AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Around ten this morning.”
“See if you can stop her,” Dino said.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to rattle the guy’s cage just yet. We’ll have a moment later when we can use the TRO to piss him off.”
Stone pressed Allison’s speed dial number.
“Allison here.”
“It’s Stone. Have you made the application for the TRO yet?”
“No, not yet.”
“Get it but don’t serve it yet. Dino wants to wait a bit.”
“What’s Dino got to do with it?”
“Dino is the police, remember? He feels that he should do some investigation before we slap Abney with the TRO.”
“Whatever you say. Who do I bill for this on my time sheet?”
“Call it pro bono.”
“Sounds more like pro boner to me,” she said, then hung up.
Stone laughed and put his phone away. “She said it sounds more like ‘pro boner.’”
Dino laughed. “Smart girl, Allison.”
“Smart-ass,” Stone said.
When Stone got back to his office he found Marla, Joan, and Allison sitting in his office, giggling.
“Did you ladies get into the cooking sherry?” he asked.
“No, it was your bourbon,” Joan replied, getting up. “Come on, Allison, Simon Legree has returned.” The two women went back to their own offices.
“So,” Stone said, “what’s happened that made the three of you need a drink in the early afternoon?”
“It’s not all that early,” Marla said.
“Two-thirty is early. I’m going to have to start marking the bottle. Now come on, give.”
“Oh, all right. I went over to my house to get a few things.”
“Marla…”
“I know, I know, you told me not to go over there without you. It’s all right, I took Joan.” She took a sip of her bourbon. “And she took her gun.”
“Swell,” Stone said. “What will the neighbors think? The two of you traipsing around Turtle Bay Gardens with a gun.”
“Who cares?”
“You still haven’t told me what rattled you. And don’t tell me you’re not rattled. I know when Joan is rattled, and she doesn’t rattle easily, and if she’s rattled, you’re rattled.”
Marla took another sip of her bourbon. “The house had been ransacked.”
