by Stuart Woods
A waiter brought them drinks, then Frank Pellegrino, the owner and grandnephew of the founder, came over and pulled up a chair. Frankie looked familiar even to people who had never been to Rao’s, because he was also an actor, most recently playing a recurring role on the FBI team assigned to bring Tony Soprano’s mob to justice.
Kisses and handshakes were exchanged.
“So what’s it going to be tonight?” Frankie asked. A detailed discussion of what was available ensued, and they ordered more dishes than they could possibly eat.
“It’s okay,” Tiff said, “I’ll take the leftovers home to the Waldorf Towers.”
Stone ordered a bottle of wine and looked around the room: His eyes came to rest on the nose of a man in a booth across the room. Most of the rest of him was blocked by the wing of his booth; the nose was terribly familiar, but Stone couldn’t quite place it.
Dishes began to arrive, and they tried, but failed, to keep up. There was veal, shrimp, an eggplant dish, chicken and, of course, pasta.
“You know, this is the best plain tomato sauce I’ve ever tasted,” Stone said. “I don’t know how Frankie does it.” Frankie also cooked.
“You’re right. In Washington I used to buy it by the jar at my neighborhood grocery store.”
They ate and ate, until they couldn’t eat any more, then the remains were packed up for Tiff to take home. As they were waiting for the check, the man across the room rose from his booth and, with his female companion, began to move toward the door, picking his way through the expanding crowd at the bar. To Stone’s annoyance, he managed this with his back turned to their table. Then, as the man disappeared out the front door, it struck him. “Billy Bob,” he said.
“What?”
“I swear, that was Billy Bob who just left.”
“I didn’t see him.”
“I could only see him from behind.” Stone got up. “I’ll be right back.” He made his way through the crowd to the front door and stepped outside. The red Hummer was pulling away, driven by a chauffeur. The rear windows were darkened, and Stone couldn’t see inside. He watched it disappear up the street, undeterred by the accumulating snow, which now amounted to about eight inches. He got out his cell phone and called Dino.
“Bacchetti.”
“It’s Stone; I’m at Rao’s, and I’m sure Billy Bob just left.”
“Sounds like you’re not really sure.”
“I never got a look at the guy’s face, but I’m sure it was Billy Bob. He should be easy to pick up, he’s in a bright red Hummer.”
“Why are you telling me?”
“Oh, did you retire from the NYPD when I wasn’t looking?”
“It’s nothing to do with me; I handed this one off to Lance, remember? You were there. Call Lance.” Dino hung up.
Stone called Lance’s cell phone.
“Yes?” he drawled.
“It’s Stone; I’m pretty sure I just spotted Billy Bob.”
“Where?”
“Leaving Rao’s. You know the restaurant uptown?”
“Of course; I’m a regular.”
“You’ve got a table at Rao’s?”
“Every week.”
“How the hell did you do that?”
“Frankie and I go way back. Tell me about this person you think was Billy Bob.”
“He was eating at a booth across the room from us, and I never got a clear look at his face, but I’m pretty sure it was him.”
“Which way did he go?”
“Downtown, I imagine,” Stone said dryly. “Where else would he go but downtown? And in a bright red Hummer.”
“Did you get the plate number?”
“It’s a bright red Hummer, for Christ’s sake! You don’t need a plate number.”
“Probably from a service; if I had a plate number, I could track it down and maybe back to Billy Bob.”
“Well, I didn’t get it; I’m up to my ass in snow, here, and the visibility isn’t too good.”
“It’s snowing?”
“Where are you, in a cave?”
“I’m in my study.”
“Well, take a look out a window sometime. I’ve done my duty; good night!” He hung up and went back into Rao’s brushing snowflakes off his shoulders and hair. He was slightly damp all over, now. He sat down in the booth. “I called it in, but Dino wasn’t interested.”
“Wasn’t interested? Isn’t the guy wanted for murder in this city?”
“He’s handed the case off to Lance.”
“Who the hell is Lance?”
Stone realized he’d said too much. “Ah, I can’t really talk about that.”
“What do you mean? You’re not making any sense at all.”
“Are you going to call in this sighting to your people?”
“What can I tell them?”
“That a guy I’m pretty sure is Billy Bob is headed downtown from Rao’s in a red Hummer.”
“He was in the Hummer we saw?”
“Yes, and he’s getting farther downtown every minute. Don’t you think your feds would want to know that?”
Tiff got out her cell phone and dialed a number. “Tell your boss that someone strongly resembling Rodney Peeples has been seen leaving a restaurant in Spanish Harlem and is on his way downtown in a red Hummer.” She listened for a moment, then covered the receiver. “Did you get a license number?” she asked Stone.
Stone shook his head. “Poor visibility; it’s really snowing hard, now.”
“No license number; poor visibility, but how many red Hummers can there be in New York City? Great, pass it on.” She hung up. “Okay, I reported it; can we go home and make love, now?”
“You betcha,” Stone said.
21
BY THE TIME they had had coffee and an after-dinner drink, the snow was a foot deep in the streets. They piled into the Lincoln.
