Stone Barrington 06-11

talk about Lansing in the most glowing terms.”
    “So Vance trusted him.”
    “Implicitly.”
    “Is he your doctor?”
    “For anything up to and including a skinned knee. I’ve got a gynecologist who gets most of my business. I’m a healthy girl; I’ve never really been sick with anything worse than the flu.”
    “I’m glad to hear it.”
    “As a matter of fact, I’m feeling particularly healthy tonight. You don’t have to be anywhere, do you?”
    “I’m happy where I am,” he replied.
    She stood up, took him by the hand, and led him into the house and toward her bedroom. Once there, she unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor.
    “Promise you won’t ruin my health,” he said.
    “Sugar,” she replied, working on his buttons, “I’m not making any such promise.”
    “Be gentle,” he said.
    “Maybe,” she replied, leading him toward the bed, and not by the hand.

Fifty-one

    S TONE MADE IT BACK TO THE CENTURION BUNGALOW, tired but happy, around ten A.M. Louise was at her desk, and she handed him a message from Brandy Garcia.
    “He works from an answering machine,” Stone said to the secretary. “Call and leave a message that he can reach me now.”
    “Dino Bacchetti called, too. He said you have the number.”
    “Right, I’ll call him.” Stone shaved and changed into fresh clothes, then went into the study. He was about to call Dino when Louise buzzed him.
    “Brandy Garcia on line one.”
    Stone picked up the phone. “Hello?”
    Garcia wasted no time on pleasantries. “I thought you should know that our mutual acquaintance from Tijuana is back in town.”
    “What?”
    “Apparently, his sister—the one he lived with when he was here—is sick, and he’s taking care of her kids.”
    “I thought you told him to lose himself.”
    “I did, my friend, but I can’t follow him all over Mexico to make sure he stays down there.”
    “Do you have a number for his sister’s house?”
    “Got a pencil?”
    “Shoot.” Stone jotted down the number. “Call him and tell him to keep his head down.”
    “Will do, Chief.” Garcia hung up.
    Stone sighed. It was bad enough that Beverly Walters was going to testify, but if Cordova appeared in court, he might lend credence to her story. He called Marc Blumberg.
    “Morning, Stone. Where’d you sleep last night?”
    “None of your business,” Stone replied.
    Blumberg laughed. “You seemed to be hanging back when everybody else was leaving.”
    “We had dinner, and that’s all you need to know.”
    “Okay, okay, what’s up?”
    “Our friend Cordova has turned up in L.A. again.”
    “That’s bad,” Blumberg replied. “I filed a motion to dismiss this morning. I hope we can get a hearing scheduled before the police find him.”
    “The one thing we’ve got going for us is that the police aren’t looking for Cordova, although he doesn’t know that.”
    “Do you know where to find him?”
    “Yes. I can get a message to him if the police suddenly get interested.”
    “You want to prep Arrington, or shall I?”
    “You’d better do it; she’s not speaking to me at the moment.”
    “Oh? What went wrong?”
    “It’s too complicated to go into. Let’s just say that she got angry about something she didn’t have a good reason to be angry about.”
    “Stone, you are the only man I know whose relations with women are more complicated than mine.”
    “That’s not how I planned it, believe me. Will you call Arrington?”
    “Okay, whatever you say.”
    “How are you planning to handle Beverly Walters?”
    “I’m planning to shred her on the stand.”
    “She may have been sleeping with Vance; I’m still working on finding out.”
    “Even if she wasn’t, I think I’ll ask her anyway. Several times, maybe. Anything we can do to damage her credibility puts us one step closer to getting Arrington out of this.”
    “I think you’re right. Let me make another call to see if I can find out more.”
    “Let me know when you do.”
    “See you later.” Stone hung up and buzzed Louise. “What time is it in Hawaii?” he asked.
    “Three or four hours earlier than here, I think.”
    “You’ve got Betty Southard’s hotel number, haven’t you?”
    “She’s moved to a rented cottage, and I have the number.”
    “Go ahead and get her on the phone, and let’s hope she’s an early riser.”
    “I’ll buzz you.”
    Stone sat thinking about Beverly Walters and Felipe Cordova and what they could mean to the charges