Two-Dollar Bill (Stone Barrington 11)

“No, I?

??m just curious to see what I can learn about it. You don’t see a lot of two-dollar bills.”

“I’m going to have to have a better explanation than that if you want me to have it run.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have a better explanation than that,” Stone said. “Let’s just forget it.”

She grabbed the bill back. “Oh, all right,” she said. “I’ll call in a favor and have it run on an informal basis.”

“That would be great.”

“You’re sure you don’t know Rodney Peeples?”

“Will you stop with that name, Tiff? I’ve told you repeatedly that I don’t.”

“Okay, okay.”

“How long will it take to run the two-dollar bill?”

“I’ll make the call on Monday; a day or two, I guess. This isn’t going to get me into trouble, is it?”

“If I thought it were, I wouldn’t ask you to run it. It’s just that I’m curious, and I don’t have any contacts in the Secret Service. I’m only looking for information; I’m not asking anybody to intercede on behalf of a client.”

“You have contacts in other federal agencies?”

“One or two,” Stone said. “I recently had dinner with the United States Attorney for New York.”

She laughed. “Yes, you did, didn’t you? Now what?”

He leaned over and kissed her. “I’m open to suggestions.”

“So am I,” she said, kissing him back.

13

STONE WAS WAKENED by a ringing cell phone, and he knew it wasn’t his. He opened an eye and found it filled with a naked breast, a pleasing sight. He reached across Tiff and grabbed her handbag from her bedside table, then he laid the handbag on her belly.

“Your belly is ringing,” he said into her ear.

She made a noise and turned onto her side, away from him.

“Tiff, it’s your cell phone.”

“Shhhhhh,” she said.

The cell phone stopped ringing.

Stone turned and snuggled up next to her back, enjoying the feeling of her buttocks against his belly.

Tiff made another, more approving noise and pushed against him.

Stone responded, and in a moment, they were both awake, working together to guide him inside her. That accomplished, they moved in concert, faster and faster, until they both came loudly.

“That was good,” she said, when their breathing had returned to normal.

“It was better than good,” Stone murmured, resting his cheek on her moist back.

She rolled over, threw a leg over him and put her head on his shoulder. “You’re right,” she said.