Swimming to Catalina (Stone Barrington 4) - Page 119
“Am I gonna get laid out there?”
“I won’t stand in your way,” Stone laughed.
“Bye-bye.” Dino hung up.
Sturmack was passing the Beverly Hills Hotel now, still headed up Sunset. When he reached the Sunset Strip, Sturmack parked the Rolls and entered a small business.
Stone was surprised. He called Rick Grant.
“Lieutenant Grant.”
“It’s Stone.”
“Hi.”
“Are you aware that Vinnie’s Deli is back in business?”
“What?”
“I just saw the lawyer who doesn’t practice law go in, and he’s not the only customer.”
“They’re operating illegally,” Rick said. “When we raided the joint I had their business license canceled.”
“Is that grounds for busting them again?”
“You bet it is! I’ll have a couple of cars over there in a few minutes. We’ll see if they’re taking bets again, too.”
“Can you bust the customers, too?”
“I can bring ’em in; I can’t hold ’em.”
“I’d love to see the guy ride in the back seat of a black and white.”
“I’ll probably feel the mayor’s hot breath on my neck, but what the hell, it
sounds like fun.”
“I’ll wait and watch from a distance,” Stone said. He pulled into a side street and parked facing the deli. Nineteen minutes later, by his watch, two police cars and two vans pulled up in front of the deli, and the raid went down exactly as before.
Minutes later, people were being led out in handcuffs, and Stone was delighted to see David Sturmack shackled to two men in dirty aprons, protesting loudly to whoever would listen. Nobody did. There was a bonus, too: Martin Barone was among the arrested. Sturmack must have been meeting him there. Stone’s phone rang.
“Yeah?”
“It’s Rick; did it happen, yet?”
“You bet, and they bagged Barone, too.”
“If they were just having a sandwich, I’ll have to let them go, but if they were in the back room, I can charge them.”
“Great! By the way, our man arrived in a Rolls convertible. Can you impound that?”
“Why not? I’ll send a tow truck.”
“I hope they won’t be too gentle with it.”
“They usually aren’t,” Rick said, laughing.
“Let me know how it comes out, okay?”
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