Loitering with Intent

52

STONE WAS STRETCHED out on his bed, half asleep. Dino had contacted Annika’s sister, who was on her way to Key West, and he was now on the phone, making arrangements with a funeral director whom Tommy had recommended.

Stone felt as if he had been beaten up—stiff and sore and slightly nauseated. He sat up and put his feet on the floor and his head in his hands, then he got up, went into the bathroom and vomited. He wiped his face with a cold washcloth and went out to the porch. Dino and Tommy were sitting there.

“How are you feeling?” Dino asked.

“Lousy, but we have things to do.”

“Everything has been done that can be done,” Dino said. “Go lie down.”

“I can’t,” Stone said. “There’s more to do.”

“What?” Dino asked.

“We’ve got to keep Evan alive,” Stone said.

“He’s okay for the moment,” Tommy said. “Dino and I are both carrying, and you should be, too.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. Dino, did you hear my brief conversation with Gigi in the restaurant, right before the shooting?”

“I heard her apologize for hitting you over the head, that’s all.”

“I asked her where she was from, what sort of work she did before she met Evan.”

“I didn’t hear that part, I guess.”

“She said she had sold real estate and boats and that she had started a couple of small businesses. She also said she had been a private investigator for a while, and that’s how she met Evan.”

Dino stared at him. “You’re thinking . . .”

Stone nodded. “All this time we’ve been trying to connect the dots, trying to figure out who had motive and the connection with Manny White, and we forgot about Gigi.”

“Well,” Dino said, “she’s certainly got motive now, and if she worked for Manny . . .”

“If she knows Manny well, she’d know about his little sideline,”

Tommy said.

“I think we’re all on the same page now,” Stone said. “Except Evan.”

“And the guy’s still out there,” Tommy said. “And so’s Evan.” He nodded toward the walkway.

Stone looked up to see Evan coming down the walk, and they pulled up another chair for him.

“How are you feeling?” Evan asked Stone.

“I’m all right.”

“I want to tell you how sorry I am,” Evan said.

“Thanks,” Stone replied, “but I’m afraid you’ve got more problems than I have.”

“You think he’ll try again?”

“Yes, but there’s more to it than that.”

“What else?”

Stone took a deep breath. “Have you ever heard of Manny White Investigations?”

“Yeah,” Evan replied. “Gigi used to work for them.”

“Evan, all three of us knew Manny White when we were on the NYPD, years ago.”

“I never met the guy,” Evan said. “Gigi quit after we met.”

“We think Manny White was the middleman who hired the guy who shot you last time.”

“That’s quite a coincidence,” Evan said.

“There are more coincidences,” Stone said. “We think he also sent the man who killed your father. The bullets from your shooting and his are a match; they were fired from the same gun, and when Tommy gets back the ballistics report on today’s shooting, we think there’s going to be another match.”

“This is bizarre,” Evan said.

“There’s still more,” Stone said. “The first person to come under suspicion for both shootings was your grandfather.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Probably so, but he was the only one with a fi nancial motive for both shootings. Or at least he was at the time.”

“Who do you suspect now?”

“There’s only one other person with both a motive and a connection to Manny White,” Stone said, then waited for it to sink in. There were clearly wheels turning in Evan’s head, then the penny dropped. “No, that’s crazy.”

“Think about it,” Stone said. “Killing your father gave you a much larger share of the proceeds from the sale of the business, didn’t it?”

“Yes, but Gigi would have had no claim on that.”

“Not then,” Stone said, “but she was planning ahead, and now things are different. I haven’t read your will, but I’m just guessing that Gigi is the principal benefi ciary.”

Evan stared at him. “She’s the only benefi ciary,” he said.

“When your father tried to have you killed she must have been very angry.”

“She was. Very.”

“So she called Manny White and arranged for Warren to be killed.”

Evan was looking at his feet and shaking his head.

“And when the two of you were married and you signed that will . . .”

“Where is the will?” Evan asked.

Stone got up, went inside, got the will from his pocket, came back to the porch and handed Evan the envelope.

Evan stared at it but said nothing.

“I know how hard this is,” Stone said.

“No, you don’t,” Evan snapped. “I wish you’d never told me this. I would rather have . . .” He trailed off.

“You’d rather have remained fat, dumb and happy and let her have you killed?”

“It would have been easier,” Evan said.

“No, it wouldn’t have. You’d have figured it out eventually, but with that shooter still in Key West, he might have gotten to you before you did.”

“She couldn’t have done this,” Evan said.

“Evan, how many people knew where you were having your wedding lunch today?” Dino asked.

Evan thought about it. “Just the people at the table and the JP,” he replied.

“And whose idea was it to have the lunch at the Marquesa restaurant?”

“Gigi’s.”

“And who chose the table by the Simonton Street window?”

“Gigi,” he replied.

“I think you’ve just narrowed the list of suspects,” Stone said. Evan tore the will into small pieces.

“I’m afraid the will doesn’t matter anymore,” Stone said.

“Why not?” Evan asked.

“Because there’s a marriage certificate. The JP would have fi led it, and you’ll be mailed a copy. Under Florida law, she stands to inherit everything you have.”

“I just can’t believe this,” Evan said, shaking his head.

“If not for Annika’s move toward you at lunch, Gigi would now be a very rich widow.”

“Can you prove all of this?” Evan asked.

“No,” Stone said.

“If you’re right, this guy is just going to keep coming after me, isn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“What should I do?”

“First, let me find you a Key West attorney and file for an annulment.”

“How long will that take?”

“I don’t know, perhaps several weeks.”

“And what am I going to do for that time?” Evan asked.

“Well, for a start,” Stone said, “don’t consummate the marriage.”

“What else?”

“Only one person can connect Gigi to the shooting today,” Stone said. “So we’ve got to find a way to persuade Manny White to tell us everything.”

“How are you going to do that?” Evan asked.

“I don’t know,” Stone said, “but you can’t go back to your cottage. We’re going to have to move you to someplace safer.”

Tommy spoke up. “My department has a little house we use to stash witnesses sometimes,” he said. “I could take him there.”

“Where’s Gigi at the moment?” Stone asked Evan.

“She went for a walk.”

“Then let’s go move you out of that cottage right now,” Stone said.

“You want me to just disappear?”

“You have to.”

“What am I going to tell Gigi?”

“Not a thing. You can leave her a note saying you had to go to Connecticut; your grandfather has had a stroke. That might even buy us some time, since she knows that if he dies, she could inherit even more money.”

“We’re wasting time,” Dino said.