“Home, James,” Tiff said. “I’ve always wanted to say that,” she said. “And his name really is James.”
The car fishtailed slowly up the street and turned downtown. “I wish I had chains,” the driver said.
“You’re doing fine,” Tiff replied.
The driver worked his way downtown and over to Park Avenue, passing cars in various levels of disarray along their route. They had just turned south again when Stone pointed ahead. “Look!”
Tiff peered through the windshield. “All I see is snow.”
“It’s the red Hummer,” Stone said. “Stop right here, driver.”
“I’m afraid that if I stop, I won’t be able to get going again,” James replied. They were passing the Hummer, now, which had apparently stopped to help another car out of a drift.
“Pull over right here, goddammit!” Stone orderd.
“Pull over, James,” Tiff said.
James pulled over.
“Now what?” Tiff asked.
“James, are you an FBI agent?” Stone asked.
“No, sir, I’m just a hired hand.”
“Are you armed?”
“Yes, sir.”
“James is an employee of the Justice Department, and he’s armed, but he’s not a law-enforcement official,” Tiff said. “He can’t arrest anybody.”
“James, will you loan me your gun, please?” Stone asked.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Barrington, but I can’t do that,” James replied.
Swearing under his breath, Stone got out his cell phone and called Lance again.
“Yes?”
“Lance, I’m in a black Lincoln, stopped at the corner of Ninety-fourth and Park, and the red Hummer is right behind me, pulling another car out of a drift.”
“Hold, please,” Lance said.
Stone could hear him ordering up people on a landline.
“I’ve scrambled some cars, but in the present circumstances, it’s going to take them some time to get there. Are you armed?”
“No.”
“In the future, I would prefer that you carry at all times. This fellow is dangerous.”
> “I’m aware of that, and we have an armed driver, but he can’t arrest anybody, and he won’t loan me his gun.”
Stone looked out the window and saw the Hummer drive past. “The Hummer is on the move,” he said, “driving down Park.”
“Stay with him, and keep me posted; I’ll stay on the line.”
“Let’s go, James,” Stone said. “Stay with the Hummer.”
“Right,” James replied. He put the Lincon in gear and pressed the accelerator. The car did not move. “Oh, shit,” James said.
“Try rocking it back and forth,” Stone said.
James tried doing that, but it didn’t help.
“Lance,” Stone said, “We’re stuck in the snow, and we’re losing the Hummer. Are your people anywhere near?”
“Hang on.” Lance went back to the landline, then returned. “They’re making their way up Park from about Thirty-fourth Street,” he said.
“Well, all you can do is to keep them on Park, looking for a red Hummer. If they spot him, then they can make a U-turn.”
“That’s what they’re doing,” Lance said. “I’m going to hang up, now; I’m missing Letterman’s Top Ten.” He clicked off.
“So much for the CIA,” Stone muttered, putting away his cell phone.
“You’ve been on the phone with the CIA?” Tiff asked.
“Try and forget I said that.”
“This Lance guy is CIA?”
“I told you, I can’t talk about him.”
“Stone, I’m a high federal official; you can talk to me about the CIA.”
“No, I can’t; I’ve signed a contract that . . .” He stopped himself. “I’m going to shut up now.”
James was still trying to rock the Lincoln back and forth.
“I’m not going to leave you alone until you tell me about this,” Tiff said, goosing him.
“Nope.”
She grabbed his crotch and squeezed.
“Easy, there!” Stone cried. “That will get you a lot, but not the information you want.”
Then the car started to move. “I got it going,” James said.
“Stay on Park and find the red Hummer,” Stone said.
“Ma’am?”
“Oh, all right, do it, James.” Tiff sighed. “I’m never going to get you into bed, am I?” she whispered to Stone.
“Yes, you are,” Stone said, “but let’s take Billy Bob, first.”
“I can’t see ten feet in front of me,” James said. “It’s crazy to be driving in this stuff.”
“James,” Tiff said, “If you don’t see the Hummer by the time we get to the Waldorf, we’re stopping there.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I want Billy Bob,” Stone said.
“You may have to settle for me,” Tiff replied, snuggling up to him, leaving her hand, more gently, on his crotch.
Presently, James turned left, and the Waldorf swam at them out of the snow.
“Continue on to my house,” Stone said.
“Oh, all right. Do it, James.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
By some miracle, they made it to Stone’s, and they got out and made their way toward the front steps. Suddenly, Tiff pushed Stone, and he went facedown in a drift.
“I’m going to get you for that!” Stone cried, struggling to his feet and throwing a handful of snow at her as she trudged up the front steps.
“Do it in bed!” she yelled back.
22
WHEN STONE ARRIVED at Elaine’s the following night, Lance was already seated, and Dino was next to him. “Evening, all,” Stone said. “And I thought it was just you and me, Lance, tête à tête.”
“Oh, we have no secrets from Dino, Stone; you know that.”
“I wish I had some secrets from him,” Stone replied, as a waiter set a Knob Creek on the rocks before him.
