Shoot Him If He Runs (Stone Barrington 14)

“Where?”

“Up to Irene’s?”

“Before I answer that, I want to know your plan,” Stone said.

“Well, I’m just going to go up there and confront Irene.”

“And she’s going to say, ‘Oh, yeah, Teddy’s in the bedroom closet’?”

“Well…”

“In the unlikely event that he’s there, she’s going to protect him.”

“I guess so.”

“I think you’d better call Lance again.”

“You’re right,” Holly said, grabbing the satphone. She went outside and called Lance’s office.

“Yes?”

“Lance, among the photographs you e-mailed me is one that looks an awful lot like Harold Pitts, Irene Foster’s friend from Virginia, the one you checked out.”

“And he checked out just fine,” Lance said.

“Also, Pitts left St. Marks yesterday in his sailboat, bound for Ft. Lauderdale. We saw him leave; we’re checking out other marinas and anchorages on the island now, to see if he didn’t really go.”

“When will you know?”

“Soon.”

“Call me the minute you hear. In the meantime, I’m going to run another check on Pitts.” He hung up.

Holly went back inside. “Lance is running another check on Harold; he wants to know when we’ve heard whether the boat is still here.”

The phone rang, and Stone picked it up. “Hello?”

“It’s Thomas. Harold’s boat is not on the island. Not anywhere.”

Stone turned to Holly. “Thomas says the boat is not anywhere on St. Marks.”

“Well, I’m going up to Irene’s anyway,” Holly said.

Stone turned back to the phone. “Thanks, Thomas. We’re going to run up to Irene’s and have a word with her.”

“I don’t think I’d do that, Stone.”

“Why not?”

“Because if Harold is the shooter and he’s still there, you don’t want to be anywhere near him when the police come to talk to him, and they will talk to him. If you’re there, they’ll figure you’re in cahoots with him.”

“Good point. I’ll explain it to Holly.”

“Stone, if you’re going up to Irene’s, let me come with you. If the police show up, I can help.”

“Thanks, Thomas, good idea. We’ll see you in five minutes.” Stone hung up and turned to Holly. “Thomas has pointed out that if Harold is Teddy and Teddy is the shooter, we don’t want to be around him when the police arrive. Thomas is going with us; he can help if the police turn up.”

“Okay with me,” Holly said, jamming the 9 mm into her jeans. “Dino, if we don’t come back immediately, will you take our bags to the airport, and we’ll meet you there?”