Stone - 25 - Collateral Damage

phone and the end with the detonator into the soft C4.
    “There you are,” he said, “one bomb.”
    “You’re sure this will set off the rest?”
    “My bombs go off when they’re told to,” Habib said. “The other forty-nine kilos are already in the van. All I have to do is place this block with the others, then you can have the honor of detonating.” He pushed another cell phone across the table. “It’s already programmed. All you have to do is press one, and it will autodial the correct number. The detonator will fire on the first ring: then poof! No more Ms. Barker or Mr. Barrington.”
    “Do we know they’re there now?”
    “We assume Barrington is there. Two other people, a man and a woman, arrived earlier and checked in with the guards in the SUV. Holly Barker arrived twenty minutes ago. I told our observer to get out of there.”
    “Then we’re all set?”
    “We are. The van and the Toyota you wanted for our trip are parked outside, and our luggage is in the trunk. You blow it after leaving Barrington’s street—on Forty-second Street, headed for the tunnel. Fifteen minutes after that we’ll be in New Jersey, headed west.”
    “Why can’t we blow it from New Jersey? I’d feel safer.”
    “We can’t leave the van there untended any longer than absolutely necessary. Some traffic cop might take exception and screw things up. Don’t worry, Forty-second Street is plenty far away, and it won’t take long to get there. Once we turn onto Second Avenue the traffic signals are programmed to change as we drive downtown. We have only two turns to make, so it will go smoothly.”
    “All right,” Jasmine said. “Let’s do it.”

They were on their second helpings of risotto and their second bottle of Far Niente Chardonnay. Stone looked at his friends and felt good. He had never seen Dino happier.
    “Okay,” Stone said, “when’s the wedding?”
    “Don’t rush me,” Dino said.
    “Who’s rushing you?” Stone asked.
    “Yeah, who’s rushing you?” Viv echoed. “How about a week from tomorrow in the police chapel?”
    “That sounds wonderful,” Holly chipped in.
    “What’s the hurry?” Dino asked. “I haven’t even gotten used to being engaged yet.”
    “You’re not supposed to get used to it,” Holly said. “That way lies delay after delay.”
    “She has a point, Dino,” Stone said, patting him on the shoulder in a fatherly manner.
    “But where are we going to live?” Dino asked plaintively.
    “Last time I checked,” Viv said, “and that was this morning, you have an apartment, I have an apartment. Take your pick.”
    “Well, you know I’m not going to pick yours,” Dino said.
    “Good, that leaves yours.”
    “It’s not big enough—it’s a bachelor apartment, for God’s sake.”
    “It’s plenty big,” Viv said.
    “There’s not enough closet space for your underwear, let alone everything else.”
    “I don’t intend to wear much underwear for a while,” Viv said. “That will leave room for my other stuff.”
    “You could get rid of some of those old suits that are moldering away in your closets,” Stone said. “You’ve had some of them since high school.”
    “Those are perfectly good clothes that I’ll wear again,” Dino protested.
    “Not as long as the trousers won’t button,” Stone pointed out.
    “There’s another alternative,” Viv said. “We could sell both our apartments and buy a bigger one.”
    Dino seemed struck dumb.
    “Aha, you’ve got him,” Holly said, giggling.
    “I’m thinking it over,” Dino said.
    The others stared at him, determined to wait him out. Dino squirmed.
    —
    Jasmine turned into the street and spotted the black SUV immediately. She took the 9mm silenced pistol from her handbag and shoved it between her legs. Habib would shortly be behind her.
    She coasted to a stop inches from the SUV’s blackened windows, rolled her own window down, and yelled, “Excuse me!” Nothing happened. It must be very thick, armored glass, she thought. She reached out the window and rapped very hard on it with her ring. A moment later, the window slid halfway down.
    “Yes?” a wary voice asked.
    “Excuse me, could you direct me—” Then she took the silenced 9mm from between her legs and shot them both in the head.
    —
    Junior Detective Sean Leary turned back into the block, a sandwich on the seat beside him, and saw twin flashes emanating from between the black CIA SUV and a white car pulled up close to it, but