Dirt

Chapter 23

When Stone awoke, Arrington was in the shower. He put an extra pillow under his head and waited, hoping; a moment later, he was rewarded with the sight of her stepping out of the stall, water running down her tall body, not bothering with a towel. She stood before the mirror, squeezing water out of her hair, then reached for the towel, disappointing Stone. But his luck was holding; she wrapped it around her head and began brushing her teeth, her long back arched over the sink, her breasts dangling, her trim buttocks protruding. Stone began to get an erection.

His first impulse was to get up and take her from behind, but he stopped himself. He wanted this to go well; if it did, no doubt he would have the opportunity of jumping her on some other occasion.

She came out of the bathroom rubbing her hair with the towel, apparently not conscious of her nudity. “You’re awake,” she said. “I’ve been awake since six.”

Stone looked at the bedside clock; it was after nine. “I got to sleep later than you did,” he said.

“How much later?”

“A couple of hours. The coffee, I expect.”

“Poor Stone.” Her hair as dry as she could get it, she began toweling her body.

“Just for the record,” he said, “you’re a beautiful girl.”

“Woman. Thank you.”

“I know you’re too accustomed to being told that, but I thought you ought to know how I felt about it.”

“Coming from you, I consider it a great compliment.” She held the towel between her legs, rubbing thoughtfully for a moment, staring into the middle distance.

Stone breathed more deeply, to keep from breathing faster; he shifted some covers to hide his rising interest. “Would you like a hair dryer?” He wanted to keep her naked for as long as possible.

“No thanks; it’ll dry soon.”

“Will it look the way it looked the first time I saw you?”

“Pretty much; it behaves well. I get it cut every couple of months; that’s about it.”

“Amazing,” he said.

She laughed. “You’re exhibiting an awful lot of control for a man who’s in the same room as a naked woman he finds beautiful, Or is it disinterest?”

“It’s an awful lot of control,” he said, honesty.

She laughed again. “I’m impressed.”

“So am I.”

There was just a moment’s hesitation; then, before he could decide what to do, she picked up her jeans and slipped them on, not bothering with underwear. “I’m sorry if I was maudlin last night,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Stone replied.

She followed the jeans with her black turtleneck sweater, then she picked up her underwear and stuffed it into a large handbag.

“How about some breakfast?” he managed to say, sorry to see her breasts disappear and anxious to hold onto her a little longer.

“Thanks, but I’m expecting a call from an editor this morning, and I don’t want to miss it. How about dinner instead?”

“Gee, I’ll have to check my calendar.”

She laughed aloud. “Seven, at my place; Ten-Eleven Fifth Avenue, dress sloppy.”

“Seven it is.”

“Dare I kiss you good-bye?”

“Not unless you want to spend the day here.”

“I’m gone,” she said, running for the door.

The phone rang.

“Hello?”

“It’s Dino; the funeral’s at two o’clock, in Brooklyn; you want to ride with me?”

“Two o’clock? That’s quick.”

“Jews have to be buried within twenty-four hours, or something terrible happens, I forget what.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, pick me up.”

“One-thirty,” Dino said, and hung up.

By noon a steady drizzle had enveloped the city, and by the time they left the synagogue a hard rain was falling. Stone sat in the back of the big Ford police car with Dino, while two young detectives took the front. The drive to Brooklyn was painfully slow.

“Traffic always goes to hell in this city when it rains,” Dino said.

“Yeah.”

“You sure this business can’t be connected somehow with what you’re working on?” Dino asked.

“I’ve thought about it again and again,” Stone replied, “and I don’t see how it could be. Arnie had finished the job with me.”

“Arnie’s wife said he went to the movies yesterday afternoon, and he was planning to eat out; it was her bridge night.”

“Does that sound like he was working for me?”

“I guess not. I’m sorry to harp on this, Stone, it’s just that I don’t have anywhere else to go with it.”

“Maybe it really was some stupid junkie.”

“Maybe it was, but it just doesn’t sit right.”

“I know; it doesn’t sit right with me, either.”

“You know if Arnie was working for somebody else? Some other PI?”

Stone shook his head. “He didn’t say anything about it if he was.”

They drove on in the rain. As they crossed the bridge, the sky suddenly began to clear. They buried Arnie Millman in bright sunshine, under a cloudless sky.

Stone stood at the graveside with fifty other cops and looked up to see Amanda Dart standing on the other side, at the rear of the crowd. When the service was over, Stone said to Dino, “I won’t need a ride home.” He hurried after Amanda, who was walking quickly toward her waiting car.

“Hi,” he said, catching up to her. “Can I catch a lift back to Manhattan?”

“Hello, Stone. Sorry, I’m not going back to Manhattan for a while; I have some business on this side of the river.”

“I’m surprised to see you here,” he said. “Did you know Arnie Millman?”

She nodded. “He was an occasional source for me.”

“Arnie?”

“Yes, and I liked him. Why are you so surprised?”

“Somehow, he didn’t seem the type to be hobnobbing with newspaper columnists.”

“Stone, Arnie didn’t hobnob with me; he called me on the phone when we had to talk. I really only met the man face-to-face on one occasion. Anyway, you would be amazed to know who some of my sources are.” She glanced at her watch. “I’ve got to run, darling. Want to get together later this week?”

He knew what that meant, and he thought of Arrington. “Ah… I’ll call you, if that’s okay.”

“That’s okay.” She got into the back of her car, and the driver closed the door.

Stone sprinted toward Dino’s departing cruiser, barely catching it in time.

“Ride didn’t work out?” Dino asked.

“Nah, she wasn’t going back to Manhattan.”

“You know a woman who gets chauffeured around in a Mercedes?”

“That was Amanda Dart.”

“What the hell was she doing here?”

Stone nodded toward the two young detectives in front. “I’ll tell you later.”

They drove back to Manhattan in silence. When they reached Stone’s house, Dino got out of the car with him.

“So, what was Amanda Dart doing at Arnie Millman’s funeral? She his ex-wife or something?”

“Funny. She said Arnie used to be a source for her.”

“For a gossip columnist? I don’t believe it.”

“She apparently has some fairly unbelievable sources.”

“That don’t add up,” Dino said flatly.

“She’s probably got a source or two in every station house in Manhattan,” Stone said. “How do you think these people get the story so fast when somebody of note gets arrested? It makes sense: it’s just funny that Arnie was one of them.”

“Well, I guess he liked a few extra bucks as well as the next guy.”

“I guess so. I gotta run. See you.”

Dino waved good-bye and got back into his car.

Stone put Arnie and Amanda out of his mind and started thinking about his dinner date.