Stone Barrington 06-11

reason.”
    “I am not reasonable,” Garcia said. “I will require five thousand dollars for my services, half now and half when you see Cordova.”
    “I don’t have twenty-five hundred dollars on me,” Stone said. “I can give you a thousand now and the rest in cash when we meet Cordova.”
    Garcia nodded gravely. “For a friend of Rick’s that is agreeable.”
    Stone took a stack of ten one-hundred-dollar bills from his pocket, folded them and slipped them under Garcia’s napkin. “When?”
    “Within a week or so, I think,” Garcia replied, pocketing the money.
    “You have my number.”
    Garcia suddenly looked at his wristwatch. “Oh, I have to run,” he said, standing up. “I will be in touch.” He turned and walked back into the hotel without another word.
    Stone finished his lunch and paid the check.

Twenty-nine

    A S STONE WALKED BACK INTO THE CALDER BUNGALOW at Centurion, he could see Betty in her office, leaning back in her chair and waving the phone. “It’s Joan Robertson, in New York,” she called out.
    Stone went to Vance’s office, picked up the phone, and spoke to his secretary. “What’s up?” he asked.
    “Oh, Stone, I’m so glad I got you,” Joan said breathlessly. “Water is coming down the stairs.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean that the main stairs of the house look like a tributary of the Hudson River. It’s been raining hard here for three days.”
    “Oh, shit,” Stone said. When he had inherited the house, the roof had seemed the one thing that didn’t need renovating. It was old, but it was of slate, which could last a hundred years or more. Now it occurred to Stone that the house was over a hundred years old, and so was the roof. “Here’s what you do,” he said. “Call a guy named Billy Foote; he’s in my phone book. Billy was my helper when I was renovating the house, and he can do almost anything. Tell him to buy a whole lot of plastic sheeting and to get up on the roof and tack it down everywhere. That’ll stop the worst of it.”
    “Okay, then what?” Joan asked sensibly.
    Stone realized he didn’t know a roofer, let alone one qualified to tackle a slate roof. “Let me think for a minute,” he said.
    “Listen, Stone, I think you ought to get back here. There are clients you need to see, instead of just talking on the phone, and there’s going to be damage to the house as a result of all the water coming in. Please come back.”
    Stone knew she was right. “I’ll be home as soon as humanly possible,” he said. “Call Billy, and tell him to hire whatever help he can and to start asking around about roofers who can deal with slate.”
    “All right,” she said, then hung up.
    Stone buzzed Betty.
    “Yes?”
    “Get me on the red-eye,” he said. “I’ve got to go back to New York for a few days.”
    “Right; you want a car to meet you at the airport?”
    “Good idea. I’m going over to Arrington’s; you can reach me there, if you need me.”
    “Okay.”
    Stone packed his bags and loaded them into Vance’s car.
    Betty came out of the bungalow. “When are you coming back?” Betty asked.
    “As soon as I can,” Stone replied, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
    “Stone, I think I’m going to be getting out of here pretty soon. Do you think you’ll need me much longer?”
    “I’d appreciate it if you’d hang around at least until I get back from New York.”
    “Don’t worry, I’ll clean up Vance’s affairs for you, and I’ll find somebody to do the job for Arrington when I’m gone. Now you get back to New York, and I’ll see you when I see you.” She gave him a sharp slap on the rump to send him on his way, and went back to her office.

    All the way to Arrington’s he thought about his house, how he loved it, and what must be happening to it. He called Joan on the car phone.
    “Yes, Stone?”
    “You’d better call Chubb Insurance and have them get somebody over there in a hurry. Tell them I need a recommendation for a roofer.”
    “Will do.”
    He entered the Calder property through the utility entrance, as had become his habit. Arrington heard the car pull up and met him at the back door.
    She slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I missed you,” she said.
    “How are you?”
    “Bored rigid, as a matter of fact.” She kissed him again. “And randy.”
    “Now, now, now, now …” Stone said, holding her away from him. “We can’t allow ourselves to think that way, you know