“Never happen, pal,” Dino said. “You’ll always be an open book to me.”
“Isn’t it nice to have good friends?” Lance observed.
“It is, when they’re not trying to hang a murder charge on you.”
“Dino would never do that.”
“He’s done it twice in the last week.”
Dino shrugged. “All I do is follow the evidence, wherever it leads. It’s just more fun when it leads to Stone.”
“This is just great,” Stone said, raising his glass, “Lance is following me wherever I go, and my best friend is trying to send me to prison for the rest of my life. Who needs enemies?”
Elaine sat down. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Only if you’re willing to defend me.”
“Against what?”
“Whatever these two come up with.”
“I’m staying out of this one,” she replied.
“I’m hungry,” Stone said. “Let’s order.”
“Well, that makes a nice change,” Elaine said, then she got up and moved to another table.
The three of them ordered.
“So,” Stone said, when the waiter had left, “did you two come to an understanding on . . . let’s see, it’s Whitney Stanford, this time, isn’t it?”
“We did,” Lance said.
“In spite of the ballistics test,” Dino said. “The slug from your forty-four was a perfect match.”
“I told you, it’s not my forty-four.”
“Well, if Lance is going to take Billy Bob off my hands, you’re all I’ve got left.”
“Lance,” Stone said, ignoring Dino, “come on, give us the real poop on your Whitney Stanford guy.”
“I told you, he’s trying to sell some new hand grenades to bad people.”
“What new hand grenades?”
“That’s top secret, I’m afraid.”
“Dino and I already have that clearance, and anyway, if Billy Bob knows about them, why can’t we?”
“The army has developed a new, rifle-launched grenade that’s about ten times as powerful as their current ordnance.”
“Sounds dangerous,” Stone said.
“That’s why it’s rifle launched. It can’t be activated by hand; it’s activated by the rifle, when it’s fired, and it has a range of up to three hundred yards.”
“Sounds more like a mortar,” Dino said.
“In many ways it is. You can imagine what terrorists could do with it in a crowded city. From the top of a building they could lob the things in all directions at, say, a street demonstration or a parade.”
“Or in Times Square,” Dino observed.
“I shudder to think,” Lance said.
“How did Billy Bob get ahold of them?”
“Stolen from an army proving ground in New Mexico; probably an inside job. An investigation is under way.”
“How many did he get?”
“Thirty-six.”
Stone rolled his eyes. “I can see why you want him so badly.”
“And before he sells them,” Lance said. “It exacerbates the situation that they’re small and can be carried in a couple of briefcases.”
Their dinner arrived.
“He has an airplane, you know,” Stone said.
“Who?”
“Billy Bob.”
“What kind of an airplane?”
“A GIV. That has a range of, what, forty-five hundred miles?”
“How do you know this?” Lance asked.
“Actually, I don’t know it. The first time Dino and I met him, he said he’d just arrived at Teterboro and an engine had eaten a bird and had to be replaced. For all I know, the airplane may just be another of Billy Bob’s lies. God knows, everything else he’s told me has been a lie.”
“Not everything,” Lance said. “He told you the truth about being in Hawaii.”
“You found him?”
“We found out he’d been there, but he had checked out of a cottage at the Hana Ranch on Maui by the time we got there. We’re checking on yachts now. I wish I’d known about the GIV earlier; he may already be gone, and he could go just about anywhere in th
at thing. I’ll phone it in when I’ve finished this steak. I don’t suppose you have a tail number?”
“Nope. You think he’s already moved the grenades?”
“Maybe not; he’s missing one thing.”
“What?”
“The modification to the standard rifle launcher that arms the grenade when it’s fired. All the ones in New Mexico are accounted for, and if he sold it to these people without the arming mechanism, he’d get a bullet in the brain, or worse.”
“The grenades can’t be fired any other way?”
“Nope. You could dribble one like a basketball, and it wouldn’t explode. The mechanism does everything—launches it and arms it, with a single pull of the trigger.”
“You know,” Stone said, “every time we invent some new method of killing, the bad guys get it. That’s been true from the slingshot to the atomic bomb, and now the administration wants to spend a lot of money developing tiny nuclear weapons. Don’t they ever learn?”
“If they did, I’d be out of work,” Lance said.
23
STONE WAS DOING the Times crossword in bed the following morning, when the intercom buzzed. Stone picked it up. “Yes, Joan?”
“Good morning.”
“Good morning.”
“Did you listen to the phone messages when you came in last night?”
“No.”
“There’s one from Bill Eggers: He wants you at an important meeting at ten A.M., at Woodman and Weld.”
Stone looked at his bedside clock; it was nine twenty-five. “Oh, God.”
“Maybe it’s something that will produce some income,” she said. “You can’t keep selling stock.”
“I’m running,” Stone said, heading for the shower.
HE ARRIVED at the meeting in Eggers’s office ten minutes late.
“Good afternoon,” Eggers said pointedly.
“I’m sorry. I got your message only a few minutes ago.”