outside Elaine’s, but when I saw the cops come, I ran.”
“Why? Are the cops looking for you?”
“No. It was just instinct, I guess.”
“Are you dropping the lawsuit?” Stone prayed for a yes.
“Oh, no, I still want to sue the bastard. Can we reschedule the deposition?”
“That won’t be necessary. Luckily for you, Dattila’s lawyer decided not to depose you. I guess his client had already told him what to expect. We’ll get a trial date soon.”
“Great! I’m looking forward to the trial!”
“I can’t imagine why,” Stone replied.
“Because I want to see Dattila squirm.”
“Dattila doesn’t squirm,” Stone said, “and certainly not from anything you could say to him.”
“Just wait till I get on the stand.”
“It’s your word against his, Herbie. That is, unless there’s a videotape of Dattila telling his goons to kill you slow.”
Herbie reached into his inside coat pocket, pulled out a small dictating machine and pressed a button. There was what sounded like a chair scraping across the floor, then a male voice. “What do we do with him, Mr. Dattila?”
“Kill him slow,” Dattila replied.
Stone snatched the dictator from Herbie’s hands. “Why didn’t you tell me you had this?”
“I was going to spring it in my deposition and make Dattila shit in his pants.”
“I don’t think that would have been Dattila’s response,” Stone said, “but his lawyer might have done that. Herbie, I almost hate to say this, but the recording might actually give us a chance of winning this thing.”
Herbie beamed. “I thought so.”
“And if you’d given it to me immediately, instead of playing games, we might have already settled your suit.”
“I don’t want it settled, I want to win it.”
“Is that what they taught you at your Internet law school, Herbie? Never settle? Settling is a good thing, Herbie; you get money, maybe an apology, and Dattila doesn’t put a contract out on you, if you’re lucky. Hasn’t it ever crossed your mind that, even if you do win the suit and get a judgment, and humiliate Dattila in open court, that you’ll have a target on your back for the rest of your days? Or the rest of Dattila’s days, whichever comes first.”
Herbie looked sober for a moment. “I hadn’t thought about that,” he said.
“It’s time for some thinking, Herbie. Listen, can you get back into your apartment without anyone seeing you?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Well, then, go home, let yourself in, don’t turn on any lights or the TV, and don’t make any noise, and don’t answer the phone unless it rings once, then stops, then rings again a minute later. If it does that, it will be me.”
Herbie muttered these instructions to himself. “But what am I gonna eat?”
Stone pressed some bills into his hand. “Whatever you do, don’t order in. Stop at a deli and pick up enough groceries for a few days.”
“Okay.”
“And, Herbie, draw all the curtains. Don’t even let the light in the refrigerator be seen.”
“Okay.”
“And don’t leave the apartment, except late at night, and only then to get more food.”
“You said I can’t run the TV?”
“No, you can’t.”
“Well, what am I gonna do?”
“All right, you can run the TV in the daytime, but not at night. They’ll see the flickering light.”
“Okay.”
The cab stopped at Stone’s corner. “Herbie,” Stone said, “please don’t get yourself killed. At least, not yet.”
“Okay,” Herbie said.
Stone got out of the cab and watched Herbie disappear into the night.
34
Stone worked through the morning, clearing his desk so that he could leave early to meet Celia in Connecticut and avoid weekend rush-hour traffic. Joan came into his office.
“We haven’t heard anything from Bernard Finger’s office about his financial statement, have we?”
“I haven’t,” Stone said. “Call Sam Teich over there and tell him I expect the accounting today. I want to get the settlement paid and the money in the bank.”
“Okay.” She left and came back. “Sam Teich has already left the office for the weekend; won’t be back until Monday. Mr. Finger has left, too, for Las Vegas, expected back on Monday.”
“Damn it,” Stone said, “I forgot to hound them about the accounting. Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait until Monday morning. Call Sam Teich first thing. I may wait until Monday morning to come back to town.”
“Well,” Joan said, “don’t wear yourself out up there.”
Stone was upstairs packing a bag when Dino called.
“Hey.”
“Good morning.”
“Afternoon.”
“Oh, all right, good afternoon. What’s up? I’m trying to get out of here for Connecticut before the rush-hour traffic starts.”
“Big news: It’s already started.”
Stone looked at his watch: two p.m. “Shit,” he said.
“I just called to let you know Devlin Daltry made bail at night court. Apparently, he had a lawyer standing by.”
“Swell, so he’s loose on the town again.”
“Yeah, watch your ass.”
“I hope he tries to follow me; I’ll lose him in the wilds of Connecticut. He’ll never find his way home again.”
“That fast car of yours is gonna get you killed yet.”
“What kind of car does Daltry drive? I mean, apart from the stolen Taurus he used to run over me.”
“A white BMW M6, the sports coupe. That was the first thing we checked after your bump-and-run experience.”
“It wasn’t a bump-and-run experience; it was a
“Whatever.”
“It was an experience I hope you never have, being hit and runned.”
“How’s the leg?”
“Several colors of black, blue and yellow, thank you, each indicative of a level of pain.”
“Take your pills.”
“Don’t worry; the minute I’m through driving for the day.”
“See you Sunday night at Elaine’s?”
“If I don’t stay until Monday morning.”
“Don’t wear yourself out up there.”
“You’re as bad as Joan. Bye.” Stone hung up, grabbed his duffel and headed for the garage. Halfway out of the
