay forever, but I’ll give it another week or two. Maybe we’ll hear from this Frederick James again. If he really is Manning, I can’t think why he wouldn’t want to talk to me. After all, he’s already called my office three or four times.”

“Does James know where you are?”

“No. At least, I don’t think so.”

“You want me to hire some private security to back you up?”

“No, not at the moment. If it gets bad we can always do that.”

“If you want help, just tell Callie. She’ll know who to call.”

“All right.”

The two men shook hands, and Thad left the yacht.

Dino, who had been having breakfast during this conversation, now spoke up. “Listen, Stone, I’m beginning to think you’re taking this too seriously. I mean, all that’s happened is the lady’s house has been messed up a little. That’s kid stuff; it’s hardly a threat on her life. And if James is really Manning, then he can’t be completely a fruitcake. He’s made a life for himself, he’s writing again, and if his book is on the bestseller list, he must be doing okay at it.”

“Dino, you only met this guy when you arrested him. I got to know him a little in St. Marks, and he made this very angry scene in New York right before you picked him up. He wanted his money, and he wanted it bad. I’ve got a feeling he still does.”

“A feeling? What’s that? Your hunches were never all that good, you know.”

“Liz feels the same way, and she knows him better than anybody.”

“So now we’re operating on Liz’s hunches? Don’t get me wrong, I’m getting used to living on a big yacht and having my every wish catered to; I always knew I could. I’ll stay here until the chief of detectives sends somebody down here for me with an extradition warrant.”

“She’s not a stupid woman. She and Paul pulled off quite an insurance fraud, you know.”