Sex, Lies & Serious Money

37

Stone and Jinx arrived at Teterboro, where they were met by Fred in the Bentley.

At home, Stone introduced Jinx to Joan, and Bob made a fool of himself over her. Stone gave Jinx the tour, then dispatched her to her own apartment downtown after asking her to dinner. She had promptly agreed. “Fred will come for you at seven o’clock,” he had said, giving her a kiss.

Stone went into his office and called Dino.

“You made it back?” Dino asked. “I was beginning to doubt your return.”

“We spent a couple of days with Laurence and his girl, Theresa.”

“How is our young billionaire?”

“Half a billionaire — he started out with more, but after a few real estate investments and many pieces of art, his net worth is down a hundred million or so.”

“That’s gotta be tough on the kid.”

“Well, yeah.”

“I dreamed I came into that much money the other night, and I couldn’t think of anything to spend it on.”

“Sure you could, and if you couldn’t, Viv would take up the slack.”

“Good point.”

“Dinner at Patroon, seven-thirty? I’ll introduce you to a new jeune fille.”

“See you there.” They hung up.

Stone went through the mail and signed a stack of checks, while Fred unpacked for him. Joan sat down, handing him things to sign. “How’s our boy billionaire?” she asked.

“Half a billionaire,” Stone said. “There’s a difference.”

“What can a billionaire buy that a half billionaire can’t?”

“An office building, his own country, like that.”

“Ah.”

“By the way, the annual Strategic Services event is going to be held at Laurence’s apartment, instead of here. When the invite comes, accept.”

“Will do. Helene will be enormously relieved.”

“Why? She wouldn’t have had to do anything. The caterers would have handled it.”

“Yes, but she’d feel the responsibility to supervise them and count the silver when they’d gone.”

Stone walked down to Patroon, while Fred went to pick up Jinx; he got there first and found Dino and Viv waiting for him. A waiter brought him a Knob Creek.

“You promised us a new girl,” Viv said. “Where is she?”

“She lives downtown — in an artist’s loft, I think. Fred will deliver her.”

“How convenient,” Viv replied.

“Dino,” Stone said, “if Laurence Hayward calls you to get your help with a gun permit, please turn him down.”

“I nearly always turn down people who make that request,” Dino said.

“Good.” He looked up to see Jinx enter the restaurant and stood up to make the introductions. Once Jinx had settled into their booth, Viv pounced, grilling her for a good ten minutes about her work, her apartment, and anything else she could think of.

“I’m sorry about that,” Stone said. “Viv is very protective of me.”

“Jinx has reassured me,” Viv said. “He’s all yours, Jinx.”

“I doubt it,” Jinx said.

“No kidding, he’s between flames.”

“I’m delighted to hear it,” Jinx said. “That reminds me, I arrived home to find the place full of scaffolding. I hired some painters weeks ago, and they picked now as the best time to come.”

“You can bunk with me for the duration,” Stone said.

“I presumed to bring a couple of bags. Fred is dealing with them.”

“He can probably guess where to put them,” Viv said.

“I like Fred. He seems a very competent person.”

“You have no idea,” Stone said. “He’s an ex — Royal Marine commando, tough as nails.”

“Yet charming.”

“He is that, when he’s not intimidating someone twice his size.”

“How does he do that?”

“I don’t entirely understand it. He can do a lot with a dead-eyed stare.”

They ordered and dined. After dinner, Stone and Jinx walked slowly home.

“It’s like a different city up here,” Jinx said as they turned into Stone’s Turtle Bay street.

“That’s the way I feel in your neighborhood,” Stone said. “I get a nosebleed if I go below Forty-second Street.” They climbed the stairs to the front door, and Stone reached for his key. To his surprise the door was slightly ajar.

“Did you leave it that way?” Jinx asked.

“I did not,” Stone said. “Will you wait here while I have a look around?”

“I’d rather come with you,” she said.

“All right, but stay close behind me. I’m often armed, but not tonight.” He put a finger to his lips and stepped inside and closed the door silently.

The living room was dark; he imagined that Joan had turned off the lights using an app on her iPhone. Stone stood and listened hard. He heard a tiny sound from below his feet, then beckoned Jinx to follow. They got into the elevator, the shaft of which was heavily insulated for sound, and rode down to the lower level. As the door opened, light from the car dimly illuminated his office. There was the scuffling sound of footsteps, and he heard the outside door near Joan’s office open and close. He hit a light switch, then ran down the hall, opened the door, and stepped outside. He heard the sound of running feet going down the block toward Second Avenue, but by the time he made the sidewalk, whoever it had been was gone. He walked back into his office.

“See anyone?” Jinx asked. She had made herself at home on his leather sofa.

“Heard, didn’t see. Somebody young, I think. He really sprinted down the block.”

“Don’t you have a security system?”

“Yes, but I didn’t arm it when I left.”

“Any cameras?”

Stone flinched, thinking of his advice to Laurence. “Sadly, no.”

“How about the front door?”

“That locks when you close it. Whoever got in probably picked the lock, then went downstairs. I suppose that whatever he wanted would be more likely to be found down here than upstairs.” He walked around his desk, opened and closed some drawers, had a look at the safe. “Everything seems in about as good an order as it gets. The safe is still locked, so I guess the intruder was no yegg.”

“Yegg? Is that some sort of omelet?”

“An old-fashioned word for a safecracker. Or maybe he just didn’t have time for that before we showed up. Let me check Joan’s office.”

He had a look in there and found it in good order, then returned to his office. “We may as well go upstairs,” he said. “Nothing more to do here.”

They got into the elevator and rode up to the top floor, then went down the hall to the master suite. “Your dressing room is there,” Stone said, pointing.

Jinx had a look. “The service is pretty good around here,” she said when she came back. “Fred even put away my thongs.”

“He probably turned that duty over to Joan. I don’t think he would be so bold.”

She snaked an arm around his neck. “I hope you’re feeling bold.”

He was, and he proved it to her.