Dirt

there.”
    She worked her way slowly down his back and buttocks, letting her hands stray now and then.
    “You keep that up, and I’ll forget I’m sick,” Stone breathed.
    “Oh, shut up.” She moved down to his legs and feet, then had him turn over.
    “What was that angry phone call the other night about?” Stone asked. “The one on the machine.”
    “Oh, I didn’t want to tell you until you were better.”
    “Tell me what?”
    “Somebody broke into my apartment earlier that evening.”
    Stone sat up, but she pushed him back down. “What was taken?”
    “Very little. I had a couple of hundred dollars in a dresser drawer; he passed up my jewelry, thank God.”
    “That sounds strange.”
    “Especially when you consider that my jewelry box was in plain sight on the dresser.”
    “How’d he get into the building?”
    “I don’t know; the doorman swears nobody got past him.”
    “There’s that side entrance that you and I left by one night.”
    “I guess that might be how, if he knew about it, and if he could get past the lock.”
    “Is there something you’re not telling me about this break-in?” Stone asked.
    “Sort of.”
    “What do you mean, sort of?”
    “I think Jonathan did it.”
    “Why?”
    “He’s been calling, and I’ve refused to talk to him. There’ve been some messages on my machine.”
    “I want to hear the tape.”
    “I’m sorry; I was so annoyed that I erased them immediately.”
    “Anything threatening?”
    “Not exactly.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “Well, I didn’t like his tone; it was … well, sort of proprietary.” She moved down to his chest and belly.
    “I don’t think I like the sound of that.”
    “Neither did I.”
    “I think I should have a little talk with Jonathan.”
    “I don’t want you two getting into fights over me.”
    “I don’t get into fights.”
    “Jonathan does.”
    “Trust me; I can handle this one.”
    “Whatever you say, sir.” She giggled and stroked his penis, which was erect. “Is this the way you say howdy?”
    “Can you think of a better way?”
    “No, sir, I can’t,” she said, rubbing oil on it.
    “Is my massage over?” he whispered.
    “Not by a long shot,” she whispered back.
    “By the way, what’s Jonathan’s last name?”
    “Dryer.”
    That rang a bell somewhere with Stone, but at the moment, his mind was elsewhere.
     
Chapter 34
     
    Amanda rode up Madison Avenue in the back of the Mercedes. “Paul,” she said, “we’re going to pick up a gentle man at Madison and Seventy-second, left-hand side, near the corner.” “Yes, ma’am,” Paul replied.
    “I’m going to want to go someplace nearby, park for a few minutes and have a private chat with him. Can you think of a good place?”
    “There’s a place in the park,” Paul said.
    “That will be fine; better get in the left-hand lane.” Amanda put the armrest down to separate her from her unwanted guest, pressed a switch that put up the sunscreen on the rear window, for privacy, and eyed the corner ahead. “That must be him,” she said. “The one in the raincoat.” She had no idea what Allan Peebles looked like, but this was the only lone man on the corner. The car rolled to a stop, and Amanda pressed the window button.
    The man leaned over and looked into the car. “Amanda?”
    “Get in,” she replied. The car turned left on 72nd and headed for Central Park.
    “I’m Allan Peebles,” he said, extending his hand.
    She shook it perfunctorily, then held a finger to her lips for silence.
    Halfway through the park, Paul pulled off the road into a small lot for maintenance vehicles and stopped.
    “Give us a few minutes, Paul,” Amanda said.
    Paul got out of the car and walked twenty yards to a bench and sat down, still in view of the car.
    “Now,” said Amanda, “what do we have to talk about?”
    “I’ve always been an admirer of your column,” Peebles said.
    “I wish I could say the same.” She glanced at her watch.
    “All right, I’ll get to the point: Why do you suppose you and I have been targeted by this scandal sheet?”
    “I haven’t the faintest idea,” she said. “After all, Richard Hickock has been targeted, too, and Stone Barrington has been mentioned more than once, as well as Vance Calder.”
    “With the possible exception of Calder, who was probably an innocent bystander, everybody is connected.”
    “Connected? How could I possibly be connected with
you
?”
    “We’re both published by the same