A Safe House

53

The two men left, in pursuit of duct tape. Stone managed to roll on his side and fling an arm onto the coffee table. A moment later, he had the letter opener in his hand, before rolling onto his back again.

“Here’s some duct tape,” Harley called from the supply room.

“Well, take it to Barrington,” Slade said.

There was some rustling from the supply room; probably Harley getting a new box of duct tape open. Stone had a thing about leaving the stuff lying around, ever since his previous experience with it, so Joan kept it out of his sight.

Harley arrived with a gas mask around his face and the duct tape in hand and tried to move the inert Stone away from the coffee table. Finally, he succeeded, and wrapped duct tape around Stone’s ankles, binding them together. “You got a knife?” he asked.

“No,” Slade replied from still inside the supply room, “but if you do it right, you can just tear the tape with your fingers.”

Harley made some grunting noises, and apparently succeeded in tearing the tape. “There.” He moved up Stone’s body to tape his hands.

Then, a voice from the air: “Stone, I can’t find what I’m looking for. Have you got anything in your bathroom for gas?”

“NO!” Stone yelled, and with all the strength and coordination he could muster, he reached up and stabbed Harley Quince in his genitals. It was a near miss, and he plunged the blade into the man’s upper thigh.

Quince let out something between a yell and a scream. “Goddamnit! He stabbed me!”

“You stupid little shit,” Slade said conversationally. “He’s unconscious, he can’t stab anybody.”

Quince jumped backward, leaving the old knife in Stone’s hand; his heel caught in Stone’s taped ankles, and he fell heavily, his head striking a bronze sculpture of a small bear behind him.

“Stone?” Joan’s voice said. “Are you in difficulties?”

“YES!” Stone yelled back.

“Harley?” Slade said. “What’s the matter with you? What did you say?”

Stone managed to get his ankles in range and began sawing at the duct tape, but the blade was dull, and he was still weak.

“Stone?” Joan asked.

“Shut up, you stupid bitch” — Slade shouted as he walked into the room — “or I’ll shoot you, too!”

“HELP!” Stone shouted.

“Coming!” Joan yelled back.

Stone’s tongue and lips were working now. “Better not shoot,” he said. “Armed men.”

Slade came toward him. “Harley? What’s the matter with you?”

“No dick,” Stone said helpfully.

Slade stood over Quince and looked down at him. “You’re bleeding like a stuck pig,” he said, maneuvering to keep his boots out of the pool of blood that was gathering.

“Nine-one-one,” Harley said. “Quick!”

“Did that bastard stab you in the dick?”

“Thigh,” Harley replied, sounding weaker.

“Ah,” Slade said. “It appears he nicked an artery, Harley. Nine-one-one won’t help.” He pulled off his necktie, wrapped it around Harley’s leg, and tied it off.

Stone felt a draft of fresh air, reviving him further. Someone had opened the door to the garage. He heard the slide of a pistol racking.

“Don’t shoot, Wallace,” Stone said.

A pistol roared, and Stone flinched in anticipation. It roared again.

Slade fell across the glass coffee table, shattering it.

“Joan?” Stone said.

“I got the son of a bitch,” she said.

“Did you shoot him in the head?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” Stone demanded.

“I was aiming at his chest. That’s what you do at the range.”

“Give me your pistol, and I’ll shoot him in the head,” Stone said. He heard himself and couldn’t believe he’d said that.

“Are you speaking as my lawyer?” she asked.

“Not exactly. What’s he doing?”

“He’s clutching his chest and bleeding,” she replied.

“I guess that’s good enough,” Stone said. “Did you call nine-one-one?”

“Nope. In all the excitement, I forgot.”

“Now would be a good time,” Stone said. “Then Dino. Dino prefers you to call nine-one-one first, then him.”

Joan sat down in Stone’s usual chair and picked up the phone. “What do I say?”

“Say ‘intruder shot, also his accomplice. Send two ambulances.’ ”

Joan did as he said, then dialed another number and handed the phone to Stone. “You explain it to Dino.”