Fresh Disasters (Stone Barrington 13)

Dino hung up. “She’s locked inside Daltry’s building with him, and my people are having a hard time getting in.”

“Oh, my God,” Genevieve said. “I hope she’s armed.”

“I hope she is, too,” Dino said. “Since she’s undercover, she may not be.”

Stone’s cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“Stone, it’s me.”

“Herbie! Where the hell are you? Are you all right?”

“No, I’m not, and I’m not about to tell you where I am. The last time I told you where I was I nearly got killed.”

“Herbie, I didn’t tell anybody where you were. In fact, you never told me, remember?”

“Well, somebody knew, and he told Dattila.”

“What happened there, Herbie?”

“I didn’t like the food and stuff, so I was going to sneak out for something, so I turned on the shower and got dressed. I heard somebody yell in the next room, so I hid in a closet, and I saw this guy come into the bedroom with a gun. While he was in the bathroom, I got the hell out of there.”

“It’s good that you did. Now, listen. I talked to the D.A. a few minutes ago, and she says that you should get out of town, that she’s not sure she can protect you.”

“Well, that’s pretty clear, isn’t it?” Herbie yelled. “You said I’d be safe in the hotel; not even the two cops were safe.”

“It gets worse, Herbie. Dattila is out of jail, and word is he’s put out a very large contract on you. He’s probably got a couple of hundred people on the street looking for you right now. You’ve got money, haven’t you?”

“I’ve got about twelve hundred dollars.”

“My advice is take a cab to New Jersey-don’t go to the Port Authority Terminal or to Grand Central or Penn Station-just get to Jersey and get a bus out of there to anywhere.”

“Your advice hasn’t been very good so far, Stone.”

“What are you talking about? If you’d taken my advice and not sued Dattila none of this would have happened!”

But Herbie had already hung up.

54

Willa walked up the curving staircase with Daltry holding her hand.

“I think you’ll like my living quarters,” he was saying.

They emerged into a handsomely furnished living room with cream-colored paneled walls, crown moldings and many pictures and sculptures.

He led her to the bar and was pouring them a drink when the phone rang. Daltry looked at the instrument on the bar and muttered something under his breath. “Excuse me,” he said, “I’ve got to take this call.” He picked up the phone. “What is it?” he said without preamble, then he listened for a moment. “Jerry, I’ve told you repeatedly how important it is for you to stay where you are and not go out for a while. You’ve got enough groceries to last a month, and enough to drink, too.” He listened some more. “I don’t care. I want you to do as I say, or I won’t be able to protect you. Don’t you understand?” More listening. “Jerry, do you want to go to prison? I didn’t think so. Well, that’s the alternative to doing as I say, at least for a little while. Look, I’ve got somebody here at the moment. I’ll come up there tomorrow morning, and we’ll work something out. I promise.” He hung up.

“Some people never listen,” Willa said.

“You’re right about that. I have this friend who’s gotten himself into a jam, and I’m trying to help him, but he just won’t be helped. Will you pour us a drink? I need the powder room.”

“Of course.” Willa filled two glasses with ice and made to pour. The moment Daltry was out of sight she checked the many buttons on the phone and found one that read “Log.” She pressed it. “Bernstein, did you hear that conversation?” she whispered.

“Every word.”

“Write down this number.” She read it out to him. “It appears four other times today in his phone log.”

“I’ll check it out.”