Stuart Woods - Strategic moves

"All right. When do we start?"

"I have to get your attorney lined up, then I'll call you back."

"All right."

Stone hung up and opened his address book to the page of lawyers' numbers he kept handy. It took him only a moment to settle on Milton Levine. Levine was short, bespectacled, and balding, and he did not look like a corporate legal eagle. He dialed his direct number.

"Who is this; tell me fast."

"It's Stone Barrington, Milt. Shut up and listen."

"I'm listening; talk."

"You know about the hostage situation in that Park Avenue office building?"

"Yeah."

"I'd like you to represent the hostage holder, whose name is Peter Collins." Stone gave him the rundown on Collins's demands and Hank Willard's acceptance of them.

"So you've done everything. What's left for me?"

"Get your ass over to the Seventeenth Precinct on East Fifty-first, listen to the man and represent him. You'll know better than I how to handle it."

"When?"

"Right now."

"Shit. I had a hot date for drinks."

"This shouldn't take more than a couple of hours; push it back to dinner."

"Good thinking. Bye." Levine hung up.

Stone called Peter Collins.

"Hello?"

"Everything okay there?"

"Yes."

"Your attorney's name is Milton Levine. Call him Milt. He doesn't look the part but he's as smart as they come, and he'll do good by you. He's going to meet you at the police station."

"All right."

"Now, we're going to set this in motion. First, the EMTs will come and take the injured man away. Then you lock your gun in your desk or your safe and take the elevator to the garage. Hank Willard will meet you there and escort you to the station. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Remember, as soon as the EMTs have taken the wounded man away, you lock up the gun and leave. The police will come after you've gone and take the hostages out."

"Thank you, Stone. I'm grateful for your help."

"Good luck, Peter."

Stone hung up and called Hank Willard. "We're on," he said. "Collins's attorney is Milton Levine. Go."

"We're going," Willard said. "Thanks for your help." He hung up.

Stone hung up and breathed a sigh of relief.

Stone met Dino at Elaine's. They were on their first drink when Bill Eggers walked in, sat down, and ordered a single-malt scotch.

Stone was surprised to see him. "What're you doing here, Bill?" he asked.

"I'm not here," Eggers said, taking a tug at his drink.

"Okay, how did the meeting go that you didn't have this afternoon with Jack Gunn and Leighton Craft?"

"It went well," Eggers said. "Gunn maintains his innocence and says that Peter Collins is the probable culprit."

"I spoke to Peter Collins this afternoon, and he maintains his innocence, too."

Eggers stared at him. "You spoke to Peter Collins?"

Stone explained his conversations with Collins and the hostage negotiator.

"And everything went according to plan?"

"As far as I know. Dino, what have you heard?"

"I was about to tell you," Dino said. "They got everybody cleared out and took Collins to the One Seven."

"Nobody got hurt?"

"Nobody. Hank Willard stuck to the agreement. The guy who got shot was treated and released; it wasn't a bad wound."

"Who did you get to represent Peter Collins?" Eggers asked.

"Milt Levine."

"Good call," Eggers said. "He's probably one of the few guys around who isn't representing somebody who's involved in this thing as a victim."

"He'll do a good job," Stone said.

"Did Collins lay the blame on anybody?"

"Not to me," Stone replied. "Who are the candidates?"

"Just Gunn and Collins, as far as I know," Eggers said.

"What were your impressions of Jack Gunn at your meeting?" Stone asked.

Eggers shrugged. "Angry, but in control. He says that Collins is the only guy in the firm who could have pulled this off without his knowledge."

Stone's cell phone vibrated; he looked at the screen and saw Milt Levine's name. "Hello?"

"Stone, it's Milt Levine."

"How'd it go?"

"I met with Collins at the One Seven, then he answered every question the police put to him. I bought what he had to say."

"What was the disposition?"

"He'll be arraigned for the shooting and hostage-taking tomorrow morning, and I'll get him bailed out. He hasn't been charged with taking any money."

"Who does Collins think is responsible?"

"He says it's got to be Gunn, possibly with the help of his son."

Stone blinked. "What son?"

"Name of David."

"Hang on," Stone said. He covered the phone and turned to Eggers. "Are you aware that Gunn has a son?"

Eggers frowned. "There was no mention of a son at our meeting."

Stone went back to the phone. "David comes as a surprise to everybody I know," he said.

"Well, he's going to get talked to," Levine said. "I gotta go."

"You still got the hot date?"

"You bet your ass." Levine hung up.

Stone put his phone away. "I don't get it about the son," he said to Eggers. "I was at Gunn's daughter's wedding last night. I sat at the family table and there was no son there and no mention of one."

"It's a mystery," Eggers said.

Stone got back on his phone and called Herbie Fisher.

"Hello?"

"Herbie, it's Stone. How are you?"

"I'm okay," Herbie replied. "Stephanie is pretty upset. She talked to her mother, and she's pretty upset, too. Jack got home in time for dinner, and he's also pretty upset."

"Herbie, I just heard that you have a brother-in-law."

"David? Yeah."

"Where was he at the wedding?"

"He didn't come to the wedding or the reception."

"Was he invited?"

"Yeah, but just between you and me, I'm pretty sure his mother and Stephanie were glad he didn't show up."

"Does he work for Jack?"

"Yeah. He's the number three guy there, after Jack and Peter Collins. Jack says Peter is the guy who did the stealing."

"Herbie, will you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Stone. What do you need?"

"I need to know where David Gunn is, or when anybody in the family last saw him."

"I'll see if I can find out, Stone."

"Be subtle, Herbie; don't upset anybody. Ask Stephanie."

"Hang on, I'll ask her."

"Herbie!" But Herbie had put the phone down. He came back a moment later.

"Stone, Stephanie says David is on vacation down in the islands somewhere."

"She doesn't know where?"

"No."

"Thanks, Herbie." Stone hung up. "David Gunn is on vacation somewhere in the islands."

"Which island?" Eggers asked.

"The daughter doesn't know which one."

Dino spoke up. "Maybe one with an unregulated banking system, with numbered accounts?"

Eggers set his drink down. "I wonder why David's name didn't come up at our meeting," he said.

"Maybe Jack Gunn is in denial about his son," Stone suggested.

"Maybe Jack is in cahoots with his son," Dino said.

"Bill," Stone said, "do you think that's a possibility?"

"I would not hazard a guess," Eggers replied, "but I'm sure going to ask Jack about it in the morning."

"How did you keep Gunn from getting arrested?" Stone asked.

"Before I even met him, Jack ordered a firm of forensic accountants-one approved by the U.S. Attorney-to do an audit of the firm's books. They've already started, and they'll be working twenty-four/seven until they're done. I think that impressed Tiffany Baldwin."

Tiffany Baldwin was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, with whom Stone had once had a brief fling that had been featured in the gossip columns.

"I'm very happy that I'm not representing anybody in this mess," Stone said, "because then I would hate to have to deal with Tiffany."

"Yeah," Dino said, "I remember you dealing with her on Page Six of the Post."