Stone Barrington 06-11

his speed to keep the car in sight. He followed it back onto the main highway, and they headed into the town. He followed the car until it turned into the parking lot of a large building only a short distance into town. He pointed at a sign. “It’s the federal courthouse,” he said. “They must be taking him to the U.S. Attorney’s office.”
    “Or Trini is testifying in a case.” Holly opened the door.
    “Where are you going?” Stone asked.
    “I’m going to follow them,” she said. “You park the car.”
    “How will I know where you’re going?”

    “If Trini is testifying, they’ll be going to a courtroom, won’t they?”
    “I can’t argue with that.” Stone found a parking place and followed her into the courthouse.

40
    S TONE STOPPED AT the desk before the metal detector and showed his Orchid Beach badge. “I’m armed,” he said.
    “Sorry, Lieutenant,” the guard said, “only federal officers can carry inside the courthouse. You’ll have to check your weapon.” Stone gave the man his Walther and got a receipt, then he walked through the metal detector and into a hallway.
    His cell phone vibrated. “Hello?”
    “It’s Dino. Elaine’s tonight?”
    “Sorry, it’s too long a drive.”
    “What?”
    “I’m in Santa Fe, New Mexico.”
    “What the fuck are you doing way the hell out there?”
    “I’m with Holly. It’s the Trini thing; we followed him out here.”
    “You’ve gone out of your fucking mind,” Dino said pleasantly. “I mean, I can see fooling around with this thing to get the girl in the sack, but…”

    “Dino, this has nothing to do with sex.”
    “Yeah, sure.”
    “Well, not much. I share her outrage that the Feds would let this guy take a walk, that’s all, and it worries me that she’s doing this alone.”
    “Well, you’re going to worry yourself right into a federal prison, if you’re not careful. Lance told me about your attempt to bust this guy. You’ve been warned off. Why are you still in this?”
    “To tell you the truth, I’m getting near the end of my rope. I’m ready to come back to New York.”
    “Call me when you get in. We’ll have dinner, and I’ll straighten you out.” Dino hung up.
    Stone put the phone away and looked up and down the hallway. No sign of Holly. He found a courtroom and peeked inside. It was half full of people, but there was no judge on the bench, yet. Holly was sitting in the back row of seats. He went in and joined her.
    “What’s happening?”
    “Trini and two FBI agents are sitting in the first row, behind the prosecutor’s table,” she said, nodding. “The guy at the table must be Byron Miller.”
    Stone looked at the two men sitting at the table, their backs to him. “If the U.S. Attorney himself is trying a case, then it has to be an important one.”
    A bailiff stood up and shouted the name of a judge, and the crowd stood until he was seated.
    “Mr. Miller, call your next witness,” the judge said.
    Miller stood up and called Trini, then waited while he was sworn and sat down. “Mr. Rodriguez,” he said, “were you, until recently, a member of organized crime?”
    “Yes,” Trini replied. “Until late last year I worked for a family in Florida.”
    “By ‘family’ do you mean a Mafia family?”
    “Yes.”
    “What were your duties?”
    “I arranged loans for applicants and took care of collections.”
    “Loans from the Mafia family?”
    “Yes.”
    “Were these loans made to people who could not obtain them from conventional banks?”
    “Yes.”
    “Were these loans made at very high interest rates?”
    “Yes.”
    “Was this, in fact, an illegal loan sharking company?”
    “Yes, it was.”
    “Did you attend a meeting of organized crime figures on June tenth of last year in Miami, Florida?”
    “Yes, I did,” Trini said.
    “What was the purpose of the meeting?”
    “Some people from New Mexico wanted to get financing for a new racetrack.”
    “Was anyone in this courtroom besides yourself present at this meeting?”
    “Yes.”
    “Could you point out these people?”

    Trini pointed at the defense table. “Those two gentlemen right there.”
    “Let the record show that Mr. Rodriguez is pointing to the two defendants, Roberto and Chico Rivera.” Miller turned back to Trini. “Did the organization you worked for make a loan to the Rivera brothers?”
    “Yes, we did.”
    “In what amount?”
    “Two million dollars.”
    “And what were the funds intended