Stone Barrington 06-11

far away from Washington as he could, as quickly as he could.
    Fifteen minutes later he was in Bridgewater, and he switched on his cell phone. The signal was weak, but he finally found a part of the road where it was stronger, where he pulled over and called Dino’s cell phone.
    “Bacchetti.”

    “It’s Stone.”
    “Okay, I finally got hold of the parole officer, at home. Rocco Bocca is living at his sister’s house in Queens, and I’ve got two guys watching it. There are two cars in the driveway, so he might be home.”
    “Do this,” Stone said. “Have the detectives knock on the door and ask to see him. Tell him, or whoever’s there, that they’re checking his alibi for a burglary that fits his MO. At least we’ll know whether he’s home.”
    “Okay. You on your cell?”
    “Yes, I got away from the group.”
    “What about Peter?”
    “He’ll be fine with them; he likes the female agent.”
    “Are you coming back to the city?”
    “Yes, but I don’t want to go home; somebody might be watching.”
    “My place?”
    “No. Are you at home?”
    “On the way.”
    “Don’t go there. Go to the Carlyle and get a room, under the name of Bocca. I’ll come there.”
    “Okay; I’ll go there now.”
    Stone hung up the phone, which rang immediately. That would be Lance. They would have missed him by now. He didn’t answer.
    He headed toward the city, staying off the interstate. It would take him longer, but he would be harder to spot. He felt better now, though there was not much reason to. At least he was doing something.

43
    STONE’S CELL PHONE continued to ring, and finally, he switched it off. He entered the city from the East Side and drove to the Carlyle, parking in their garage. From the lobby, he asked for Mr. Bocca’s room, and called Dino for the room number.
    Dino let him into a very nice suite. “The manager is doing me a favor,” he said. “You had dinner?”
    “Half a slice of pizza, two hours ago. What’s happening?”
    “Bocca is at his sister’s house, and the two detectives are sitting on him. They did the number about his alibi, told him he was clear and left. He’s none the wiser. You may as well order some dinner.”
    Stone got the room service menu and ordered a steak and half a bottle of wine, while Dino poured him a bourbon from the wet bar. Then Stone called his home number and checked for messages.
    “Hey, Stone,” Billy Bob’s voice said. “I’m ready to meet you now. What we’re going to do is set up an exchange of Arrington for you. She’s a pain in the ass, you know? Yeah, you know. I want to get rid of her, so I’m going to set up something for tomorrow afternoon around three. I’ll call your cell phone number, and you’d better answer it, if you want to see her again. I’ll give you instructions then. You get one shot at getting her back, and one shot only, so you’d better make it work. If you get the cops involved, or your CIA buddies, then people will die, among them Arrington and you. You dream about that tonight, and I’ll call you midafternoon tomorrow.” He erased the message and hung up.
    “That was Billy Bob,” he said, and he repeated the message to Dino.
    “When we get the instructions, we’ll set something up,” Dino said.
    “It’s going to be tough. Lance has probably heard the message, too, and he’ll be all over us, if he finds out where we are.”
    “Some of his people were following me; I told him to hold them off, that my guys could take care of it, and I think he did. I made sure I wasn’t followed here.”
    Stone’s steak came, and he ate it hungrily, not having had much food for twenty-four hours. Then he stretched out on one of the beds and took a nap.
    DINO SHOOK HIM AWAKE. “Bocca’s on the move,” he said.
    “What time is it?”
    “A little after one A . M . I’m on the cell phone with my guys. He’s headed toward the Fifty-ninth Street Bridge.”
    “So Billy Bob is in Manhattan?”
    “He may be on his way to New Jersey, for all we know,” Dino said. “Let’s just sit tight until we know more.”
    “Let’s sit tight in your car,” Stone said. “We might have to move fast when we learn more.”
    Dino spoke into his cell phone. “I’m going to my car. Call me in five minutes and let me know where you are.”
    Stone and Dino went downstairs to where Dino’s car was waiting at the Seventy-sixth Street entrance to the hotel. They got into the backseat, and Dino told his driver to start the car.