Two-Dollar Bill

52

STONE TRIED LANCE'S radio but got no answer. He got the car started and headed back for the Triborough Bridge, while dialing Lance's cell phone. No answer, so Stone left a message.

"Lance, it's over; Dino and I are out, and we've got Arrington. We're headed back to my house. There are two dead men back at Field One Twenty-one, and Dino has put out an APB for a silver Lincoln Navigator with no rear window, probably driven by Billy Bob. Call me." He hung up.

"Where's Billy Bob headed?" Dino asked.

"I don't know. Maybe to Martin Block's building in Queens. Lance has that covered. To tell you the truth, I don't really give a damn. We've got Arrington back; that's all that matters."

"Now you're talking," Arrington said.

"And what was all this in aid of?"

"Billy Bob wants to kill me."

"So, why didn't he?"

"Beats me, but I'm not going to quarrel with the fact."

"He was planning to," Arrington said. "It was about some fellow with a German name?"

"Mitteldorfer," Stone said.

"Not a friend of either of us," Dino chipped in.

"They were in prison together," Arrington said. "Until Billy Bob escaped."

"Jesus, yet another crime of his," Stone said.

"That means the whole world of law enforcement wants him," Dino replied.

"I couldn't care less, not anymore," Stone said.

"So you don't care about Billy Bob anymore?" Dino asked. "You don't want him?"

"Let Lance worry about Billy Bob; I'm done with him."

"Maybe he isn't done with you, did you think about that?"

"He'd be a fool to keep trying to kill me," Stone said. "He's got to worry about surviving, now. Anyway, Lance is going to scoop him up in Queens."

"You hope."

"I hope? Why are you being such a pessimist?"

"So far, when it comes to Billy Bob, I haven't found anything to be optimistic about."

Stone hit the remote-control button and swung into his garage, closing the door behind him.

"Where's Peter?" Arrington asked as they got out of the car.

"He's in the kitchen with McGonigle and Corey."

"Where's his nanny?"

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but she was a victim of Billy Bob or his people."

Arrington put her face in her hands. "She was a sweet girl; God, I hope this is over."

"I hope so, too."

Arrington started running. "I want to see Peter," she said.

"I promised to take him to the Central Park Zoo," Stone yelled after her. He went into his office to let Joan know he was back and to try to call Lance again. Dino went with him.

Joan was at her desk. '"Morning," she said.

"I'm back. Will you get me Lance Cabot on his cell phone?''

"Sure."

Stone heard the scream from his office. He and Dino started running toward the kitchen. When they came into the room Arrington was still screaming, as much in anger as in fear. McGonigle lay on his face in a pool of blood. Stone checked for a pulse and found none. Corey was on the other side of the kitchen table, lying on her back, with a bad-looking chest wound. Dino was bent over her.

"She's still alive," he said. He got on his phone and called for help.

Arrington had stopped screaming, but she was pointing at the kitchen table. On its top, someone had written, apparently in Corey's blood, "IT'S NOT OVER."

Stone took Arrington in his arms. "We're going to fix this," he said. "We're going to find Peter."

Joan buzzed him. "I've got Lance on the phone."

Stone picked up the extension. "Where are you?"

"Sitting on Block's place in Queens."

"We just got back to my house: McGonigle is dead, and Corey is in bad shape with a gunshot wound to the chest. Peter has been taken."

"I'll be there as fast as I can," Lance said.

"Don't take Block's building; Billy Bob may go there with Peter."

"I got your message about the APB. That may not be helpful."

"Why?"

But Lance had hung up.

THE PARAMEDICS had left with Corey and sedated Arrington by the time Lance arrived, and the coroner and a team of detectives were dealing with McGonigle's body and the crime scene in the kitchen. Stone had put Arrington to bed, and he and Dino were sitting in his study when Lance came upstairs.

"I saw McGonigle," Lance said. "Where have they taken Corey?"

"To Bellevue," Stone replied.

Lance called somebody on his cell phone. "Corey is at Bellevue Hospital with a chest wound," he said. "Find the best thoracic surgeon in New York, kidnap him, if you have to, and get him to her immediately." He snapped the phone shut. "All right, Stone," he said, "why did you call the cops?"

"Lance," Dino said, "I called the cops. I am the cops. You blew catching Billy Bob, and we now have a trail of dead bodies that can't be ignored. This is obviously bigger than your resources, and we needed an APB to find the Navigator."

"Then there's Peter," Stone said. "We need the biggest possible net out there."

Lance sat down. "This has all gone horribly wrong," he said. "We chased that fucking helicopter all the way out Long Island Sound to Montauk and halfway back, before we had to stop to refuel and lost it. I thought you were aboard."

"That's what Billy Bob arranged for you to think," Stone said. "I told you there would be some sort of switch. Has anything at all happened at Block's place?"

Lance shook his head. "I sent Sandy back in there to buy some more stuff, and he reports that all was normal. Block is working in his office, and nobody seems suspicious."

"Billy Bob is going to be in touch with him at some point. As far as we know, Block is all he's got in New York."

"We've tapped the phone lines; now all we can do is wait."

They sat silently for a while.

"Waiting is not fun," Stone said.