Stuart Woods - Two-Dollar Bill

"Come on, but stay as far under the stands as you can," Stone said. They kept low and ran toward the Mercedes.

Stone could see the rear end of his car, now, and he saw the brake lights of the Navigator come on, then the reversing lights. "Go for it!"

Stone yelled, and he sprinted, leaving Arrington behind. "Make for the car!" he yelled over his shoulder.

He made the car, but the Navigator was reversing toward them, and he had no time to get inside. Dino arrived at the car, and Arrington was close behind.

"You left me!" she said.

"One of us had to get here," Stone said.

Dino was on the ground, looking under the car. "It's too low," he said. "I can't get under it."

"Keep the car between us and the Navigator," Stone said. "It's good protection."

The Navigator stopped, the two front doors opened and the two men with shotguns got out, looking around.

"Arrington," Stone whispered, "stay close to me." He looked around, but Arrington was gone. Dino was huddled close, on his other side. "Where's Arrington?" Stone asked.

"She was right here," Dino whispered back. "Here come the shotguns."

"They're behind the car," one of the men shouted, and the two brought the shotguns to their shoulders.

"What are you waiting for?" Dino asked. "Shoot somebody!"

"They're too far away," Stone said.

"You're just chickenshit! You just don't want to shoot somebody!"

"Give it a moment," Stone said. He heard a shotgun being racked. He looked up, and one of the men was ten feet away. Stone took his shot. The side of the man's head exploded, and he went down. As Stone ducked, he heard a shotgun go off and the sound of pellets striking his car.

"One down, one to go," Dino said.

"If I stick my head up again, he'll blow it off."

"Come out from behind the car," the man yelled.

A millisecond after he yelled, Stone heard a gunshot, and the man cried out in pain. He stuck his head up, and the man was gone. He stood up further and saw him on the ground, holding onto a bleeding foot.

The man saw him, too, and brought the shotgun around.

Stone fired, striking him in the shoulder, but he was still trying to aim. Another shot exploded, and the man stopped moving.

Stone looked under the car. "Arrington?"

"Did I get him?" she asked.

"You did. Stay where you are, and throw Dino a gun." Stone began to run toward the Navigator. He could see nothing through the darkened windows, but if one rolled down, he was going to start shooting.

The Navigator roared away, and Stone fired twice at it. The rear window shattered, but the second shot went astray. Stone turned and walked back toward his car, spent.

Dino was pulling Arrington from under the car. She stood up, and they all looked at each other, dirty and skint, and they began laughing.

"Okay," Dino said, finally, "it's time for the cops. Fuck Lance."

"Right," Stone said. There was, after all, the matter of the two dead men with shotguns.

STONE TRIED LANCE'S radio but got no answer. He got the car started and headed back for the Triborough Bridge, while dialing Lance's cell phone. No answer, so Stone left a message.

"Lance, it's over; Dino and I are out, and we've got Arrington. We're headed back to my house. There are two dead men back at Field One Twenty-one, and Dino has put out an APB for a silver Lincoln Navigator with no rear window, probably driven by Billy Bob. Call me." He hung up.

"Where's Billy Bob headed?" Dino asked.

"I don't know. Maybe to Martin Block's building in Queens. Lance has that covered. To tell you the truth, I don't really give a damn. We've got Arrington back; that's all that matters."

"Now you're talking," Arrington said.

"And what was all this in aid of?"

"Billy Bob wants to kill me."

"So, why didn't he?"

"Beats me, but I'm not going to quarrel with the fact."

"He was planning to," Arrington said. "It was about some fellow with a German name?"

"Mitteldorfer," Stone said.

"Not a friend of either of us," Dino chipped in.

"They were in prison together," Arrington said. "Until Billy Bob escaped."

"Jesus, yet another crime of his," Stone said.

"That means the whole world of law enforcement wants him," Dino replied.

"I couldn't care less, not anymore," Stone said.

"So you don't care about Billy Bob anymore?" Dino asked. "You don't want him?"

"Let Lance worry about Billy Bob; I'm done with him."

"Maybe he isn't done with you, did you think about that?"

"He'd be a fool to keep trying to kill me," Stone said. "He's got to worry about surviving, now. Anyway, Lance is going to scoop him up in Queens."

"You hope."

"I hope? Why are you being such a pessimist?"

"So far, when it comes to Billy Bob, I haven't found anything to be optimistic about."

Stone hit the remote-control button and swung into his garage, closing the door behind him.

"Where's Peter?" Arrington asked as they got out of the car.

"He's in the kitchen with McGonigle and Corey."

"Where's his nanny?"

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but she was a victim of Billy Bob or his people."

Arrington put her face in her hands. "She was a sweet girl; God, I hope this is over."

"I hope so, too."

Arrington started running. "I want to see Peter," she said.

"I promised to take him to the Central Park Zoo," Stone yelled after her. He went into his office to let Joan know he was back and to try to call Lance again. Dino went with him.

Joan was at her desk. '"Morning," she said.

"I'm back. Will you get me Lance Cabot on his cell phone?''

"Sure."

Stone heard the scream from his office. He and Dino started running toward the kitchen. When they came into the room Arrington was still screaming, as much in anger as in fear. McGonigle lay on his face in a pool of blood. Stone checked for a pulse and found none. Corey was on the other side of the kitchen table, lying on her back, with a bad-looking chest wound. Dino was bent over her.

"She's still alive," he said. He got on his phone and called for help.

Arrington had stopped screaming, but she was pointing at the kitchen table. On its top, someone had written, apparently in Corey's blood, "IT'S NOT OVER."

Stone took Arrington in his arms. "We're going to fix this," he said. "We're going to find Peter."

Joan buzzed him. "I've got Lance on the phone."

Stone picked up the extension. "Where are you?"

"Sitting on Block's place in Queens."

"We just got back to my house: McGonigle is dead, and Corey is in bad shape with a gunshot wound to the chest. Peter has been taken."

"I'll be there as fast as I can," Lance said.

"Don't take Block's building; Billy Bob may go there with Peter."

"I got your message about the APB. That may not be helpful."

"Why?"

But Lance had hung up.

THE PARAMEDICS had left with Corey and sedated Arrington by the time Lance arrived, and the coroner and a team of detectives were dealing with McGonigle's body and the crime scene in the kitchen. Stone had put Arrington to bed, and he and Dino were sitting in his study when Lance came upstairs.

"I saw McGonigle," Lance said. "Where have they taken Corey?"

"To Bellevue," Stone replied.

Lance called somebody on his cell phone. "Corey is at Bellevue Hospital with a chest wound," he said. "Find the best thoracic surgeon in New York, kidnap him, if you have to, and get him to her immediately." He snapped the phone shut. "All right, Stone," he said, "why did you call the cops?"

"Lance," Dino said, " I called the cops. I am the cops. You blew catching Billy Bob, and we now have a trail of dead bodies that can't be ignored. This is obviously bigger than your resources, and we needed an APB to find the Navigator."