Стюарт Вудс - Class Act

Coulter’s soup came and he drank it slowly.

“You didn’t tell me how much she’d cost,” the Don said.

“We paid her fifty grand to do Manny Fiore.”

“Ouch! Are you going to tell me she’ll cost a hundred grand?”

“She felt nothing for Manny, but she’ll have some scruples to overcome with Barrington.”

“Scruples are expensive.”

“Exactly.

“All right, a hundred grand — for you. I wouldn’t do that for anyone else.”

“Thank you, Don Antonio. I will be eternally grateful. I wish I could get close enough to do it myself. I’d like to watch him die.”

Coulter finished his lunch and watched them depart as he had his dessert. Those two would never dream that someone at the Brook would have understood their conversation. He gave them time enough to drive away, then he signed his check and went looking for a cab.

Stone was finishing a sandwich at his desk and feeling a little sore. It amazed him that he could still be aroused just by thinking about Hilda and what they had done the afternoon before. It was disturbing, too.

He jumped as his cell phone rang. “Yes?”

“I just got in and got settled,” Hilda said. “I’m lying on your bed, thinking about yesterday.”

“A pity you’re so far away.”

“You’re the one who’s far away,” she said. “Why don’t you come and visit me here? The weather is lovely.”

“It’s not so bad here,” he said.

“Do you know what I would like to do to you, if you were here?”

“Don’t tell me.”

She told him.

“Stop it.”

“Are you getting, ah, interested?”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“Good, that’s a start. Let me see what else I can think of.”

“Please don’t.”

She thought of something.

“I have to go now.”

“No, you have to come now.”

“I’d need you for that.”

“I’m right here,” she said. “Come tomorrow.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Stone said.

“We both already know what you can do,” she said. “Just do it here.”

“I’ll think about it,” Stone said, then hung up.

He was thinking about it! Was he crazy?

Stone had just hung up when Joan buzzed. “Jack Coulter is here. He doesn’t have an appointment.”

“Send him in.”

Jack came in, waved, and sat down.

“You look like a man in a hurry,” Stone said.

“I was afraid you’d already be dead,” Jack said.

“Don’t rush me.”

“Do you know who Antonio Datilla is?”

“The Don?”

“Correct.”

“How about Salvatore Trafficante?”

“The Don’s consigliere.”

“You’re better informed than I thought,” Jack said.

“It sounds as if you want to inform me further.”

“I just had lunch at the Brook, and they were sitting closer to me than you are now.”

“Tell me more.”

“They were speaking Sicilian, not knowing that I grew up in a household with a grandmother who spoke nothing else.”

“So you eavesdropped?”

“Didn’t bat an eyelid. You’d have been proud of me.”

“What was the content of their conversation?”

“Mostly you and a woman named Hilda, who, I understand, is in residence at your Key West house.”

“You understand way too much,” Stone said. “She wasn’t supposed to tell anybody.”

“That’s when some women tell everybody,” Jack pointed out.

“Not Hilda, not everybody. Just the guy who wants me dead.”

“They’re going to offer her a hundred thousand dollars to do it. You should be flattered. The last time she killed for them they only paid fifty thousand.” Jack leaned forward. “You’re thinking about fucking her again, aren’t you.”

“How did you know that?”

“You’re attracted by the idea of doing that to her before she can do the other thing to you.”

“If I’m not blushing, I should be,” Stone said.

“Don’t do it, Stone. That’s a fool’s bet.”

“I can’t disagree with you,” Stone said.

“Tell you what. Why don’t I go down there and kill her for you?”

“If you met her, you’d want to fuck her first,” Stone said.

“I suppose there’s a bit of a challenge involved.”

“It’s a nice thought, Jack, and I appreciate it, but you don’t want to get involved in this.”

“What about you?”

“I’m already involved. If I don’t go down to Key West, she’ll come up here.”

“She won’t be expecting me.”

“Don’t underestimate her, Jack.”

“Then let me find another assassin — one who won’t be tempted to fuck her first.”

“What kind of assassin is that?”

“A woman.”

Stone thought about that. “Possibly.”

“Certainly.”

“How can you be sure the woman won’t want to fuck her, too?”

“Because she’s cold-blooded and coldhearted. She doesn’t let anything get in the way of business, not even sex.”

“Interesting.”

“And she’s already in Florida.”

“Where?”

“Palm Beach.”

“How much?” Stone suddenly realized that he was talking about sending a hired killer to murder someone.

“Twenty-five grand,” Jack said.

“Sounds cheap, for that line of business.”

“It’s a discount for me.”

“Why for you?”

“Because I got her out of a very bad jam, once. Saved her life. She’s pitifully grateful.”

“I thought you said she was cold-blooded and coldhearted.”

“Not where I’m concerned.”

Stone thought some more.

“Don’t let your conscience get the better of you, Stone. Hilda is taking money to kill you. That should let you see just where you stand on her list of priorities.”

“This can’t happen in my house,” Stone said. “It’s a small town.”

“Then we’ll have to arrange for the deed to be done somewhere else.”

“Is your lady smart enough to handle that?”

“It’s what she does,” Jack said. “And she’s never been caught, or even suspected.”

“Why don’t you have a chat with her and see what’s involved? And I want to know everything: how she gets to Key West from Palm Beach, how she gets back, how she deals with the body, how she covers her tracks. What is your lady’s name?”

“Gigi.”

“What else?”

“Just Gigi.”

“Is she beautiful?”

“Just a sec,” Jack said. He got out an iPhone and started scrolling, then stopped and handed the phone to Stone.

Tall, slim, looked great in the bikini. “Wow.”

“Will she appeal to Hilda?”

“E-mail this to me, and we’ll find out,” Stone said.

Jack e-mailed the photo.

“We’d better give Gigi another name,” Stone said.

“Why?”

“If they travel in the same crowd, Hilda could have heard of her.”

“All right: Cara,” Jack said. “Cara Connery.” He stared off into space.

“Are you having second thoughts, Jack?”

“Always,” Jack replied. “That’s how you stay ahead of the game.”

Stone called Hilda’s throwaway.

“Well, hi, there,” she breathed, making the hair on Stone’s chest stand on end. “Are you on your way?”

“Not for a couple of days. Complications at the law firm. I’ll be there, though.”

“You’d better hurry. I might explode.”

“It occurred to me that I could send you a playmate to keep you busy, until I get there.”

“Who is he?” She sounded doubtful, even a little hurt.

“She, not he. Her name is Cara Connery. A year or so ago, I offered her the house, but the timing was wrong. She called today and said she’d like to go down.”