Cut and Thrust

34

Late in the afternoon, Billy Burnett could no longer contain his curiosity. He drove his cart over to the armory and walked in. Jake, who ran the place, was at his bench working on a disassembled AR-15. “Hey, Jake.”

“Hey, Billy.”

“How’s it going?” Billy was looking around but couldn’t see Harry Gregg anywhere.

“It’s going good. You did a good job breaking in Harry. I thank you for it. It’s taken a load off, you know?”

“Where is Harry?” Billy asked.

“He asked for a couple days off,” Jake said. “He bought a little house in Venice, and he’s doing some work on it.”

“Where in Venice?”

“On the beach — dunno where.”

“How the hell can Harry afford a place on Venice Beach?” Billy asked.

“Not my business,” Jake said. “Harry’ll be back the day after tomorrow. You want something with him?”

“No, I just wondered why he wasn’t here.”

“Anything else I can do for you?”

“Nope. See you around, Jake.” Billy got into his cart and drove slowly back to the office. He found this news troubling. Harry was less than a year out of the army, and he was making sixty grand a year at the armory. How could a recent veteran earn enough money to buy on Venice Beach? Something occurred to him: Harry’s skills were in the use and repair of firearms and in making explosive devices go boom. Who would pay a lot of money for those skills? Well, that was obvious: people who wanted other people shot or blown up. And Harry, only the day before, had made some sort of a withdrawal from a shed used to house explosives.

Billy, back when he was still Teddy Fay, had killed people, but he had never done it for money, and he frowned on the practice. Maybe he should have a chat with Harry. Or, on the other hand, maybe he should just mind his own business. He decided to do that.

Stone had spent the morning by the pool reading the papers, and it got to be lunchtime. Ed Eagle came over from the house, and they ordered club sandwiches and beers.

“I’ve been getting a lot of phone calls from the media,” Ed said.

“So have I,” Stone replied. “Will Lee’s advice was to lie low, and that’s what I’m doing.”

“Then I’ll do the same,” Ed said. “Anyway, we’re getting out of here first thing tomorrow morning, and they won’t chase me to Santa Fe.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Stone said.

“I got an odd piece of news this morning,” Eagle said. “I was speaking with a client of mine who has a problem and needs my advice. He’s got a house for sale in Bel-Air, and he got an offer from somebody named Grosvenor.”

“Funny,” Stone said, “I know somebody named Charles Grosvenor who’s looking for a Bel-Air house.”

Eagle stared at him. “Why didn’t you mention that?”

Stone frowned. “Why would I do that? The guy’s a Brit who’s moving to L.A. My office asked me to meet with him, and I introduced him to the managing partner of our L.A. office at a lunch at the Bel-Air.”

“Stone,” Eagle said, “Charles Grosvenor is Barbara’s most recent husband. They live in San Francisco.”

“Can’t be the same guy,” Stone said. “I met his wife and she doesn’t look anything like Barbara.”

“Barbara is very good at not looking anything like Barbara,” Eagle said. “Describe her.”

“Maybe early forties, slim, busty, straight gray hair to her shoulders.” Stone remembered something else. “Uh-oh, American.”

“Where did you last see her?”

“At the Bel-Air lunch a couple of days ago.”

“Barbara likes the Bel-Air,” Eagle said. “She murdered somebody there once. Thinking it was me, she put a bullet in the man’s head as he slept.”

“That’s right, she did, didn’t she? She doesn’t know you’re in town, does she?”

“If she watches TV or reads the papers, she knows,” Eagle said. “You and I are all over them. In any case, she’d know I’d be at the convention — I never miss one.”

“Ed, maybe you should talk to Mike Freeman about a little personal security while you’re in town.”

Eagle didn’t seem to hear him. “Last time, she hired somebody — a stunt man from out at Centurion. He missed, so she killed him.” He seemed to remember that Stone had said something. “I’m sorry, did you say something about personal security?”

“I’d be glad to talk to Mike Freeman for you.”

“Let’s think ahead,” Eagle said. “Security at The Arrington is pretty good.”

“Better than good,” Stone pointed out, “especially while the president is here.”

“Right. And we’ll be in your skybox for Kate’s speech tonight, so I should be okay there.”

“Right.”

“And we’re out of here tomorrow morning.”

“If you’re comfortable, then I’ll try not to worry about you.”

“I’m never going to feel completely comfortable, knowing that Barbara and I are in the same town at the same time,” Eagle said, “but I can’t let myself get paranoid about it.”

“Don’t go armed tonight,” Stone said. “You’d never make it into the hall.”

“Don’t mention this to Susannah,” Eagle said. “She’d find Barbara and kill her.”

“You don’t need that,” Stone said.

“I do, but you’re right, I don’t,” Eagle replied.