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“So to speak,” Stone said. “Now, go and do good works. Everybody will notice, and you’ll get along better in the world.”
“Good work doesn’t go as far as good money does. You’re naïve, Stone, if you don’t see that!”
“Maybe,” Stone said.
Joan appeared in the door. “Time to go, Eddie,” she said. He followed her like a puppy, then she came back to Stone’s office. “I’m sorry about that. I’ll try to see it doesn’t happen again.”
“Double-lock the door,” Stone said.
EIGHT
Stone called Mike Freeman, CEO of Strategic Services, one of the nation’s largest security firms, on whose board Stone sat.
“Hey, Stone.”
“Afternoon, Mike. I’d like you to run a deep check on somebody.”
“Who might that be?”
“One Edwin Charles Jr.”
“Son of the late Edwin Charles Sr.?”
“One and the same.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything there is to know. I keep getting surprised.”
“I can do that. Give me a day.”
“Great. And bill the Edwin Charles Junior Trust. I’m his trustee.” Stone had a thought. “Let’s do the rest of the family, too—Edwin Charles Sr. and Annetta Charles, his widow.”
“New business, I hear.”
“Gotta oil the wheels, don’t we?”
“You betcha. Let’s have lunch tomorrow. I should have something by then. The Grill, at one?”
“See you there.”
Joan peered from around the corner. “You’re running checks on members of my family, dead and alive?”
“I am. I forgot to add your name to the list,” Stone replied.
“What could you possibly want to know about us?”
“Everything. I can’t get much out of you.”
“I’ve answered every question you asked me.”
“What about the ones I didn’t ask you? Tell me about those.”
Joan rolled her eyes. “I could have saved you the money.”
“It’s Eddie’s trust’s money,” Stone said. “I’m entitled to know what and whom I’m dealing with.”
“I thought I was helping.”
