Unintended Consequences

handed him a Knob Creek. “Would you like to join the Bacchettis and me for dinner this evening?”
    “Thank you, Stone, but I’m tired, and I’d just like for Helene to give me some dinner and put me to bed.”
    “That is easily arranged,” Stone said. “I heard some good news for you this afternoon.”
    “I can always use good news.”
    “Turns out you’re not the target of all this attention from our Russian friends. I am.”
    “Oh, how nice for me!”
    “Lance Cabot has given me my own transportation, and they’d like for you and me to travel separately. The Bentley is yours and Helga’s for the duration.”
    “Fine. Where is she?”
    “Right here,” Helga said from the doorway. “There’s a Black Maria parked in front of the house. Is someone being arrested?”
    Stone laughed. “That’s how I’ll be traveling for a while. We’re joining the Bacchettis for dinner, picking them up at eight, so after I get a drink into you, can you be ready to leave at seven forty-five?”
    “That sounds awfully exact,” she said, accepting the drink.
    “It was meant to. Dino and I are accustomed to being punctual with each other, unless his work gets in the way.”
    “Then I will make the effort,” she said, setting down a Chanel shopping bag and sitting next to Marcel on the sofa.
    “I spent the afternoon with your masters from the Agency,” Stone said. “I should warn you that traveling around town with me may put you in a certain amount of danger.”
    “Then I shall be well armed,” she said.
    They finished their drinks and Marcel went to find Helene.
    Stone fixed them another drink. “One of the things I learned this afternoon is that I’m the target, instead of Marcel. The Russians want The Arrington, and they’re willing to wait until I’m dead before going after Marcel.”
    “That’s very interesting,” Helga replied.
    “I also learned that Aldo was waiting in your suite to kill me, not for amorous purposes. Of course, he would have to have killed you, too.”
    “Then I’m still glad I shot him,” she said. “It’s just more satisfying now. I would take grave exception, and I mean
grave
, to anyone who meant you harm.”
    “That makes me feel warm all over,” Stone said.
    “Are we quite alone?” Helga asked.
    “Yes, why?”
    “Because I feel a sudden urge to have sex in a leather armchair.” She stood up and began peeling off her clothes, then she pulled Stone to his feet and undressed him.
    The armchair accommodated them both quite nicely.
    At eight o’clock sharp, Stanley opened the van’s sliding door and admitted the Bacchettis.
    Dino looked around him. “What is this beast?”
    “An M1 tank disguised as a land yacht,” Stone said.
    Viv looked around her. “This is more like the interior of a corporate jet than a van,” she said.
    “A good comparison,” Stone said. “It’s how I’m traveling these days, until the Agency has corralled the Russians.”
    “Can we expect to be shot at?” Viv asked.
    “At the very least,” Stone replied.
    “Oh, good.” She removed a 9mm pistol from a shoulder holster, inspected the magazine, and found it full. She pumped a round into the chamber, then returned the weapon to its holster.
    “I don’t have to check mine,” Dino said. “It’s never been unloaded, except through the barrel.” They pulled to a stop in front of Patroon. “Sit tight for a moment,” Stone said to his guests. “Stanley has to case the joint before we can expose ourselves.”
    A moment later, the door slid open, and Stanley assisted the ladies out. “How long?” he asked Stone.
    “A couple of hours,” Stone replied.
    “Then we’ll park the van, and I’ll be inside with you.”
    “Whatever makes you comfortable, Stanley. By the way, three of us are armed.”
    “Please don’t shoot me,” Stanley said.

47
    T hey dined well and sipped an after-dinner brandy while Dino complained about his new job.
    “I have to go to three or four meetings every day,” he said.
    “You’ve been to meetings before,” Stone said.
    “Not three or four a day. I can’t stay awake, so I have to drink coffee before every meeting, and that means I have trouble getting to sleep at night.”
    “Clearly, the job is ruining your health,” Stone said.
    “All right, Dino,” Viv said, “we all know you hate your job, so you can shut up and listen—I have news.”
    “Tell us,” Stone said. “Is Dino pregnant?”
    “Better than that,” Viv said. “I