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“What?” Dino said.
“That was Sandy. She says Bryce and some friends are waiting for us outside.”
“What do you mean,us?”
“All right, me. Are you bailing?”
“Of course not. Are we ready to leave?”
Stone called the maître d’ over. “Would you check outside of the back door and see if there are some guys loitering?”
“Sure.” He came back in a minute. “Four of them,” he said. “You want to borrow my baseball bat?”
“He won’t need it,” Dino said. “Thanks, anyway.”
The man shrugged and walked away.
“What’s your plan?” Stone asked.
Dino was already on the phone. “It’s Bacchetti. There are three or four guys hanging around the back door at P. J. Clarke’s. I want them braced, searched, and questioned thoroughly. No. No rough stuff, unless they unwisely start it. Call me when you’re in place.” He hung up.
“I think some rough stuff might be fun to watch,” Stone said.
“Do that when you’re on your own, and I’ll watch,” Dino said.
His phone rang again. “Okay, thanks.” He hung up. “They’re up against the wall,” he said. “Let’s go.”
They walked out the rear door and four men were holding up a wall of the place. They were all dressed in blazers or tweed jackets.
“That’s a bunch of pretty shifty-looking guys you got there. Make sure there’s nothing in their pockets.”
They got into Dino’s car and got out of there. “I don’t think they’ll try that again.”
“If they do, I hope you’re around,” Stone said.
FIFTY-FIVE
Joan came into Stone’s office with a sheet of paper in her hand.
“You found the apartment with the garage?” he asked.
“I found four in the East Sixties with garages.”
Stone read the list. “It looks like three of them could be with the same garage, and they’re all on Sixty-Sixth Street.”
“What about the one on Sixty-Seventh Street?”
“It just says ‘off-street parking available.’ The others just say ‘garage.’ Fax it to Dino. Let’s see what he thinks without hearing our opinion.”
“We have an opinion?” Joan asked. “Maybe you could try it on me before you speak to Dino.”
“It’s one of the three on Sixty-Sixth Street, with garage,” Stone said.
“Oh. I’ll fax it to him.” She left his office.
Ten minutes later she buzzed him. “Dino on one. Can I listen in?”
“Okay, but don’t get used to it.”
