Swimming to Catalina (Stone Barrington 4)

“That’s accurate, I think.”

“What are you going to do about it?” she asked apprehensively.

“Well, I don’t have to find the two goons. They were dredged up by a trawler this morning in a similar condition to what they intended me to be.”

She shook her head. “Swell. What have I gotten myself involved in?”

“Kidnapping, murder, probably a number of other major crimes.”

“You don’t think I had anything to do with…what they did to you?”

“No; not intentionally, anyway.”

“Well, thank God for that much, at least. Please tell me what is going on, Stone.”

“I think you’re in a better position to tell me.”

“I’ve already explained myself on that point.”

“You’ve got to help Vance.”

“That’s right.”

“Well, right now, Vance is well on his way to getting his wife killed and destroying himself. Are you going to help him do that?”

“I don’t really know all that much,” she said, picking up her drink and finishing it off.

“You know more than I do,” Stone said. “If you’ll tell me what you know, maybe it will be enough to help me get Vance out of this.”

She stared off into the middle distance.

“Start at the beginning,” he said.

“I’ve always done what Vance wanted,” she said. “How do I know that what you want me to do is the right thing?”

“You’ll have to take my word for it.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.”

“The alternative is for me to involve the police and the FBI and for the gossip mills to get hold of it.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” she said.

“Wouldn’t I? Unless you help me, I won’t have a choice. My nose is pressed against a brick wall, and I have nowhere to go. If I don’t do something, Vance is going to get Arrington killed, and I can’t allow that to happen. I hope you understand my position.”

“If I tell you what I know, will you promise not to go to the police, the FBI, or the press?”

“No. I’ll do whatever I think is the best thing for Arrington. You might consider that that might be the best thing for Vance, too.”

“If there’s a way to help her without making this public, will you do that?”

“Yes. But I’ll be the judge of how to proceed.”

“Vance is a very brave man, you know. You might not know him well enough to know that.”

“He may well be a brave man,” Stone said, “but he’s also a very foolish one.”

“All that stuff I spouted about movie stars and how they behave—it’s true, of course, but not of Vance.”