Cold Paradise (Stone Barrington 7)

“I have been better,” Eduardo said, then was silent.

It was up to Stone. “I understand that Dolce has … left your house.”

“I am afraid that is so,” Eduardo replied.

“Do you have any idea of where she might be?”

“Stone, my friend, I think she would like to be wherever you are.”

“I’m in Palm Beach, Florida, on business,” Stone said. “Dino is with me, and he feels that Dolce may be in Palm Beach; that she may have been following me.”

Eduardo heaved a sigh. “I will send people at once,” he said.

“Eduardo, I cannot guarantee you that she is here. It’s just a feeling.”

“I respect what you feel, Stone, and if there is any chance at all that she is in Palm Beach, then that is where I must look for her.”

“Eduardo, speaking as an attorney, I must ask if you have taken any legal steps toward guardianship?”

“No. This is a family problem, you understand, and I have no wish to bring the courts into it.”

“I understand your feelings, but simply sending people to find her and return her could present legal difficulties that might be more invasive of your family privacy than taking steps to have her declared incompetent.”

“She is not an incompetent person,” Eduardo said stiffly.

“I’m sorry. I meant incompetent in the legal sense, not otherwise. Unless you are willing to make a case to a court that she is not currently able to account for herself and her actions, then she is legally entitled to do and go as she pleases. Removing her to New York from another state could pose problems.”

“Stone, I understand this, and I am grateful for your advice, but you must understand that, in my family, we are accustomed to solving our problems without the help of, ah, public officials. If I can locate Dolce, I can achieve the reunification I desire.”

“Of course, Eduardo. I don’t doubt for a moment that you can.”

“You say that Dino is with you? I had not heard this.”

“Dino came down to help me with another matter, one not connected to Dolce.”

“I see. Well, it is good that he is there; you may well need his help. I need hardly tell you that Dolce may be a danger to herself and to you.”

“I hope you are wrong, but I understand,” Stone said. “If I should locate Dolce, what would you have me do?”

“Simply call me, and I will do the rest,” Eduardo said. “Please don’t try to deal with her yourself. From what her doctors have told me, she could be very dangerous.”

“Eduardo, if Dolce should be traveling under a name not her own, is there a name she might choose to use?”

Eduardo was silent while he thought. “Once, when she was sixteen, she ran away after a quarrel with me. At that time, she used the name Portia Buckingham. It was a ridiculous name for a schoolgirl to choose, I know, but it was a kind of fantasy identity she made up as a child. She might possibly use it again.”

“Would you like me to make some discreet inquiries?” Stone asked.

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nbsp; “Only if you can do so without involving the local police,” Eduardo replied. “I do not wish for Dolce to be brought to the attention of the authorities, unless she tries to harm someone.”

“There’s not much I can do on my own,” Stone said, “but I’ll try.”

“Ask Dino for his help. She is his sister-in-law, after all.”

“I’ll do that.” Stone told Eduardo how he could be contacted.

“Goodbye, Stone, and thank you for your concern for Dolce.”