Stone Barrington 27 - Doing Hard Time

into a terry robe. Ignoring him, she turned to go.
    “As long as you’re decent, you may as well join me for a drink,” Stone said.
    She stopped and turned toward him “Oh, now I understand. You’re Arrington Barrington’s husband.”
    “Widower,” Stone corrected her.
    “All right,” she said, and began to walk around the pool toward him. “I’ll have a piña colada.”
    Stone picked up the phone beside him and said, “Two piña coladas,” then hung up and rose to greet her, offering his hand. “And your name?”
    “Emma Tweed,” she said, and her accent was British.
    “Please sit down. Your drink will be here shortly. What brings you to The Arrington, Emma?” he asked. “And all the way from London?”
    “I was tired of the London winter, and I was reliably informed that this is now the best hotel in the United States.”
    “I like to think of it as the best hotel in the world,” Stone said, “but thank you.”
    “How modest,” she said. “One would think that you had invented the place.”
    “Well, it was my idea, but a large group of talented people invented it. I just offered guidelines.”
    The butler appeared with their drinks on a silver tray and served them, then vanished.
    She raised her glass. “To your guidelines,” she said.
    “Tell me, why are you able to leave London at the drop of a hat? Do you not have to earn a living?”
    “I earn a very nice living as a fashion designer,” she said, “but since I own my company, I am able to come and go as I please. Actually, I can work anywhere. You might say my work is portable.”
    “How nice for you. What do you design?”
    “Everything from underwear to clothes to home furnishings. By the way, I’m not really trespassing: I’m staying right over there.” She pointed at a house mostly screened by plantings.
    “Ah, yes, that was Vance Calder’s guesthouse. I stayed there a couple of times when he was alive. This was his pool, too, so it’s easy to understand how you could think it belonged to your quarters. How long have you been here?”
    “Since yesterday.”
    “And what do you think of The Arrington so far?”
    “I cannot fault it on any count,” she replied. “It is everything I was told it would be.”
    “I’m pleased that you are pleased.”
    “How is it that you are able to drop everything and come to Los Angeles? You’re a New Yorker, aren’t you?”
    “Yes, and I’m an attorney there. The hotel is one of my clients, and I serve on its board, so you might say this is a business trip—at least, that’s what I would say if I thought you were an agent of the Internal Revenue Service.”
    She smiled for the first time. “That’s something like what I’ll be saying to our Inland Revenue in the UK,” she said. She drained her glass. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m due at the spa for a little work.” She stood up.
    Stone stood, too. “Would you like to join some friends and me for dinner here this evening?”
    “Thank you, that sounds very nice. What time?”
    “Drinks at seven,” Stone replied.
    “See you then,” she said, then turned and sauntered down the path toward her accommodations.
    “It was my pleasure, believe me,” Stone called after her.
    She seemed to laugh, then, without turning around, gave him a little wave.
    “Wear something you designed,” he called out to her disappearing back. She gave the little wave again.
    Stone went back into the house, and the butler materialized. “Mr. Barrington, your son just called but said not to disturb you. He’s stopping overnight in New Mexico to get a tire changed, and he will be a couple of more days before arriving.”
    “Thank you,” Stone said. “We’ll be four for dinner, then.”
Unless I can get rid of Dino and Mike
, he thought.

It was nearly six o’clock, and Teddy was about ready to close up and go to Sally’s for dinner, when a black Lincoln Navigator with blackened windows came to a stop beside the gas pumps. He walked out to the car and stood by the driver’s window, which was impenetrable to his gaze. He rapped on the window with a knuckle. “Can I help you?” he shouted.
    The window slid down. The first thing Teddy saw was a GPS antenna stuck to the inside of the windshield and a screen mounted on the dashboard. “You can fill this tank,” the man said. “With the premium.” He was large, bald, and his companion in the front passenger seat was on the beefy side, too.
    “Yessir,” Teddy said, and as he