Stuart Woods - Cold Paradise

“I don’t. I’ve always thought it was Paul’s idea to screw the insurance company.”

“It was. Of course, I went along with it, after he’d spent a few months persuading me. Who knew it would end the way it did?”

“Did you love him?”

“Oh, God, did I love him, and for years! It had begun to wear off, though, by the time we hatched the plot. My plan was to take half the money and kiss Paul goodbye.” She smiled. “That’s when I fell into your bed.”

“As I recall, it was your bed, but it hardly matters. I had just had the shock of my girl running off with somebody else, so I was easy.”

“Yes, you were,” she said, her voice low. “Maybe, now that I’m going to be legal again, we could see something of each other.”

Stone shook his head. “For the moment, all I can do is represent you in trying to put things right with the insurance company. If I spend any more time with you than that, then I’m a part of a criminal conspiracy.”

“But once I’m legal again…”

“That’s different.”

“I mean, I don’t want to start using my old name again, or anything like that. I just want to know that I can cross a border without popping up in some computer.”

“Not much chance of that, since you’re supposed to be dead.”

“I still have my old passport. I used it, until I married Winston, then I used my old birth certificate to get a new one.”

“Did he know about your past?”

She shook her head. “Not the bad part. I reinvented my life without Paul Manning, and he believed me. He was a dear soul. He never doubted me.”

“Well, I think you’re right to want to settle this thing with the insurance company. How high will you go?”

She looked thoughtful. “Five million?”

“I should think they’d be delighted to get that much back. They wrote off the money a long time ago. Can you afford it?”

“Oh, yes. I still had ten million when I met Winston, and he had a considerable estate. Also, the market has been very kind to me.”

“You’d need to square things with the IRS.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, maybe file an amended return. Get a good accountant and let him handle it. It’s worth the money to be righteous again.”

“Yes, I suppose it is.”

“Well, Allison… I’m sorry, what do you call yourself these days?”

“Elizabeth.”

“That’s nice. I…” Stone stopped. No, it couldn’t be.

“I’ve had to be so wary all the time. Only last weekend, I met the most interesting man, but he’s apparently pretty well known, and I just didn’t want to get into anything like that until I had my life in order, so I got all nervous and just walked away from him.”

Yes, it could be. “And where were you last weekend?”

“In Easthampton.”

“Did you dine at Jerry Delia Femina’s?”

Her jaw dropped. “How could you know that?”

“You’re Liz,” he said.

“You know Thad, what’s his name?”

“Shames.”

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

“Not if I can square things with the insurance company.” Stone got out his cell phone and notebook and dialed a number. “This is Stone Barrington. Is he available?”

“Who are you calling?” she asked.

“Yes, tell him it’s important.”

Shames came onto the line. “Stone? Anything to report?”

“There’s someone here who’d like to speak with you,” Stone said. He handed the phone to Liz.

She took it, baffled. “Hello? Yes, this is Liz. Oh, it’s you! We were just talking about you. Well, yes, I’d like to see you again. Saturday? I believe I’m free. All right, I’ll look forward to seeing you then.” She handed the phone back to Stone.

“Stone, bring her to the party on Saturday night, aboard Toscana. Seven o’clock.”

“All right.”

“See you then. Gotta run.”

Stone returned the cell phone to his pocket.

“So, you’re a matchmaker, as well?”

“Glad to be of service.”

“He is well known, isn’t he?”

“Yes, in the worlds of computer software and Wall Street, he’s something of a celebrity.”

“I don’t know about these things. I never read the Wall Street Journal.”

“Neither do I.”

She frowned.

“Anything wrong?”

“There is something else.”

“What’s that?”

“Paul Manning.”

“He’s dead.”

She shook her head. “No, he’s not.”

“But he went back to St. Marks and was…” Stone stopped. “You bought him out, didn’t you?”

She nodded sheepishly. “I called Sir Leslie, the barrister, remember?”

“Oh, yes. How much did it cost you?”

“Half a million.”

“You got a volume discount?”

“Stone, I couldn’t just let him be hanged.”

“Why not? He’s a triple murderer. And, when he thought you were going to be executed, he didn’t lift a hand to save you from the gallows.”

“That’s true, of course, but still…”

A terrible thought struck Stone. “Please tell me Paul doesn’t know you’re alive.”

She slumped. “I’m afraid he does. Sir Leslie let it slip.”

“Good God. Where is Paul?”

“I don’t know, but he was in Easthampton last weekend.”

“You saw him?”

“I was in a shop on Sunday afternoon, and he passed by in the street.”

“You’re sure it was Paul?”

“Absolutely sure. He’s kept all that weight off, and he’s had a nose job, but I recognized him just by the way he walked.”

“Did he see you?”

“No. I mean, I don’t think so. Still, I got the hell out of the Hamptons, and as soon as I got to Palm Beach, I changed my hair color. What can I do about this, Stone?”

“It’s the money he wants, isn’t it? You could try buying him off.”

“Will you deal with that for me?”

“Well, there are two problems with that. First, I don’t know where to find him. Second, the last time he saw me, he wanted to kill me, and since I got him arrested, imprisoned and nearly hanged in St. Marks, I doubt if he feels any more kindly toward me. In fact, it makes me nervous just knowing he’s out there somewhere.”

“Apparently, he wants to kill me, too,” she said. “At least, that’s what he told Sir Leslie.”

“Grateful, isn’t he?”

“Stone, what am I going to do?”

“Well, Allison-excuse me, Liz -since we don’t know how to find him, I suppose we’re going to have to wait for him to find you.”

She nodded. “Or you.”

After lunch, when Allison, now Liz, had left him, Stone took a drive around Palm Beach before returning to the yacht. He thought about Paul Manning and how he would not like to renew his acquaintance with the man. During his career as a police officer, Stone had known a number of people who would have preferred to see him dead, rather than alive, but all of them were either dead themselves, or safely locked away in prison. Except Paul Manning. He flipped open his cell phone and dialed his office number.

“Stone Barrington’s office,” Joan said.

“Hi, it’s me.”

“Hi. How’s Palm Beach?”

“Sunny and warm.”

“Oh, shit.”

Stone laughed. “Joan, have you told anyone I’m in Palm Beach?”

“No,” she said.

“Has anybody inquired about my whereabouts?”

“I don’t think anybody cares,” she said archly.

“Thanks. Will you check my old files for one on the Boston Mutual Insurance Company. There’s an investigator there I’d like to speak to, and I can’t remember his name.”

“You want to hold? I’ve got most of that stuff scanned into the computer.”