4
Gino and Veronica Bellini sat in first class, enjoyed a drink and lunch, then, an hour out of LaGuardia, each disappeared into a restroom with a backpack, and when they emerged, Gino was wearing a business suit, tie, and toupee, and the pillow under his belt was in the toilet tank with his old clothes and his backpack. Veronica wore a stylish dress with her long hair down, and they emerged from the airplane without luggage. Immediately outside the door two obvious police detectives were waiting in the rampway and hardly gave them a glance.
When the last passengers had left the airplane the bemused detectives went aboard and searched it thoroughly and left just as bemused, while the Bellinis drove away in a chauffeured black Mercedes, rented. They were driven to a five-star Fifth Avenue hotel and checked into a large suite.
“What now?” Veronica asked.
“We’ll get another shot at her,” Gino replied.
“Is it worth it, Gino?” Veronica asked.
“It’s worth it to me.”
“Why don’t we go to Europe for a while?”
“Maybe, we’ll see. Now, we both have some shopping to do, and I have a few chores to take care of.” He held up a computer thumb drive.
BACK IN KEY WEST, Stone and his guests had moved on to cocktails, and Viv and Meg were planning dinner.
Dino’s cell rang. “Bacchetti. Yeah? What do you mean?” He listened for a minute, then hung up.
Before Dino could speak, Stone’s cell rang. “Hello?”
“Stone, it’s Harry Kaufelt.”
“Yes, Harry?” He put the phone on speaker and set it on the table between him and Dino.
“I just got to New York, and a couple of New York cops met me. The Carews or Bellinis or whoever the fuck they are weren’t on the airplane. And I know goddamned well they got on it and took off.”
“Harry, Dino is right here. Tell us what you want to do.”
“What can I do?”
“I can put out an APB on them,” Dino said, “and we can check the hotels, but it’s a big city with thousands of hotels.”
“Thanks, Commissioner, but I don’t think we have enough evidence to ask your people to make that kind of effort. We still haven’t found the weapon. We’ll have to go another way.”
“Call me if I can help. I’ll be here the rest of the week, then in my New York office after that.”
“Yes, sir.” Everybody hung up.
“Well,” Dino said, “that’s cute—they changed their appearance on the airplane and walked right past my guys.”
“It wouldn’t have taken much,” Stone said. “Ditch their clothes down the toilet and put on something they brought in their backpacks. And I would imagine that anybody that clever and with that much money would have a new identity or two all set up, as well.”
“Meg will be safe here this week,” Dino said, “but somehow I get the feeling that she’ll be flying to New York with us this weekend.”
“I’ll admit that crossed my mind,” Stone said. “Let’s see how it goes.”
“That would put her in the same city as the Bellinis,” Dino pointed out.
“That crossed my mind, too. She’d best stay with me, I guess.”
“I guessed,” Dino replied.
VIV AND MEG were making dinner while Stone and Dino talked.
“You know,” Meg said, “I’m glad I met you all. This is a lot more fun than dining with the crusty board of the Steele Group.”
“Thanks, we’re enjoying you, too.”
“Stone seems to be almost too good to be true,” Meg said. “Is there anything I should know about him?”
“Stone used to be on the NYPD, and he and Dino were partners in the old days, so they’ve been best friends forever. Stone, believe me, is a perfectly straightforward man. He’s what he seems to be.”
“I’m delighted to hear it,” Meg said. “I had a marriage that didn’t survive the first year of my start-up, and I didn’t have much of a social life while I was building my company. Since the buyout, everything has changed but isn’t necessarily better. Anybody who reads the Wall Street Journal knows how rich I am, and I’ve had to be very careful about the men I meet.”
“I can understand that,” Viv replied. “I don’t think Stone is as rich as you are, but he’s very well off, indeed. He doesn’t need your money.”
THEY HAD PASTA at the outdoor dining table.
“I know you’re in software,” Stone said to Meg. “What are you working on these days?”
“A lot of things,” she replied, “but the one that’s taking up most of our resources is the self-driving car. We’ve stolen a march on most of our competitors, and our system is in the final stages of testing.”
“Have you tried it out in New York yet?” Stone asked. “That should be a challenge for it.”
“As we speak,” she replied. “We have six vehicles—four cars and two delivery trucks—on your streets. And we’re going to put on a demonstration for the Steele board this week in Key West.”
THE BELLINIS were now using the name Beresford on passports and credit cards, which Gino thought sounded classy. They dined at the 21 Club early and then went to see Hamilton. “These seats were twenty-five hundred each from the hotel concierge,” he said to Veronica. “But who gives a fuck? We may not be as rich as we ought to be, but we’re rich enough for right now.”
“I’m happy,” Veronica said, “but you’re not going to be until Meg is dead and buried.”
“But then I’ll be very, very happy,” he said. “I’ll keep suing them until they come up with a big settlement. With Meg gone, they’ll fold.”
“I hope you’re right,” Veronica said.
AFTER DINNER, during which a couple of bottles of wine were consumed, they all ended up in the spa, and Stone was impressed with how comfortable Meg was, being naked with new friends.
She had a shower in the master bathroom, then dressed.
“I was hoping you’d stay,” Stone said.
“Not tonight, but I won’t keep you waiting long.”
“I’ll drive you to the Casa Marina.”
“That won’t be necessary,” she said. “I called for a car. Just lead me to your front door.”
He did so, and a sleek car with a small antenna array on top was parked just outside. As they approached it, the rear door slid open, and Meg got in. “This is my pride and joy,” she said, giving him a kiss.
The door slid shut, and the car moved silently away, turning at the corner.
Stone went back inside. “Is Meg gone?” Viv asked.
“Her car came for her,” Stone said. “No driver, just the car.”
TEN MINUTES LATER, the front doorbell rang, and Stone answered it.
Meg stood there, looking unhappy.
“I hope the car didn’t have an accident,” Stone said, bringing her in.
“It didn’t,” Meg replied. “It just stopped. One of my techs is with it now.”
“You look as though you could use a drink,” Stone said.
“I certainly could,” she replied, and he poured her a gimlet.
“Did the tech figure it out?”
“He thinks it’s a software problem,” she replied.
“Software is what you do, isn’t it?”
“It is, and we have rewritten it half a dozen times over the past two years. I would think it was impossible that we would still have a bug, but while the tech was there, he got a call. All six of our vehicles in New York stopped, too.”
“So, they all have the same software bug?”
“So it seems,” she said. “I’ve already called a team into the office to get to work on it.” She yawned. “I’m tired,” she said.
“Then why don’t you stay the night?”
She looked up at him. “Are your intentions honorable?”
“Only as honorable as they need to be,” Stone replied.