Sex, Lies & Serious Money

42

Stone was still dozing when he felt the bed move and opened an eye. Hev was sitting there, still wearing the towel, but her hair was dry and her makeup applied.

“What time is dinner?” she asked.

“Seven-thirty.”

“Then we have nearly an hour, don’t we?”

“We do.”

“How would you like to spend it?”

“Without the bath towel,” he replied.

She whipped it off and tossed it in the direction of the guest bath. “There, is that better?”

“Much better.” He reached for her, but she shied away.

“I’m not getting into bed with a fully clothed man,” she said. “I have my standards.”

Stone quickly fixed that, and she crawled across the bed and sank into his arms.

“Is this all part of the Strategic Services home security program?” he asked. “Mike Freeman didn’t mention it.”

“Apparently,” she said, “Mr. Freeman is a mischief maker.” She stroked his lower belly. “Such nice abs,” she said, “for a man of your age.”

“Thanks, I think.”

She poked at his belly. “How do you maintain them?”

“Painfully.”

“Oh, and they’re not all that’s nice.” She stroked him.

“It likes you, too,” he said.

She kissed him on a nipple and that brought him fully to attention.

“All we need is a lubricant,” he said, starting to reach for a bedside drawer.

She pulled him back. “No, we don’t,” she replied, and she was right.

She shook him awake at six-thirty. “We don’t want to be late meeting your friends.”

Stone sat up on one elbow. “Actually, it’s only one friend. His wife is out of town. You may know her — Vivian Bacchetti?”

“We all know Viv,” she said. “So we’re having dinner with Dino?”

“We are. Dino and I have had more dinners without Viv than with. She’s always traveling on business. I’d better get into a shower.”

“While you’re doing that, I’ll freshen up and get some clothes on.”

“But you look so nice as you are.”

“I’m delighted you think so, but we don’t want to cause a scandal at Georgette’s, do we?” She repaired to the bathroom.

He showered and put on fresh clothes. Fred awaited them downstairs, and they arrived at the restaurant on time. Dino was already at the table with a drink in front of him. “Yours is on the way, Stone, and this must be Hev?”

“How do you do, Dino?” she asked, offering her hand.

“Not as well as you do,” he replied.

“I’d like a vodka gimlet, straight up,” she said, and Dino spoke to their waiter.

Two hours passed and a large roast chicken was reduced to a pile of bones before them.

“Is your installation complete?” Dino asked.

“Tomorrow,” Hev replied.

“That’s very fast.”

“It’s a wireless installation, the latest thing.” She dug an iPhone from her bag, fired it up, and opened an app. “Here’s the view of your office, Stone.”

Stone took the phone from her. “It looks like a movie set,” he said, “photographed from half a dozen angles.”

“Pick one and tap on it.”

He did so, and a shot of his desktop filled the screen. “Wow.”

“It’s even more impressive on an iPad,” she said. She took him through the other angles, then zoomed in and out. “Now the master suite.”

“Oops,” Stone said, “I forgot to make the bed this morning.”

“Stone,” Dino said, “you never lift a finger in that house, and it’s never less than neat for more than five minutes.”

“Oh, shut up, Dino,” Stone said, while Hev giggled. “Look, there’s Bob,” she said. The dog trotted into the room and promptly hopped onto the unmade bed and curled up.

“Can I yell at him?” Stone asked.

“I can look into adding that feature, but usually our clients would rather be phoning the police instead of yelling at intruders.”

“It could be a very good dog-training device,” Stone said, “and maybe even a good marketing pitch for wronged husbands.”

“Give me your iPhone,” she said, “and I’ll download the app and set it up for you.”

Stone gave her his phone and continued to fiddle with hers. “Uh-oh,” he said suddenly. “We have company.”

She took her phone and gazed at the image. A large man was wandering around his office, wearing gloves and a woolen cap and opening drawers. The shot was from above, and the cap shielded his face.

“How the hell did he get in?” Stone asked.

“The same way he did last time,” Hev said. “I’ll bet you didn’t arm the alarm system.”

Dino pressed a speed-dial button on his phone. “This is Bacchetti. I want a squad car in Turtle Bay immediately.” He gave his office the address. “The front door should be open.”

“Don’t rub it in,” Stone said. Hev handed him back his phone, fully operational. “The guy is going through every drawer and cabinet.”

“He’s quite neat,” Hev said. “I don’t think he wants you to know he’s been there. Hang on! He’s heard something, and he’s getting out.”

The culprit ran toward the back of the office and disappeared through a door.

“He’s headed for the kitchen,” Hev said, “and we haven’t got set up there yet.”

“No, he’s headed through the kitchen and out the back door into our common garden,” Stone said. “Dino, can you get a car to cover the exit from the garden to Second Avenue?”

Dino got out his phone and gave the order, checking his watch. “They’ll be there in two minutes.”

“Hev, I think covering my house is going to be a bigger order than you planned,” Stone said.

“Mike Freeman will love that,” she replied. “What else do you want done?”

“Certainly the kitchen and a view of the garden from upstairs. And you need to adjust your cameras so that an intruder’s face won’t be shielded by a hat or a hoodie.”

“Consider it done,” she said, tapping notes into her phone.

“And you still have to change the outer door locks,” he said. “That’s twice this guy has picked the lock.”

“We had to order the new Israeli locks. They’ll be in tomorrow.”

“Aw, shit!” Dino said, listening on his phone.

“What?”

“They missed the guy on Second Avenue. He’s flown the coop.”

“That’s bad news,” Stone said.

“The news isn’t all bad,” Dino said. “I recognize your intruder.”

“Who is he?”

“His name is Marvin Jones, just out of the joint.”

“But we couldn’t see his face.”

“I still recognized him.”

“From where?”

“From tapes of the cameras in Laurence Hayward’s apartment. Trust me, it’s the same guy.”