George Plimpton is dead, God rest his soul.”
“Okay, I get all of that.”
“Did you find the Keating kid?”
“Yeah, but I’ve lost him again. Why?”
“Well, Manny cut the guy short, but after he hung up, it occurred to him that what might have been going on was that old Keating wanted young Keating taken out.”
“Given the circumstances,” Stone said, “that’s not an outrageous assumption, even though Manny’s evidence for it is pretty slim.”
“Manny always had good instincts,” Wally said. “I wouldn’t dismiss this out of hand, if you want the kid to stay alive.”
“I wouldn’t like to see anybody take a hit,” Stone said, “so I’ll try to find the kid and let him know what’s going on.”
“That’s all anybody can do,” Wally said. “Just tell the kid to watch his ass.”
“I’ll do that, if I can find him, Wally. Thanks for letting me know.”
Stone hung up and turned to Dino. “The short version: Somebody who sounds like George Plimpton called Manny White and intimated that he wanted somebody popped. Manny hung up on him, but he inferred—and I know this is a leap— that Warren Keating wants Evan dead.”
Dino thought about this for a minute. “The second part of that makes perfect sense, if you consider that a guy who is getting eight hundred mil in a business deal and who is supposed to share it with his father and son might want both of them dead.”
“Yeah, but what about the first part? He didn’t give Manny his name before Manny hung up on him.”
“Manny’s kind of weird like that. I remember a time when we had a robbery to deal with, and before Manny looked at any of the evidence, he named the perp. We all thought he was crazy, but he turned out to be right, and we would have saved a lot of man-hours if we had just busted the guy right away. So I think you should let Evan Keating know that something might be afoot.”
“I’d love to, Dino, but I don’t know where he is, and I don’t think we’re going to find him by puttering around the marinas in a Whaler.”
“Then we’ll have to find another way, won’t we?”
“Suggest one, please.”
“Didn’t Evan tell you he was going to buy a new cell phone?”
“Yes, but you can’t call information and get a cell phone number.”
“Maybe Bob Cantor can fi nd it.”
Stone thought about this. Bob Cantor was a techie whom Stone had used for years for all sorts of electronic, computer and surveillance and phone problems. “Dino,” he said, “that is a very good idea.”
Stone called Bob Cantor, got his voice mail and left a message.
“Dino, do you think Evan might really be in Miami? I mean, he did leave that as a forwarding address.”
“Who knows? I guess it’s possible.”
“I think I’m going to call Manny White.”
“This is going to be entertaining. Can I listen in?”
“Sure.” Stone called Manny White’s number and put the phone on speaker.
“Yeah?”
“Manny?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s Stone Barrington. Do you always answer the phone that way?”
“I do on my private line,” Manny said. “How’d you get this number?”
“You called my cell phone on this line. Did you get the hundred I sent you?”
“Yeah.”
“Would you like some more hundreds?”
“Maybe. How many and what for?”
“Five hundred to find Evan Keating again. I think he may be in Miami, maybe South Beach.”
“That’s going to run you at least a thousand,” Manny said. “I have to start from scratch.”
“Why? You’ve already done this once.”
“Yeah, but the agent I used is no longer available. I’ll have to start with a new one.”
“All right, Manny, start a new guy on the job, and call me when we get to a thousand, and I’ll decide whether I want to go further.”
“I’ll need five hundred up front,” Manny said.
“Manny, for old times’ sake, could you start right now? I’ll send the money today.”
“What old times’ sake? It’s not like you and me have got some kind of warm, fuzzy history.”
“Manny, we have the NYPD in common. That’s a basis to start on.”
“If you FedEx the money, I’ll have it first thing tomorrow.”
Stone sighed. “Give me the address.”
28
STONE AND DINO were with Tommy Sculley when Bob Cantor called back.
“Hey, Bob,” Stone said. “You okay?”
“I’m okay. Are you in New York?”
“No, I’m in Key West.”
“That’s almost as good as St. Thomas, which is where I am.”
“Not bad, Bob. Can you get me a cell phone number from there?”
“Maybe. Old number?”
“New number, maybe only a day or two old.”
“Do you know where the caller is based?”
“Key West, I should think.”
“What’s the name?”
“Evan Keating.” Stone spelled it for him.
“I’m going to need to do some work on the computer,” Bob said.
“I’ll call you back.”
“Today?”
“Give me a few minutes.”
“Okay, thanks, Bob.” Stone hung up.
“What else can we do?” he asked Dino.
“I think this is our best bet,” Dino replied. “Let’s wait to hear from Bob, before we start patrolling the streets, which seems like our last remaining option.”
Stone’s cell phone buzzed. “Hello?”
“It’s Manny. Did you send the money?”
“I haven’t had a chance yet, Manny, but I’ll get it to FedEx before the day is out, okay?”
“Terrific. When I get it, I’ll give you what I’ve got.”
“You’ve got something on Keating?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Come on, Manny, you’ll get the money.”
“This is business, Barrington. Why should I trust you?”
“Jesus Christ.”
“I wouldn’t trust him, either. Tell you what: You go send the money, then give me the tracking number, and I’ll check it out. If it’s on the way, I’ll tell you what I’ve got.”
