Kisser

STONE WALKED UP to her table and held out his hand. “Hello, Hildy,” he said.

“Sure, please sit down. I’m expecting a friend, but I’m a little early.”

“Hildy, I have some information for you, but I’m going to have to ask you to give me your word that you will not discuss this with any other person.”

“I mean, not with your father, not with Derek Sharpe, and not with anyone else.”

She looked at him suspiciously. “Are you going to try to talk me out of seeing Derek?”

“I’m not going to try to talk you out of anything. I just have important but highly confidential information to give you.”

“All right, I promise I won’t discuss it with anyone else.”

“I know that he’s from Texas and that he had a hardscrabble childhood.”

“Wrong. He’s the son of a prosperous junk dealer, and he grew up with money.”

“Look, I don’t need this from you, Stone. This smacks of something my father would do. Are you working for him?”

“I don’t care whose knowledge it is—I don’t want to hear about it. I’m a grown woman, and I can judge people for myself.”

“All right, then let me tell you something you don’t know that might help you form your own judgment.”

She sighed. “All right, and then this conversation will be over.”

“If you continue to be close to Derek for so much as another day, it is likely that you will be arrested.” That seemed to register with her, so he continued. “And it is very likely that you will end up in prison.”

“That’s all I have to tell you,” Stone said. “If you pass that on to Derek, someone could get killed. I would advise you to absent yourself from Derek for a few days—a death in the family, a sick friend, any excuse.”

“Derek and I are about to take a vacation,” she said. “Out of the country.”

“If you go with him, you will find yourself a fugitive from justice,” Stone said. “I tell you this only because I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I hope you understand that.”

He started to rise, but she put her hand on his arm, and he sat down again.

“You seem like a trustworthy person,” she said, “but so does Derek.”

“One of us has ulterior motives,” Stone said. “One of us is lying to you. One of us wants your money. If you need a place to go for a few days I have a house in Turtle Bay with guest rooms.” He took a card from his coat pocket and handed it to her. “My secretary is there all day. May I tell her to expect you?”

“No, I don’t need a place to hide,” she replied, but she put the card in her bag.

“My cell phone number is on the back of the card,” Stone said.

“Call me day or night, but whatever you do, don’t go back to Derek’s place and don’t see him for a few days.” He took a key from his pocket. “This will let you into my house.” He wrote the security code on another card and gave it to her. “Please, please, make yourself safe by being alone for a few days.”

“I’ll think about what you’ve said,” Hildy replied, then looked up and waved. “My friend is here.”

Stone got up and went back to his table, where Dino had started without him.

“Your cheeseburger is getting cold,” Dino said. “Who was that?”

“Her name is Hildy Parsons. She’s the reason I got mixed up in this thing with Brian Doyle.”

“That looked like a pretty earnest conversation,” Dino said.

“I hope she heard me.” Stone’s cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“It’s Mitzi. I wanted you to know that we hit pay dirt at Teterboro,” she said. “Larsen and Sharpe have chartered half a dozen times from the same company, every time to the Bahamas or some other island.”

“It’s probably where they’re banking,” Stone said. “They would probably go to some other island first and then change planes if they’re carrying cash.”

Stone wanted to tell her about Hildy Parsons, but he decided not to. “See you tomorrow morning at the Carlyle,” he said.