Dirt

“Allan Peebles is on line two.”

“Peebles? That awful man who edits the Infiltrator?”

“That’s him; he’s called twice this morning already. His message is on top of your stack.”

“What could he possibly want to talk to me about?”

“I’ve no idea. Do you want me to get rid of him?”

No need to court trouble, she thought. “No, I’ll speak to him.” She pressed the button. “This is Amanda Dart.”

“Amanda, this is Allan Peebles.”

“Yes?”

“We don’t know each other – not really, I mean, but I thought we should talk.”

“Talk? About what?”

“Well, Amanda, you and I are the principal targets of this DIRT scandal sheet, aren’t we?”

“So?”

“So, I thought perhaps we should compare notes.”

“I don’t have any notes, I’m afraid,” she said. And if I did have any, she thought, you’re the last person on Earth I’d share them with.

“Tell me, have your telephones been bugged?”

She paused. “Why do you ask?”

“I thought so. Where can we meet?”

“I suppose you could come to my office.” She certainly was not going to be seen in public with this man.

“Oh, no, I’m not talking anywhere that might be bugged.”

“Just what is it, exactly, you want to talk about?” she asked.

“I’m not going to talk about it on the phone.”

“How long are you in town for?”

“Until the day after tomorrow.”

“I’ve got somebody working on this; I’ll have him get in touch with you.”

“Listen to me, Amanda; I probably know more about this than you do, but I’m not talking to anybody else. It will have to be you and I, face-to-face.”

Amanda thought for a moment. “You be on the corner of Madison and Seventy-second Street, outside the Ralph Lauren sports store, on the west side of the street, at four o’clock today. I’ll be in a black Mercedes Six Hundred.”

“Fine.”

She hung up. “God,” she said aloud, “some of the people you have to deal with in this business!”

Chapter 33

Dino showed up at the hospital as Stone was getting dressed to leave. “Where are you going?” he demanded.

“Home. I can’t stand it here anymore.”

“Are you nuts? You look rotten.”

“I’m fine.” He didn’t really feel all that great, but he thought he would feel better in his own bed.

“Has a doctor discharged you?”

“Yes; I didn’t give him any choice. Can you give me a lift?” he asked, holding up his slippers. “I don’t have any shoes.”

“Yeah, okay. At least I’ll know you didn’t pass out on the street.”

The phone rang, and Stone picked it up.

“It’s Arrington; how are you feeling today?”

“Well enough to go home.”

“Really?

“Well, I ache all over, but apart from that, I’m fine.”

“Want me to come get you?”

“Dino’s giving me a lift.”

“I’ll drop by to see you a little later; maybe feed you some chicken soup.”

“Sounds good.”

“See you.” She hung up.

“That Arrington?” Dino asked.

“Yep.”

“Looks like you might have something good going there, pal.”

“Maybe. Sometimes she gets a little crazy.”

“Only sometimes? You’re a lucky man; I could tell you about crazy.”

“You found an apartment yet?”

“Yeah, and they’ve accepted our offer.”

“How much?”

Dino lowered his voice. “You ready for this? Seven hundred thou and change.”

“Seven hundred thousand?”

“And change.”

“You have a very generous father-in-law.”

Dino shook his head. “He just wants her to shut up about it, like me. He’d pay twice that, if she’d shut up about it.”

“Where is the apartment?”

“East Sixty-sixth, between Fifth and Madison.”

“Uptown!”

“Yeah. We’ve still got to go before the co-op board.”

“Relax, they’ll be delighted to have a cop in the building. You might let drop that you can get the patrol frequency increased on the block.”

“Good idea. I can do that, too; I’ll have a foot patrolman by there every hour.”

“How are you going to dress?”

“In a suit, I guess.”

“Want me to loan you one?”

“What’s the matter with my suits?” Dino demanded indignantly.

“They’re probably a little too Italian for an East Side co-op board. A trip to Brooks Brothers or Ralph Lauren might be a good investment.”

“I’ll think about it. When this board hears us talk, they might bounce us.”

“Use your interrogation English.”

“Huh?”

“Talk to them the way you interrogate upscale witnesses.”

“Oh, that. That could work, if I don’t let Mary Ann talk at all.”

Stone laughed. “Come on, get me out of here.”

Dino dropped him in front of the house, and Stone climbed the front steps more slowly than he’d planned. Helene met him at the door, fussing, and in five minutes she had him tucked in bed.

“Don’t bring food,” Stone said. “There’s a lady coming whom you haven’t met yet, and she’ll want that privilege.”

Helene went back to her work, chuckling.

An hour later, Arrington showed up. He could hear her and Helene coming up the stairs together, laughing.