Stone Barrington 06-11

think only for a nanosecond. He didn’t trust the two of them alone together. “All right,” he said. “Liz, do you mind?”
    “No, go ahead. I’m going to have a brandy and turn in.”
    “Let’s go,” he said to Callie. He led the way off the yacht and to the car.
    “Where are we going?” Callie asked.
    “You know a bar called Taboo?”
    “Sure.”
    “Get me there.”
    “Okay, but why are we going there?”
    “A man answering the description of the man you saw at the party is there. I want to know if it’s the same man.”
    “Who is he?”
    “I can’t really answer that until I’ve talked to Liz.”
    “He’s part of the legal matter?”
    “Yes.”
    “Take a left, then a right,” she said.
    Stone followed her directions.
    “Is that why you wanted me to come along, so I could identify him?”
    “Yep.”
    “I got the feeling you didn’t want Liz and me talking about sex.”
    “I can’t imagine how you got that idea,” Stone said.
    “Well, you were obviously uncomfortable with the turn the conversation was taking. What was Liz talking about?”
    “Nothing, really.”
    “Well, I suppose I’ll have to ask her, if I want to know.”
    “Oh, all right,” Stone said. “She suggested that she and you and I have a threesome. I want to point out that it was she who raised the subject, and I said absolutely nothing to encourage her.”
    “Turn right again,” Callie said.
    Stone turned.
    “So what did you tell her?”
    “I didn’t tell her anything. I was too surprised.”
    “What were you going to tell her, after you’d recovered from your surprise?”
    “I wasn’t going to tell her anything.”
    “Why? Did the idea not appeal to you?”
    Stone turned and looked at her.
    “Keep your eyes on the road,” she said. “And take the next left.”
    Stone turned left.
    “Have you ever been in a threesome?” she asked.
    “No,” he said.
    “I have, once.”
    “Really?” he asked, surprised.
    “In college, with two guys. We were all good friends. It was just a one-time romp.”
    “You astonish me.”
    “For such a sophisticated man, you can be so … naive. Didn’t you think I would enjoy having two men?”
    “Did you?”
    “Very much, although we were all so embarrassed the next morning, we never repeated the experience.”
    “Why were you embarrassed?”
    “We were very young,” she said. There was a long pause. “I’m older, now, but I’ve never been in bed with a woman—in a threesome, I mean.”
    “And not in a threesome?”
    “Oh, sure. Most girls have tried that. It’s not such a big deal as it is with men.”
    “I’ve heard other women say that.”
    “So, what do you think?”
    “About what?”
    “About a threesome, with Liz and me?”
    Stone looked up ahead and saw an awning, with the restaurant’s name emblazoned on it. “There’s Taboo,” he said, grateful for an excuse to avoid answering.
    A valet took the car, and Stone and Callie went inside. The bar was straight ahead, and Stone saw Paul Manning immediately.

19
    T HE BAR WAS UP FRONT, THE RESTAURANT AT THE REAR. The place was subtly lit, and a pianist was playing quiet jazz underneath the conversation at the busy bar. Stone spotted Detective Riley leaning against the piano, holding a glass apparently filled with mineral water. Riley motioned toward the bar, but Stone was already staring at Manning’s back.
    He nodded at Riley and turned to Callie. “See the tall man at the middle of the bar, talking to the brunette?”
    “Yes.”
    “Is that the man you saw at the party?”
    “Looks like him from behind, but I can’t see his face.”
    “Come on.” Stone took her arm and guided her toward the couple. The brunette, looking past her companion, flicked an eye toward them, then turned back to her conversation.
    Stone stopped a pace from the couple. “Paul!” he said, loudly enough to be sure he could be heard.
    The man’s head jerked around in an instantaneous reaction.
    “That’s the man,” Callie whispered.
    “I’m Stone Barrington. I’m sure you remember.”
    The man turned fully around and regarded Stone, his brow wrinkled. His hair was longish and dark, flecked with gray. “I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said, “but weren’t you at the Shames party the other night?”
    Stone looked at him carefully. The face was thin, the nose straight. He was the right age, and there was a resemblance to the Paul Manning he had known, but the nose seemed to change everything.