Dirty Work (Stone Barrington 9)

“Hello?”

“Architect has arrived. There’s a meeting here at three,” the woman said. “Attendance is mandatory.”

“Right,” Carpenter said. She hung up. “I’ve got to get into a shower,” she said to Stone. “My boss is in from London.” She tossed off the covers and ran for the bathroom. “Any chance of some lunch?”

Stone went down to the kitchen and made a couple of ham sandwiches and brought them back upstairs. Carpenter came out of the shower, toweling her hair dry around the edges.

“That looks good,” she said, grabbing a sandwich and taking a huge bite.

“So, what’s this meeting going to be about?” Stone asked.

“I think you can guess.”

“How the hell are you ever going to find her?” he asked.

“We’ll find her, and we’ll deal with her,” Carpenter replied, her mouth full. She went back into the bathroom, taking her sandwich with her.

Stone picked up the phone and called Dino.

“Bacchetti.”

“You had lunch?”

“I missed it,” Dino said.

“Clarke’s in half an hour?”

“You buying?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s make it the Four Seasons.” Dino hung up.

Stone went to his own bathroom and got into the shower. Twenty minutes later, he stood on his doorstep with Carpenter.

“Dinner?” he asked.

“I’ll have to call you,” she replied, kissing him. She ran down the steps and turned toward Third Avenue.

Stone turned toward Park.

The last of the lunch crowd lingered over their espressos in the Grill Room of the Four Seasons. Getting a table was easy, since half the crowd had gone back to their offices. Stone and Dino ordered salads and omelettes and a couple of glasses of wine.

“How’d La Biche come to be in Elaine’s at exactly the time you were?” Stone asked.

“She came in looking for you.”

“What?”

“I kid you not. She came in, took a seat at the bar, ordered dinner, and whipped out that Page Six clipping about you representing Herbie Fisher. Asked the bartender who you were.”

“Did he tell her?”

“I don’t know. I was pretty busy. Elaine called me at home and told me somebody was asking about you, so I disappointed my wife, who was snuggled up to me at the time, and got my ass over there in a hurry. There she was, sipping a brandy.”

Stone thought about this.

“So why’d you want to have lunch? I had the feeling you had something on your mind.”