Loitering with Intent

STONE SWA M BACK into consciousness, opened his eyes, then closed them again. Some sort of bright light had blinded him. A cool hand was resting on his forehead.

“What?” Stone replied. He tried to open his eyes again but it didn’t work.

“It’s too bright,” Stone said. Immediately, the brightness disappeared.

Stone opened his eyes and found his vision filled with the face of a woman. “What happened?” he asked.

Dino’s face replaced the woman’s, and Tommy Sculley was right behind him. “We found you face down on the sidewalk,” he said.

“I liked the other face better,” Stone said and tried to sit up straighter.

“Let’s get him up on the bench,” the woman said, and hands gripped his arms and helped him upward.

“How the hell should I know?” Stone said irritably. “I was unconscious, wasn’t I?”

“Yeah, that was kind of the point,” Dino said. “Do you have any idea how you got that way?”

“Well, I was sitting at a table with you and Tommy, having a drink, and then I woke up here.”

“I’ve got a headache,” Stone said, rubbing the back of his neck and finding it sore.

The woman spoke again. “He should really be in a hospital,” she said.

“I don’t need to go to a hospital,” Stone retorted. “I need some aspirin and a drink.”

She explored the back of his head and his neck with her fingers, and he winced when she got to his neck. “Seems like a blow to the back of the neck, rather than his head, so I think we can discount a skull fracture or a concussion.”

“Who the hell are you?” Stone grumbled. “And where’s that drink?”

“Oh, all right, give him what he wants,” she said, sounding exasperated. “Get him into bed and keep him there until morning, and call me if he’s still disoriented when he wakes up.” She handed Dino a card. “Good night, Mr. Barrington,” she said. “I hope you feel better tomorrow.”

Tommy put a glass of bourbon and two aspirin into Stone’s hand. “There you go.”

Stone washed down the aspirin with the bourbon and took a deep breath. “That’s better,” he said.

“Sure I can.” He stood up and held on to Tommy’s shoulder for a moment. “I’m hungry. We hadn’t ordered dinner, had we?”

“No, we hadn’t, but the doctor said you should be in bed.”

“The woman who just washed her hands of you and left,” Dino said. “Come on, Tommy, let’s get him inside; he’s not going to cooperate.”

The three men went back into the restaurant and sat down at their table.

“I don’t want to make a spectacle of myself,” Stone said. “People are staring at me as it is.” He took another slug of the bourbon, and it began reaching the places it should, including the back of his neck. “Now, will you guys tell me what the hell happened?”

“I directed you to a guy at the bar,” Tommy said. “You showed me his picture. Evan Keating?”

“You walked over to him and apparently introduced yourself, gave him your card, then the two of you walked outside.”

“I don’t remember that, either,” Stone said, sipping more bourbon.

“Tommy and I were talking for a couple of minutes, not paying attention to you, then Janet came over and said you were lying on the sidewalk outside, and that’s where we found you.”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Stone said. “Are you saying that Evan Keating knocked me unconscious, and that I didn’t see it coming?”

“Seems like you caught one on the back of the neck,” Tommy said. “Dino, did you see anybody follow them out?”

A waiter brought menus, and they ordered, and someone brought a plate of hummus and some bread.

“That’s probably a good sign,” Tommy replied. “If you were badly hurt, you wouldn’t be thinking about food and booze.”

“He hardly ever thinks about anything else,” Dino said, “except women.”

“Speaking of women,” Stone said, “who was that doctor? She looked pretty good.”

Dino handed Stone her card. “I think he’s going to be okay,” he said to Tommy.