Kisser (2010)

often.”
    Dolce stood. “Perhaps Stone would like to tag along with me sometime.”
    Stone stood, too. “I’m afraid I’m rather occupied with someone who wouldn’t understand.”
    “Yes, I know,” she said, leaning forward to kiss him good-bye. This time her tongue momentarily found Stone’s ear.
    “Good-bye, dear Stone.”
    “Good-bye, Dolce,” Stone managed to say. He watched her walk away, an inviting performance.
    “Sit for a moment more,” Eduardo said, “until she has made her escape.”
    Stone sat down, hoping Eduardo did not mean that literally. “She really is looking very well,” he said.
    “I think her mental state, particularly her anger, made her seem older,” Eduardo said. “Now that she has been relieved of those tensions, it shows in her demeanor.”
    “I suppose so,” Stone said. “How long has she been going out?”
    “Only for the past ten days or so,” Eduardo replied. “I am being very careful with her, following the advice of her psychiatrist, who is a sensible woman.”
    “I wish I could have helped her,” Stone said.
    “No one could have helped her in those days, Stone,” Eduardo said. “And I would not wish you to feel that you must try again.”
    “Thank you, Eduardo,” Stone said. “I must go now, but it has been a very great pleasure to see you, and I’m glad that Dolce is making such a good recovery.” He stood and took Eduardo’s hand again.
    “I think seeing you was good for her,” Eduardo said, “and I’m glad we had an opportunity to talk about Sharpe and Larsen.”
    “So am I. I will take your advice to heart.” Stone walked back to the terrace and through the house. The butler was there to open the front door for him. He got into his car and began the drive back to Manhattan.
    He had calls to make now, after Eduardo’s warning about Sharpe. Previously, he had been concerned only about Hildy Parsons with regard to her fortune. Now, it seemed, she was in more immediate danger. So, indeed, was Mitzi Reynolds, above and beyond the call of her duty. Sharpe needed to be shut down quickly and Larsen with him, and not by just a loss of reputation.
    Beyond those thoughts, a knot had been forming in Stone’s stomach, and he searched for the reason. Then he remembered: Dolce, when told he was seeing someone, had said, “I know.”
    Stone’s heart thudded in his chest, and his hands made the steering wheel slippery.

31
    STONE PUT THE CAR in the garage and went quickly to his office. Several message slips were on his desk, among them one from Brian Doyle at the downtown precinct. He called the number.
    “Lieutenant Doyle.”
    “Brian, it’s Stone Barrington.”
    “Hello, Stone.”
    “I’m returning your call.”
    “I had a meeting with Mitzi earlier this afternoon, and she told me how well things are going. She said you have been a big help. ‘Invaluable,’ was how she put it.”
    “I’m glad to have helped.”
    “We’re getting to the point where we can set up a purchase and a bust,” Brian said.
    “Brian . . .”
    “We don’t think it will have to be too big to get a conviction: A pound of grass and half a kilo of coke should do it—plenty to charge him with distributing.”
    “Brian, listen to me.”
    “Okay, pal, I’m listening. What’s up?”
    “I have some new information that you’re going to have to take into consideration before you decide whether to continue.”
    “What sort of information?”
    “I have it from a very reliable source that Sharpe has stepped on the toes of some pros who take a very proprietary view of their business operations.”
    “And which pros are these?”
    “I don’t know, but they are pissed off at having what they consider to be an amateur dipping into their exclusive territories, and they are planning to do something about it.”
    “And where does this information come from?”
    “I’m sorry, but that’s completely confidential.”
    “That’s not good enough, pal.”
    “Then I’m going to have to invoke attorney-client privilege.”
    “Stone, if you want me to believe you, you’re going to have to give me something more than your word.”
    “Listen, you started this operation on nothing more than my word.”
    “That’s not quite so,” Brian said. “There had been rumblings from other quarters.”
    “What quarters are those, Brian?”
    “Sorry, that’s confidential—official police business.”
    “I’m sorry, Brian, but that ’s not good enough,” Stone