“You know it better than he does,” she said with a sly smile.
“Harrumph,” Dino sputtered. “Too much information.”
“Oh, Dino, you’re sweet,” she said, laughing.
“Was that the only problem?” Stone asked.
“There was an unwelcome twist,” she said. “He asked my understudy to demonstrate the move for me. Her name is Melissa Kelley, and she’s in the chorus, and if he weren’t gay I would suspect something between them.”
“And she was able to do the move?” Dino asked, now fascinated.
“Perfectly,” Carrie said, “the bitch. I could have throttled her.”
“It’s probably better if you don’t throttle anybody,” Dino said. “Then I’d have to get involved.”
Carrie laughed. “It’s okay, Dino; she tried to apologize after rehearsal, but it came out all wrong. I mean, what was she going to say-‘I’m sorry I could do the move and you can’t’?”
“I can see how that could be awkward,” Stone said.
“She watches me all the time,” Carrie said. “It’s unsettling.”
“Maybe she’s just working very hard to learn your part,” Stone offered.
“No, it’s more like All About Eve. You know the movie? The young actress wants everything the star has, including her lover?”
“I remember it well.”
“You’ll meet her eventually,” Carrie said. “When you do, watch yourself.”
“I’ll be very careful,” Stone said solemnly.
“So, what’s Mitzi up to?” Carrie asked.
“She didn’t say a lot.”
“She has a rich daddy, I recall.”
“She said he was in the shrimp business.”
“That sounds right. You’re sure she went back to Charleston?” Stone shrugged. “I believe so. She had to leave lunch early to catch her plane.”
“What did she say about me?”
“She said you were a piece of work.”
“And what did she mean by that?”
“I don’t know, and somebody changed the subject before I could ask.”
“It’s just as well,” Carrie said.
Stone allowed himself to think, just for a moment, about what Carrie might do if she knew how he had spent the afternoon.
Carrie dabbed at his forehead with a cocktail napkin. “You’re perspiring,” she said. She put two fingers on his throat. “And your pulse is up.”
“Isometric ab exercises,” he said. “I do them at dinner sometimes.”
“By the way, I think you can send the young Irish gentlemen home. Not a peep out of Max. I think he’s been subdued.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. In fact, I sent them home when they dropped me off here. They said they would return your car tomorrow morning.”
Stone signaled for a menu, but he had trouble concentrating on it. He was still thinking of all those limbs.
20
STONE WAS AT HIS DESK the following morning when Willie Leahy rapped on his doorjamb.
“Good morning, Willie,” Stone said.
Willie tossed him his car keys. “It’s in the garage,” he said. “I filled it up with the premium stuff.”
“Thanks,” Stone said.
“Listen,” Willie said, “I don’t know if we shouldn’t be watching her for a while longer.”
“Why do you say that? She’s feeling safe now.”
“Just a feeling,” Willie said. “That and a phone conversation I overheard.”
“What was that about?”
“Well, there’s a pair of restrooms in the wings of the theater-ladies’ and gents’-and there’s some sort of vent, and you can hear the girls talking sometimes.”
“You been eavesdropping, Willie?”
“Look, I was having a splash, and I heard Carrie on the phone.”
“Yes?”
“She was talking to Delta Air Lines.”
“Yes?”
“She was making a reservation to Atlanta this weekend.”
“ Atlanta?”
“I kid you not,” Willie said, “and I don’t know why the fuck she would want to be in the same city as that ex- husband of hers.”
“Neither do I,” Stone said. “I mean, she lived there a long time, and I suppose she could have some business there.”
“On a weekend?”
“You have a point,” Stone admitted.
“Well, let us know if we can be of further service,” Willie said, and, with a little wave, he left.
Stone was still thinking about this when Joan buzzed him. “Brian Doyle on one.”
“Hello, Brian.”
“Morning. I found Mitzi a car: a Bentley, would you believe?”
“How did you come to confiscate a Bentley?”
“Drug bust, what else? It’s an Arnage, a few years old, but it looks good.”
“I guess it would,” Stone said.
“Listen, Mitzi’s new friend Rita found out there’s a party at Derek Sharpe’s studio tonight. She wangled Mitzi an invitation, but she doesn’t want to go with her, figuring that her connection to Parsons might affect the way Sharpe sees Mitzi. Will you take her to the party?”
“Sure, I guess so.”
“Great. A Bentley, chauffeured by a cop, will pick you up at six thirty.”
“Sounds good.”
“Some guys have all the luck.” Brian hung up.
Joan came into his office and put a box on his desk. “Sorry, the printer couldn’t get them done yesterday.”
Stone opened the box and removed one of Mitzi’s new cards. “Very nice,” he said. “That should do the trick.”
AT SIX THIRTY sharp Stone’s bell rang. When he opened the door, it was filled by about six feet four inches of Irish American, dressed in a black suit with a black tie.
“Evening,” he said. “I’m Tom Rabbit.”
Stone shook the extended paw. “Good to meet you, Tom.”
“You ready?”
“Yep.”
“She’s in the car already.”
Stone set the alarm and locked the door, then walked to the car. Tom had the door open for him. He slid in beside Mitzi and kissed her on the cheek.
“Don’t say anything about yesterday afternoon when Tommy is around,” she whispered, before the driver could get into the car.
“Right.” He handed her the box of cards. “Your credentials.” She opened the box and inspected the contents.
