Stone - 25 - Collateral Damage

me.”
    “How so?”
    “He insisted I take the captain’s exam, but promised not to make me take the rank. What do you make of that?”
    “I think the commissioner never does anything without a good reason, and you should take his advice.”
    “I’ll have to spend some time with a retired captain, cramming for it.”
    “You were always good at the exams,” Stone said. “You’ll ace it first time.”
    “It makes me nervous,” Dino said.
    “You’re afraid he’ll give you a precinct and cuff you to a desk?”
    “That or make a politician out of me.”
    “The man knows you well, Dino, and he’s always liked you. He’s not going to fuck you.”
    “If you say so.”
    Stone set his drink on the coffee table, went to a cabinet, and opened it, revealing a safe. He punched in the combination, fished out a small velvet box, then locked the safe again. “I have a present for you,” he said, tossing it to Dino.
    Dino opened the box, and found a substantial diamond ring. He gave a low whistle. “Nice rock. You proposing to me?”
    “It’s the ring I bought Arrington all those years ago, when I was about to propose to her. Then, of course, Vance Calder shot me out of the saddle, and life changed. You’re going to need a ring, and I know you well enough to know that you hate that kind of shopping. I want you to have this to give to Viv.”
    “Well, that would stun her,” Dino said.
    “She’ll enjoy the experience,” Stone said. “Women like diamonds, and I have no further use for that one.”
    Dino seemed to have trouble speaking. “Thanks, pal,” he finally managed to say.

Stone, Dino, and Viv were having a glass of wine in the kitchen while Stone stirred his risotto, adding stock every minute or so. Holly came in and dropped her bag on the floor with a loud thud.
    “I need a real drink,” she said. “Not wine, booze.”
    “Right over there,” Stone said, nodding toward the kitchen bar. “I can’t put down my spoon right now.”
    “What’s in the bag?” Dino asked. “A mortar?”
    “Just my sidearm and three loaded magazines,” Holly said. “It adds up.”
    “Three magazines? You expecting trouble?”
    “I’m afraid so,” Holly replied, splashing bourbon into a glass filled with ice. “One of my people convinced me I might be next on Jasmine’s list of favorite people.”
    “Why are we having dinner with her, Stone?” Dino asked. “Aren’t we in danger?”
    “I’ll chance it,” Stone said. “Anyway, she lives here, we can’t throw her out.”
    “Not for long,” Holly said, gulping down some bourbon. “I’m moving into our New York station after dinner. You’ll all be safe then.”
    “I’m glad you’re here,” Dino said. “I want witnesses, and Stone isn’t enough.”
    “Witnesses?” Viv asked.
    Dino set the velvet box on the table and opened it. “Will you marry me?”
    Viv stared at the ring. “I notice that you put the ring on the table before you asked. Are you trying to buy me?”
    “Whatever works,” Dino said. “I can’t live without you, and Stone and Holly are witnesses that I said that, because we both know I might try to weasel out of it later.”
    Viv removed the ring from the box and slipped it on. “It fits,” she said.
    “Of course it fits,” Dino replied. “It’s yours. Now answer me, please.”
    “I forgot the question.”
    “Love, marriage, death do us part?”
    “Yeah, okay, that works for me.”
    Dino put a hand on her face and kissed her. “Thank God we got that out of the way,” he said. “Now we can eat.”
    “Five minutes,” Stone said, stirring in a fistful of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, then prying open a carton of crème fraîche and spooning half of it into the pan. He added more of the cheese, then raked in a plate of shrimp and a bowl of asparagus tips.
    “That looks good,” Holly said, polishing off her bourbon, then pouring herself a glass of wine.
    “I’ve had it before,” Dino said. “You won’t die from eating it.”
    “High praise, Dino,” Stone said, putting a trivet on the table and setting the pan on it. He slid into the banquette beside Holly and raised his wineglass. “Dino and Viv,” he said. “May they not kill each other the first year.”
    They all drank.
    —
    Across town Habib sat at the kitchen table with a block of C4 explosive, a detonator, some wire, and a throwaway cell phone. He used a soldering iron to make the connections, then plugged one end of the wire into the cell