Kisser (2010)

like we’ve got the guy just about boxed,” Stone said.
    “We’re getting there.”
    “Talk to you later.” Stone hung up and attacked the last two words on the crossword. They took another half hour.

9
    STONE AND DINO HAD BEEN at Elaine’s just long enough to order a drink, when Carrie came rushing in, flushed and excited. Stone signaled for a drink for her. “You look happy,” he said.
    “I feel happy,” she said. “I’ve got two very good solos in the show and one absolute, solid-gold showstopper.”
    “I look forward to hearing them,” Stone said.
    “Not until opening night; I want you to get the full effect.”
    “I’m already getting the full effect,” he replied. Their drinks arrived, and they clinked glasses.
    Dino spoke up. “It’s nice to see you both so happy.”
    “If you’d had my day,” Carrie said, “you’d be happy, too.”
    “I am happy,” Dino said. “Can’t you tell?”
    “He always looks dour,” Stone said. “You could know him for years before seeing him smile.”
    “Do you have a wife, Dino?” Carrie asked.
    “Had. Don’t want another.”
    “A girl?”
    “Until recently.”
    “What happened?”
    “I got tired of obeying. Stone and I spent a little time in Key West, and I discovered I didn’t miss her.”
    “He smiled more then,” Stone said.
    “If I goose him, will he smile?” Carrie asked.
    “If you goose me in the right place,” Dino said.
    Carrie laughed, a healthy, unrestrained sound. Dino smiled a little.
    “There, I knew I could do it,” she said.
    “So, do you know your script and score?” Stone asked.
    “I will by Monday morning,” she said.
    “How’d it go with Bob and the Leahys?”
    “Bob showed me how to work the security system, then left with Max’s box to take it to FedEx. The Leahys are sweet and made me feel very safe. They dropped me off here, and I’ve dismissed them until Monday morning.”
    “I think we’ve got Max pretty boxed in now,” Stone said, “so you shouldn’t have to worry. I wouldn’t go back to Atlanta any time soon, though, or if you do, don’t tell anybody who might tell him.”
    “How long will we have to deal with this?” she asked.
    “It could go two ways: Either he’ll mellow with time, like most people, or he’ll obsess about it until he can’t stand it anymore, and then make a move.”
    “Knowing Max, it’s going to be the latter,” she said. “He’s the obsessive type, believe me.”
    “Then we’ll just have to be ready for him,” Stone said.
    “Am I going to have to have bodyguards for long?”
    “Hard to say. Cantor and I may feel better about it in a week or ten days, but when the show opens, that’s when we’ll have to watch ourselves.”
    “You mean, watch me.”
    “Well, yes. In the meantime, I’ll cultivate his dislike for me. I’m already off to a good start, after only one phone conversation.”
    “Why?”
    “We’ll see if we can deflect him from you to me. By the way, on Monday morning we’re going to get you a protection order from the court and have it served on him in Atlanta.”
    “If you say so,” Carrie replied, “but I have to warn you, he has a broad antiauthoritarian streak. I used to have to pay his speeding tickets to keep him from getting arrested, and he missed a couple of court appearances during the divorce process.”
    “Still, if he violates it, it’s an excuse to put him behind bars, and that’s where I’d like him to be.”
    “So would I,” Carrie said.
    “What was in the box you sent him?” Stone asked.
    Carrie sighed. “Two guns he gave me, and some small things of his that somehow got packed with my stuff—neckties, cuff links, socks, things like that.”
    “Maybe you should have kept the guns,” Stone said.
    “I still have one.”
    “Don’t take it out of the house; New York City has a very rigid licensing law, and they turn down everybody who applies, unless you’re carrying around a briefcase full of diamonds or large sums of cash. The city believes that protecting property is more important than protecting life.”
    “But you have a gun,” she said. “I saw you put it in the bedside table.”
    “I have several guns, but retired cops get licenses. Dino’s packing right now, but he’s still on the force, so he has to.”
    “The one I have is small enough to put in my purse,” she said.
    “Have you had any firearms training?”
    “I fired a .22 rifle at camp when I was twelve.”
    “Then you’re more