Two-Dollar Bill

43

STONE'S CELL PHONE continued to ring, and finally, he switched it off. He entered the city from the East Side and drove to the Carlyle, parking in their garage. From the lobby, he asked for Mr. Bocca's room, and called Dino for the room number.

Dino let him into a very nice suite. "The manager is doing me a favor," he said. "You had dinner?"

"Half a slice of pizza, two hours ago. What's happening?"

"Bocca is at his sister's house, and the two detectives are sitting on him. They did the number about his alibi, told him he was clear and left. He's none the wiser. You may as well order some dinner."

Stone got the room service menu and ordered a steak and half a bottle of wine, while Dino poured him a bourbon from the wet bar. Then Stone called his home number and checked for messages.

"Hey, Stone," Billy Bob's voice said. "I'm ready to meet you now. What we're going to do is set up an exchange of Arrington for you. She's a pain in the ass, you know? Yeah, you know. I want to get rid of her, so I'm going to set up something for tomorrow afternoon around three. I'll call your cell phone number, and you'd better answer it, if you want to see her again. I'll give you instructions then. You get one shot at getting her back, and one shot only, so you'd better make it work. If you get the cops involved, or your CIA buddies, then people will die, among them Arrington and you. You dream about that tonight, and I'll call you midafternoon tomorrow." He erased the message and hung up.

"That was Billy Bob," he said, and he repeated the message to Dino.

"When we get the instructions, we'll set something up," Dino said.

"It's going to be tough. Lance has probably heard the message, too, and he'll be all over us, if he finds out where we are."

"Some of his people were following me; I told him to hold them off, that my guys could take care of it, and I think he did. I made sure I wasn't followed here."

Stone's steak came, and he ate it hungrily, not having had much food for twenty-four hours. Then he stretched out on one of the beds and took a nap.

DINO SHOOK HIM AWAKE. "Bocca's on the move," he said.

"What time is it?"

"A little after one a.m. I'm on the cell phone with my guys. He's headed toward the Fifty-ninth Street Bridge."

"So Billy Bob is in Manhattan?"

"He may be on his way to New Jersey, for all we know," Dino said. "Let's just sit tight until we know more."

"Let's sit tight in your car," Stone said. "We might have to move fast when we learn more."

Dino spoke into his cell phone. "I'm going to my car. Call me in five minutes and let me know where you are."

Stone and Dino went downstairs to where Dino's car was waiting at the Seventy-sixth Street entrance to the hotel. They got into the backseat, and Dino told his driver to start the car. A moment later, Dino's cell phone rang.

"Yeah?" Dino listened.

"We'll pick you up at Seventy-sixth and Third," Dino said, "then we'll play switch with the two cars." He hung up and spoke to his driver. "Get us over to Third fast; use the lights to get across Park and Lex, but no siren, and turn off the lights after Lex."

The driver switched on the lights and moved down Seventy-sixth Street, made his way across Park against the lights, crossed Lex and switched off his flashing light.

Dino got back on his cell phone and pressed the speaker button. "Where are you?"

"We caught a light at Seventy-first, but we're moving again, crossing Seventy-second," the detective said.

"What's our guy driving?"

"A beat-up Ford van, tan in color, New York plates." They gave him the number. "We're in a gray Toyota."

"I'll pick him up at Seventy-sixth, and you drop back, but keep me in sight. I'm in a black Crown Vic."

"Gotcha."

"When the light turns green, turn left on Third and double-park on the right," Dino said.

The driver followed instructions, and a moment later, the van passed them.

"Now, you're the tail," Dino said. "Stay well back, but don't lose him." He spoke into the cell phone. "If you see our turn indicator go on, he's turning in the opposite direction at the next corner, and you pick up the tail."

"Gotcha."

They followed the tan van up Third Avenue to Eighty-sixth, where it turned right.

"Give a left-turn signal and make a left," Dino said, "then make a U-turn in the middle of the block. Don't use your turn indicator."

Stone looked back as the gray Toyota turned down Eighty-sixth after the van. A moment later, they made a U-turn and were back on the chase.

"Okay our guys are making a left-turn signal," Dino said. "The van is turning right on Second; follow him."

"Right," the driver replied.

Now the van drove down Second Avenue. There was little traffic, so Dino's driver stayed well back, and he and the Toyota changed positions frequently.

"What's he doing?" Stone asked.

"He's looking for a tail," Dino's driver replied, pulling over and double-parking in front of a news shop, to let the Toyota pass.

"Don't worry, he's not going to make us," Dino said. "This guy's a burglar; he don't know from tails."

The van went down to Twenty-third Street, made a right, went to Madison and made another right.

"This could go on all night," Stone said.

"We got all night," Dino replied.

"We'd better think about what we're going to do when he stops," Stone said.

"Call in the cavalry?"

"There are five of us; let's keep it to that. We're not storming a military installation. And we're not going in anywhere, unless we have reason to believe Arrington is there."

"Your call," Dino said. "Hang on, the guy's turning right on Thirty-second Street," Dino said into his cell phone.

They did their trick and switched cars again. Dino's driver made a U-turn and followed.

"He's stopping in the middle of the block," a voice said from the cell phone. "It's a bar. I'm driving past him. He found a parking place, and he's going in."

Dino watched Bocca go into the bar as they passed. They turned a corner and Dino told his driver to stop.

"Okay, on foot, now," Dino said into the cell phone. "You two guys walk past the place, one on each side of the street. Position yourselves where you can see the entrance, but where you can't be seen. If he gets back into the van, call me. Look for more than just him leaving; look for a woman."

"You think we ought to go in?" Stone asked.

"The guy could just be having a drink, you know. We go in, we're blown."

"What do you suggest?"

"Wait him out. If he leaves, we follow. If he leaves with a woman, we pounce. If the woman isn't Arrington, we sweat him."

"Makes sense to me," Stone said.

"I'll take the first nap," Dino replied. He turned up the collar of his overcoat, rested his head against the back of the seat and immediately seemed to fall asleep.

Stone just sat and waited.