Стюарт Вудс - Wild Card

“How are you handling the road?”

“It’s wearing,” she said. “I don’t care how good the food is. You may find a little more of me to grab hold of when I get back.”

“I won’t complain.”

“How about some phone sex?” she asked.

“I’ll wait for the real thing.”

“You just want me super-horny when I get home,” she replied.

“That’s a nice thought.” He brought her up to date on the day’s events.

“How many people is that staying at your house?”

“I’ve lost count. Two of them are moving into a police safe house tomorrow, that’s a start.”

“When I get home, can we go somewhere?”

“I thought you were homesick.”

“I’ll get over it. Didn’t you say you have a house in L.A.?”

“I do.”

“That might be fun.”

“It would be. Let’s see where this whole business goes before we make travel plans.”

“Oh, okay. Well, if there’s no phone sex in the offing, I’m going to sleep.”

“Do it well.” They hung up.

The following morning Stone woke later than usual. When he got to his office, Joan announced that Elise and her mother had just left, under the care of Fred.

“I’m moving Mrs. Doubtfire to Elise’s room,” she said.

“Don’t call her that, or I’ll start doing it.”

“I’ve already called her that, and she loved it. First time I’ve seen her smile. She was going to sleep on a cot in Sherry’s room, but Sherry drew the line there.”

“I haven’t been up to see her yet. How’s she doing?”

“Sitting up in a chair and talking a blue streak. She’s happiest when Bob is there.”

“I expect he’s happier, too.”

Rance Damien went into Henry’s office and found Hank already there. “I’ve got some bad news,” he said in Sicilian.

“Now what?” Henry asked.

“I became suspicious of Elise, so I had her apartment wired yesterday. She came home from work, but apparently went out after that.”

“So what’s the bad news?” Hank asked.

“Her mother called and left a message — in Sicilian.”

The Thomases let that sink in for a moment. “Can we talk here?” Henry asked.

Rance took Bob Cantor’s bugs from his pocket and placed them on the desk. “We can now,” he said. “My people found these in our offices last night.”

Henry looked at the hardware as if it were a nest of poisonous spiders. “How long have they been here?”

“There’s no way to tell,” Rance replied. “The point is, Elise understands Sicilian. How many times have we used it when she was in the room?”

Everybody thought about it. “Only once, I think,” Henry said. “She was waiting to take a letter.”

“What did we talk about on that occasion?” Hank asked.

“Far too much,” Rance said.

“Who was listening to these bugs?”

“My best guess is Cantor,” Rance said, “but that’s only a guess. Could be the police or the D.A.”

“Maybe Barrington?”

“Maybe. If Barrington was listening, then Dino Bacchetti heard it, too.”

“I had a call this morning,” Hank said. “Bacchetti had a meeting with the D.A. yesterday.”

“That may not have been about us,” Rance pointed out.

“Let’s assume that it was about us,” Henry replied. “What’s our next move?”

Hank looked at his grandfather. “Is that buyout offer we had still on the table?”

“Could be,” Henry said.

“Then we should explore that possibility.”

“I’ll make a call,” Henry said. “What if it isn’t still on the table?”

“Then we’d better start thinking about our exit strategies,” Rance said.

Stone went upstairs to see Sherry and found her doing the Times crossword. A good sign, he reckoned.

“You seem to be feeling better,” he said.

“Thanks to you and Bob. I’ve got a new piece of bone in my skull, courtesy of my surgeon, and my ability to do the crossword seems to have improved. I recommend a bullet in the head to everybody.”

Bob sat, dozing, in a chair in the corner.

“Can I borrow him for a minute?” he asked.

“Well,” she said, looking at her sleeping boyfriend, “he isn’t doing me much good right now. Go ahead, take him.”

Stone shook Bob by the shoulder. He woke up, wide-eyed. “I thought you were a Thomas,” he said.

“Let’s go talk for a minute,” Stone said, and Bob followed him into the hallway.

“What’s up?”

“We don’t seem to be getting anywhere. Sherry, Elise, and her mother are still in danger, and the D.A. doesn’t buy Elise’s testimony as sufficient for getting a warrant to bug the Thomases, let alone convict them.”

“My bugs have gone dead, too,” Bob said.

“I thought you might have something in mind,” Stone said. “Something you might not want to share with me.”

“Gotcha,” Bob said. “I have dreams about machine-gunning them all.”

“Something a little more subtle, perhaps.”

“I’ll give it some thought,” Bob said.

“Don’t get back to me,” Stone replied, then sent Bob back in with Sherry.

When Stone was back at his desk, Joan buzzed. “Jamie on line one.”

Stone picked up the phone. “You’re up early,” he said.

“I’ve been thinking.”

“Tell me.”

“If Dino’s not getting anywhere with the D.A., why don’t we plant a hand grenade under his ass?”

“That’s an attractive thought. What do you have in mind?”

“Publishing the piece I wrote about what Elise Grant overheard the Thomases discussing. There’s nothing the Thomases can do, except what they’re already trying to do.”

“Why don’t I bring it up with Elise and see what she has to say?”

“You do that, then get back to me.”

“Bye.” Stone hung up the phone, then called Elise’s throwaway cell.

“Good morning,” she said.

“How are your new quarters?” he asked.

“Not bad. I mean, it’s a hotel, not home. How long do you figure we might have to stay here?”

“I was just thinking about that,” Stone said. “Dino isn’t getting anywhere with the D.A. Jamie, however, called this morning and she has an idea that might shake things up.”

“She wants to publish what I said, doesn’t she?”

“She does, and she makes the point that doing so won’t put you at any more risk than you are now.”

“But it would rattle them to their core, wouldn’t it? To see their own words in print?”

“That’s the idea. Frightened people make mistakes.”

“You tell Jamie to go ahead. I’m sure she took notes.”

“She recorded you over the phone, and she’s already written the piece.”

“Tell her I’ll look forward to reading it in tomorrow’s Times .”

“I’ll do that. My best to your mother.” He hung up and called Jamie.

“Yeah?”

“Elise is all for it. How do the paper’s libel lawyers feel about it?”

“I’ve been on the phone with them and Scott for the past half hour. They’re not happy, but they haven’t vetoed it, either.”

“Then go.”

“I’m gone.” She hung up.

Stone called Dino.

“Bacchetti.”

“Just a heads-up for you.”

“I’m listening.”

“Jamie’s piece on Elise is running in tomorrow’s Times .”

Dino laughed. “That should stick a firecracker up the D.A.’s ass.”

“My thought is that the D.A. should hear about it when he reads it in the paper, not earlier.”

“I haven’t returned his call yet.”

“Then don’t.”

“I have to. Anyway, I want to hear what he has to say.”

“Let me know.”

Dino put in the call to Ken Burrows.