“Frankly, I could use the rest, if I can have an occasional visit from Caroline.”

“If that’s what you think of as rest, go right ahead. Does she understand that you’re not really here?”

“We discussed that.”

“Invite anyone you like, as long as you trust them.”

“My orders are to have no one in, unless they’ve been approved by my service.”

“I see. We can call Caroline my guest, then.”

“Thank you. Holly said that the Agency had taken special security precautions here. What sort of precautions?”

“They removed the brick veneer from the front and rear of the house, put up half-inch steel plating, then replaced the brick. They also replaced all the windows in the house with armored glass in steel frames. You won’t have that problem with the windowpanes that you did in your so-called safe house.”

“That’s a relief. I’ve been instinctively staying away from windows ever since.”

“I’ll see you at lunchtime in the kitchen,” Stone said, and Ian went upstairs.

Arnie Jacobs tended bar at a joint downtown, and he had a very nice sideline in snitching for the NYPD. Bartenders were invisible to a lot of people, who would talk freely while he was standing there, polishing glasses. Now he had new instructions from a detective in the Organized Crime Division, and he was polishing glasses and thinking about how he was going to reverse the process when Frank Russo came in with his buddy Charlie Carney. He poured them both their usual without being asked.

“Hey, Arnie,” Frank said.

“Hey, Frank.” Arnie leaned in. “I picked up a little something yesterday, might interest you.”

“I’m all ears, Arnie.”

“Coupla guys I didn’t know came in yesterday, ordered beers and started gabbin’. Lotsa people think bartenders don’t got ears, y’know?”

“Okay.”

“I hear your name mentioned.”

“How mentioned?”

Arnie looked carefully around. “Not so good.”

“Then I better hear it.”

“They’re talking about some guy named Gino. I didn’t get his other name.”

“Yeah? I know a Gino or two.”

“This one owes you money.”

“Oh, that Gino.”

“I guess. Problem is, he doesn’t wanta pay.”

“I tell ya, Arnie, nobody wants to pay.”

“This one thinks it’s maybe cheaper to take you out. Charlie, too.”

Frank froze. “Tell me exactly how he said it.”

“One guy says, ‘Gino wants to hire us to take out Frank and Charlie, says it’s cheaper than payin’ him.’”

“Exactly like that?”

“Exactly.”

“No doubt in your mind?”

“Not a one.”

Frank tossed off his drink and put a hundred on the bar. “Thanks, Arnie.”

Arnie made the hundred disappear. “Always a pleasure, Frank.”

“C’mon, Charlie,” Frank said, standing up. “We got a collection call to make. You drive.”

—

In the car Frank produced a nicely made silencer and screwed it into the barrel of his little 9mm, then tucked it into his belt.

“You gonna off ’im?” Charlie asked.

“Depends,” Frank said, getting out his cell phone. “Gino? Frank. I gotta see you right now. Yeah, I know it’s quitting time, but it’s important. I’ll be there in ten.” He hung up.

They parked in the garage next door to Gino’s office building. “C’mon,” Frank said. Charlie followed him next door and inside. On Gino’s floor, Frank said, “Stay by the door, don’t let nobody in.”

Charlie nodded and took up his station. Frank went in and found Gino at his desk.

“What’s the problem, Frank?” Gino asked. “I’ll be late for dinner.”

“Problem is, you owe me two grand,” Frank said. He tossed a list of his expenses on Gino’s desk.

“You ain’t done nothing yet,” Gino said.

“I got the better part of a week in this, and I got expenses, just like you.”

Gino sighed. “My girl’s gone—she’ll give you a check tomorrow.”

“I’ll need cash,” Frank said.

“I don’t keep that much cash around,” Gino said.

“Don’t start, Gino, I know you got it.” He unbuttoned his jacket and let the grip of the pistol show.

“You strong-arming me?” Gino asked.

“If you insist.”

Gino glared at him, then he went to a safe across the room, opened it, and took out a stack of cash and counted out some hundreds.

Frank watched, counting with him. Gino got to twenty.

Frank walked across the room and took the money, then stood over Gino, who was bending over to close the safe. Frank’s foot stopped the door. “Thanks, Gino,” Frank said, shooting him in the back of the head. When he was sprawled on the floor, Frank reached inside the safe and took the rest of the stack of cash, then closed the safe door and spun the dial. He shot Gino once more in the head for luck, then left.

“How’d you do?” Charlie asked as he came out the door.

“In the car,” Frank said. When they were back in the front seat, Frank took out the twenty hundreds Gino had given him and counted out half. He handed the money to Charlie. “He settled.”

“What did you do?”

“I settled him, the son-of-a-bitch cheapskate. We need a new gig.”

—

Farther downtown on the West Side a cop seven months away from handing in his papers sat in front of a collection of screens and recorders. He took off his headset and made a call. “Hey, it’s me. I think we got a murder at Gino Parisi’s office. Shooter used a silencer. Name of Frank.”

—

Stone was having an early-evening drink with Ian Rattle in his study when the phone rang. “Hello?”

“It’s Dino, with news.”

“I love news, if it’s good.”

“It’s double good. Frank Russo offed Gino Parisi.”

“Wow! How about that! Frankly, I didn’t expect such decisive results.”

“Nice thing is, we got the preceding conversation recorded, so not only is Gino out of the way, but so are Frank and Charlie, or they will be as soon as we find them.”

“A triple play. Wow.”

“A good day’s work,” Dino said. “See ya.”

Stone hung up.

“Good news?” Ian asked.

“It seems I’m no longer confined to quarters,” Stone said.

Frank was a block from dropping off Charlie at his house when his cell rang. “Yeah?”

It was his wife. “Don’t come home.”

“Why not—you couldn’t get your lover out of the house soon enough?” He laughed at his own joke, so she would know he was kidding.

“Two detectives were just here. They left, but they’re sitting outside waiting for you.”

“Okay, I’m gonna go to that place. Call Charlie’s house and ask if they been there.” Frank hung up and made a U-turn.

“What’s up?” Charlie asked.

“The cops were just at my house. They’re still there, waiting outside.” Frank’s phone rang again. “Yeah?”

“There’s two of them at Charlie’s, too.”

“Talk to you later.” He hung up. “They’re at your place, too.”