Stone Barrington 06-11

been taken away, “your father came to see me this afternoon.”
    “He did?” she asked, surprised. “Where?”
    “At my house.”
    “That’s interesting,” she said. “He doesn’t do much calling on people. What did he want?”
    “To know my intentions toward Arrington and Dolce.”
    “Is that all? What did you tell him?”
    “That I don’t know what my intentions are toward Arrington, but that Dolce and I are not getting married.”
    “That wasn’t what he wanted to hear, I’m sure.”
    “I know, but I had to be honest with him.”
    “That’s always the best policy with Papa.”
    “When he left, he said something that scared me a little.”
    Dino spoke up. “That’s what he does best.”
    “What did he say?” Mary Ann asked.
    “He said Dolce is ill, and that she might be dangerous.”
    “Oh,” Mary Ann said quietly.
    “What did he mean by that?”
    Mary Ann didn’t seem to be able to look at him.
    “I think Stone needs to know, honey,” Dino said. “Answer his question.”
    Mary Ann sighed. “When Dolce doesn’t get what she wants, she … reacts badly.”
    “Now, there’s news,” Dino snorted.
    “Exactly how does she react badly?” Stone asked.
    “She, ah, breaks things,” Mary Ann said slowly. “People, too.”
    “Go on.”
    “When she was, I guess, six, Papa gave her a puppy. She tried to train it, but it wouldn’t do what she told it to. It was like she expected it to understand complete sentences, you know? Well, she … I don’t want to say what she did.”
    “She broke the puppy?” Dino asked.
    “Sort of,” Mary Ann replied. Her face made it clear she wasn’t going to say any more.
    “I think she’s been stalking me,” Stone said.
    “What?” Mary Ann said.
    “She’s shown up in a couple of places where I was. Unexpectedly, you might say. She registered at the Bel-Air as Mrs. Stone Barrington. She was on my flight home last night.”
    “Oh, shit,” Dino breathed.
    “I thought about trying to talk to her again, but I don’t even want to be in the same room with her.”
    “That’s a good policy,” Dino said.
    “I don’t know what to do,” Stone admitted.
    “I’d watch my back, if I were you,” Dino said. “Remember what happened to the husband …”
    “Oh, shut up, Dino,” Mary Ann spat. “She’s my sister; don’t talk that way about her.”
    “I’m sorry, hon, but Stone’s in a jam, here, and we’ve got to help him figure this out.”
    “Well, you’re not helping by … what you’re saying.”
    “Are you carrying?” Dino asked.
    “Dino!” his wife nearly shouted.
    “It wouldn’t surprise me if Dolce is,” Dino continued, ignoring her.
    “No, I’m not,” Stone said. “I don’t think it’s come to that.”
    “Listen, Stone,” Dino said. “At the point when it comes to that, it’s going to be too late to go home and get a piece.”
    Their waiter stepped up with a dessert tray.
    “Nothing for me,” Stone said.
    “I’ll have the cheesecake,” Dino said.
    “Nothing for him,” Mary Ann said, pointing a thumb at her husband. “Especially not the cheesecake.”
    Dino sighed.
    “Nothing for anybody,” Mary Ann said to the waiter.
    They got a check, and declined the offer of an after-dinner drink from Elaine. Dino grabbed the check and signed it, before Stone could react.
    “That’s completely out of character, Dino,” Stone said, chuckling.
    “Who knows how many more opportunities I’ll have,” Dino replied, getting an elbow in the ribs from Mary Ann for his trouble.
    They made their farewells to Elaine and started out of the restaurant. As they shuffled toward the door, Stone felt Dino slip something fairly heavy into his coat pocket.
    “Don’t leave home without it,” Dino whispered.

Thirty-two

    S TONE REACHED INTO HIS COAT POCKET, TOOK OUT THE pistol, and placed it on the bedside table. It was a little .32 automatic, not a service weapon, but the kind of small gun a cop might keep in an ankle holster, as a backup.
    He undressed, got into bed, and tried to watch the late news, but finally turned it off. He was still groggy from the sleep upset of taking the red-eye, and the conversation at dinner had depressed him.
    He drifted off immediately and fell into a deep sleep. He dreamed, and something was out of place in his dream—a high-pitched squeal, as if from a great distance. Then the squeal stopped.
    Stone sat straight up in bed, wide awake. The squeal was the sound the security system made to