Sex, Lies & Serious Money

49

The two burglars ran into Barrington’s office and got the door to the security panel open.

“Piece of cake,” Irv said, flipping switches. A piercing alarm siren beat against their eardrums, then Irv found the right switch, and it stopped. “That’s enough to alert the security company,” Irv said. “You’d better get your ass in gear.”

Curly ran up the stairs carrying his handcart.

Sid tried the front door of the little office building: locked tight, and there was no watchman. He was going to have to call for help, and he dreaded doing so. He felt his pocket for his cell phone, then remembered it was on his desk with the rest of the contents of his pockets. He glanced at the deli across the street and remembered it had a pay phone. He groped in his pockets: no quarters, no coins at all. He found the three dollar bills the pizza guy had given him for change and walked across the street to the deli. The place was deserted, only the counterman there.

“Hi,” Sid said, “I’m from across the street, and I locked my cell phone in my office.” He placed a one on the counter. “Can you give me four quarters, please?”

The counterman pointed at a sign. NO CHANGE FOR PHONE, it read. “Tell you what, give me one quarter for a buck.”

“What’s that in your hand?” the counterman asked, nodding at the Domino’s box.

“It’s a pizza.”

“We sell pizza,” the man said accusingly.

“Domino’s puts more stuff on theirs than you do on yours. C’mon, Mac, give me a quarter for a buck.”

The man ignored him and wiped something imaginary off his counter.

“All right,” Sid said, placing another dollar on the counter, “two bucks for a quarter.”

“The boss would fire me.”

Sid came up with his last dollar. “It’s all I’ve got. Be a human being.”

The man opened the cash register and started removing bills.

“You’ve got quarters staring you in the face,” Sid said.

The man ignored him.

“That’s it,” Sid said. “I’m never ordering a sandwich here again.”

“When did you ever?” the man said.

“Go fuck yourself.”

“At least I’ll know I’m doing it with somebody who loves me.”

Sid walked out and hailed the first cab he saw. “I’ll give you three bucks for a quarter,” he said to the driver through his ever-open window.

“What’s wrong with the ones?” the driver asked.

“Not a thing. I just need to make a call, and I don’t have any change.”

The driver popped a quarter out of his change holder and grabbed the three bills, then drove away.

Sid looked up and down the block. Where the hell was another pay phone? He sighed and went back to the deli, where he found a CLOSED sign on the door, which was locked. The counterman was pushing a mop around the place.

Fred flicker had just pulled into the garage in the Bentley when the alarm siren wailed for a moment, then turned off. Had the garage door opener set off the system? he asked himself. That shouldn’t happen. He got out of the car, unbuttoned his jacket, and unholstered his little .380 automatic, which was big enough to frighten or wound, but not big enough to bring a man down, except with a shot to the heart or the head. He walked over to the door and let himself quietly into the house.

He walked stealthily into Stone’s office and saw the door to the security panel open. Uh-oh, he thought. He heard a noise to his left and wheeled, the gun in front of him. The figure of a man was running toward the kitchen. Fred screamed, “Please! Stop or I’ll shoot!” The “please” was intended to sound like “police.” The man kept moving; Fred lowered his aim and squeezed off a round. He was surprised at how much noise the small gun made in the enclosed space. The man made the kitchen door and kept running. A moment later, Fred heard the back door slam. The man had made the garden.

Upstairs, Curly had four pictures on his cart when he heard the gunshot. He ran toward the back stairs to the kitchen, down them, and out into the garden, passing Irv, who was running with a big limp.

“Don’t you leave me here, you son of a bitch!” Irv yelled.

Curly made the gate to Second Avenue and looked for the van. Shit, she had parked across the street, and traffic was heavy. Irv caught up with him just as the light changed, and they both made it into the van. “Let’s get out of here!” he yelled at Maria, and she floored the vehicle.

Fred checked upstairs and found the cart with the four pictures on it, then he looked into the kitchen before he called. Nobody there. He called Stone’s cell number and got an answer after four rings.

“What?” Stone demanded.

“We’ve had an intrusion,” Fred said calmly. “I put a bullet into one of them, but he kept running. They both made it out of the house. They were after your mother’s pictures, had four of them on a cart, but they left everything behind. Shall I call nine-one-one?”

“No, but the police will be there soon. Get your story straight before they come.” Stone hung up.

“Yes, sir!” Fred said into the dead phone.

Sid finally found a pay phone in a candy store two blocks away and made the call, then he waited at the service door to his building, and four minutes later a Strategic Services van pulled up, and a man got out.

“I’m locked out,” Sid said.

“So I hear. I’ve got a master key.” He unlocked the door and Sid ran for his monitoring room. A light was flashing that told him an alarm had gone off at the Barrington residence. He tapped in the code and brought up the cameras at the scene. A small man was sitting at Barrington’s office desk; he appeared to be checking his e-mail on his iPhone. He called the number and got an answer.

“You’re a little late, aren’t you?”

“Technical difficulties,” Sid replied. “Do you require assistance?”

“Negative,” Fred said, then hung up.

Stone found Dino talking to a beautiful actress, who was a guest at the party. Viv was across the room talking to somebody else. He beckoned to Dino.

“What’s up?” Dino asked.

“Two intruders at my house. Fred winged one of them, but they both got away.”

Dino sighed and pulled out his cell phone. “That’s the last time I’ll ever see that gorgeous woman.” He pressed a cell phone button. “This is Bacchetti. I need a pair of uniforms and a team of detectives in Turtle Bay.” He gave them the address. “They’ll find a Fred Flicker there. He belongs, so tell them not to give him a hard time.” He hung up. The actress was across the room, talking to two other men. “Shit.”