Hit List

31

Stone went and sat on a bench in the hallway, next to Dino.

“What did you get?” Dino asked.

“Her first name is Frances,” Stone said. “She may be staying, with Larkin, at the Edison Hotel, in the theater district, but don’t count on it.”

“Anything else?”

“I made her an offer she may not be able to refuse — once she’s thought it over.”

“You told her she’d walk.”

“She didn’t actually shoot anybody,” Stone replied, “and she probably has a clean sheet. Have you run her prints, yet?”

“Yep. She’s got a clean sheet.”

“Then give me a chance to work her,” Stone said.

“Okay, you’ve got carte blanche, until I change my mind.”

“Good. You can start by sending somebody up to the pound and springing her dog. She’ll respond to that.”

“What if it’s already been adopted?”

“Unadopt it. By the way, it’s a girl dog.”

“What breed?”

“Uh, small, hairy, cute.”

“Color?”

“Brownish, I think.”

“You have a photographic memory, don’t you?”

“Oh, and her name is Trixie. Maybe she’ll be wearing an ID tag with her address on it.”

“I guess it’s worth a shot.” He got on the phone.

Stone was suddenly hungry. He found a nurse, one he didn’t know. “Good morning, could you order me some lunch? I’m stuck on the ICU and can’t go down to the cafeteria.”

She picked up a phone, and in ten minutes Stone was eating some pretty good meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

Dino put his phone away. “How do I get some of that?” he asked.

“You already had a steak.”

“I’m hungry again.”

“Be nice to a nurse.”

Dino tried that and sat down. “Let’s hope it works. You were right about the Edison. They were registered under the name Taylor, but they checked out early this morning.”

“I don’t suppose they left a forwarding address?”

“Sure, Turnbull & Asser.”

Dino’s lunch came. He tried a bite. “Not bad,” he said.

“Not for a second lunch. I’m going to tell on you to Viv.”

“Good luck. She’s in Budapest.”

“You’ll gain weight. She’ll notice.”

“I don’t gain weight.”

“I hate that about you.”

The elevator door opened, and an enormous cop got off, accompanied by a small dog on a leash.

“Trixie!” Stone cried, and the dog ran toward him until she ran out of leash and was left on her hind legs, pawing the air. Stone picked her up and scratched her ears, then her belly. “Hey, Trixie,” he said, “I’m your new best friend.” He got a big kiss, before he could react.

Dino laughed. “So this is your new interrogator?”

“My accomplice. You don’t want to see your mama do time, do you, Trixie?” She barked.

Carol came out of the ICU. “Frances heard that,” she said. “You better bring her dog in here, even though it’s against all the rules.”

“Your patient will recover faster now.”

“Yeah, we’ve seen that work before, just not in the ICU.”

Stone got up and carried Trixie inside. Frances’s bed was raised a bit more, and she could see them coming.

“Trixie!” she said, as loudly as she could manage.

Stone put the dog on the bed, and she went nuts, making Frances laugh. “You did it,” she said. “I thought you were lying, just to get me to talk.”

Stone pulled up a chair and sat down. “I haven’t lied to you yet, and I’m not going to start now. I can do everything I said I would, and I will.”

“I’ll walk?”

“You won’t do a day after his trial is over.”

“Sig can get to me in jail,” she said.

“I’ll get you into protective custody, in a hotel somewhere, with room service, as soon as you’re able to leave the hospital. No one will know where you are but the DA and me.”

“I want it in writing.”

“You’re going to have to trust me. I’m not law enforcement.”

“Then I want it from the DA.”

“After I get it from you, I’ll get it in writing from the DA. I won’t tell him what you’ve told me until then.”

“I need to take a nap now,” Frances said. “We’ll talk after that.”

“What’s your last name?” Stone asked.

“Bowers.”

“Okay, get a nap.” Stone left her with Trixie curled up next to her.

Stone went back into the hallway and sat down next to Dino. “Her last name is Bowers,” he said. “Run that.”

Dino got out his phone. “What else has she said?”

“She’s tired and needs a nap; I’ll stay here, until she wakes up.”

“She liked the dog, huh?”

“They have a special bond,” Stone said.

“I’ll bet.”

“Double the guard in the hospital,” Stone said. “I want her to wake up alive.”

Dino spoke further into the phone. “Done,” he said finally. “Frances Bowers doesn’t have a record anywhere. I’d say she was a babe in the woods, if she hadn’t been carrying that silenced .22.”

“There is that,” Stone said.

“Did you check Trixie’s ID?”

“I forgot, and so did you. I’ll do it later.”

“You want me to make a list of questions to ask her?”

“Oh, please! I’ll find out what you want to know, but I’ll do it my way. I’m not reading her questions from a list.”

“Then what are you going to ask her?”

“I’ll ask her for her life’s story, and believe me, she’ll tell me. Everybody likes to talk about themselves. It’s talking about Sig that will be tough to get out of her. She’s loyal, and she may even love the guy. Go figure.”

“He doesn’t seem all that lovable,” Dino said.

“Of course not, but you’re not a woman. Women are capable of loving the most god-awful of men. They can always find something in them to love.”

“That’s because we’re such glorious creatures,” Dino said.

“You’re not going to get an argument from me on that.”