Collateral Damage (28 page)

Dino, wearing his uniform, stood at attention and watched the commissioner pin the medal on Viv’s tunic, the decoration she had won by shooting a fugitive and saving his life. Everyone applauded, then the senior uniformed officer present dismissed the group, who adjourned to a conference room for champagne.

The commissioner approached Dino. “We’re proud of her,” he said, “and I’m sorry she retired today. What’s she going to do with herself?”

“It’ll be announced in a few days,” Dino said, “so keep this under your hat. She’s joining Strategic Services as an investigative supervisor.”

“It occurs to me that she might be available for another role, as well,” the commissioner said.

Dino grinned. “I can’t comment on that at the moment, but maybe soon.”

“What are your plans, Dino?”

“Oh, more of the same, sir.”

“I wish you’d take the captain’s exam. I could use you at headquarters, but you can’t be a lieutenant among so many captains.”

“Commissioner, the minute I pass the captain’s exam, I’m not a cop anymore, I’m an administrator.”

The commissioner shrugged. “I can’t argue with that, but I think you could be very useful to me in this office.”

“I like solving crimes,” Dino said. “And I like kicking detectives’ asses until they get it right.”

“Tell you what,” the commissioner said, “sit the exam next week and pass, and I’ll sit on the result until you say it’s okay.”

“Why would you want me to do that?” Dino asked.

“I have my reasons,” the commissioner replied, “and I promise you, you’ll like them when you know what they are.”

Dino cocked his head and examined the commissioner’s face for clues to what he was talking about, but all he got for his trouble was a hint of a smirk.

“I can still stay in my job if I do that?”

“I won’t yank you out of the one-nine unless it’s what you want, I promise you that.”

“All right, Commissioner, I’ll take the exam, but I hope I don’t disappoint you by flunking.”

The commissioner took a pad from his coat pocket, jotted down a name and number, ripped it out and handed it to Dino. “Call this man tomorrow morning and report to him on Monday morning. He’ll cram enough in your skull to see that you don’t flunk.”

Dino looked at the name, and he knew the man: a retired captain who had been in charge of administering examinations for the last years of his career. “Yes, sir,” he said.

—

Later, as he and Viv were driven away from police headquarters in Dino’s car, he took off his hat and loosened his tie. “I’m going to have to lose a few pounds before I feel comfortable in this uniform,” he said.

“You look good in it now,” Viv said, patting his knee.

“We’ll drop you at your place to change, then I’ll pick you up later.”

“I’ll get a cab to Stone’s house. I’ll be just a little later than you. It takes girls longer.”

“It’s just the four of us,” Dino said.

“Nevertheless.”

Dino sighed. “Okay, okay, I’ll go on ahead of you.”

—

Half an hour later, Dino’s driver, a rookie detective, pulled into a vacant spot across the street from Stone’s house. “Get yourself some dinner,” Dino said to the young man. “I’m going to be here for a while.”

“Yessir,” the detective replied. He got out of the car, opened the door for Dino, then reached into the front seat and came up with two orange traffic cones. As Dino crossed the street, the detective placed them so as to save his parking spot, then he got back into the car and drove away.

Dino rapped on the darkened window of the black SUV parked in front of Stone’s house, and the window slid down. He held up his badge. “Lieutenant Bacchetti,” he said. “Detective DeCarlo will be along in a few minutes.”

“Go right in, Lieutenant,” the young security man said.

Dino trotted up the front steps and rang the bell.

“Yes?”

“It’s Dino.”

“I’m in the study. I’ll buy you a drink.”

The door lock clicked open, and Dino let himself into the house.

—

Stone was already pouring the drinks as Dino walked into the study. “Hey, there,” Stone said. “Did Viv get decorated?”

Dino accepted the drink and settled into a chair. “Yep, and the commissioner got all funny with me.”

“How so?”

“He insisted I take the captain’s exam, but promised not to make me take the rank. What do you make of that?”

“I think the commissioner never does anything without a good reason, and you should take his advice.”

“I’ll have to spend some time with a retired captain, cramming for it.”

“You were always good at the exams,” Stone said. “You’ll ace it first time.”

“It makes me nervous,” Dino said.

“You’re afraid he’ll give you a precinct and cuff you to a desk?”

“That or make a politician out of me.”

“The man knows you well, Dino, and he’s always liked you. He’s not going to fuck you.”

“If you say so.”

Stone set his drink on the coffee table, went to a cabinet, and opened it, revealing a safe. He punched in the combination, fished out a small velvet box, then locked the safe again. “I have a present for you,” he said, tossing it to Dino.

Dino opened the box, and found a substantial diamond ring. He gave a low whistle. “Nice rock. You proposing to me?”

“It’s the ring I bought Arrington all those years ago, when I was about to propose to her. Then, of course, Vance Calder shot me out of the saddle, and life changed. You’re going to need a ring, and I know you well enough to know that you hate that kind of shopping. I want you to have this to give to Viv.”

“Well, that would stun her,” Dino said.

“She’ll enjoy the experience,” Stone said. “Women like diamonds, and I have no further use for that one.”

Dino seemed to have trouble speaking. “Thanks, pal,” he finally managed to say.

Stone, Dino, and Viv were having a glass of wine in the kitchen while Stone stirred his risotto, adding stock every minute or so. Holly came in and dropped her bag on the floor with a loud thud.

“I need a real drink,” she said. “Not wine, booze.”

“Right over there,” Stone said, nodding toward the kitchen bar. “I can’t put down my spoon right now.”

“What’s in the bag?” Dino asked. “A mortar?”

“Just my sidearm and three loaded magazines,” Holly said. “It adds up.”

“Three magazines? You expecting trouble?”

“I’m afraid so,” Holly replied, splashing bourbon into a glass filled with ice. “One of my people convinced me I might be next on Jasmine’s list of favorite people.”

“Why are we having dinner with her, Stone?” Dino asked. “Aren’t we in danger?”

“I’ll chance it,” Stone said. “Anyway, she lives here, we can’t throw her out.”

“Not for long,” Holly said, gulping down some bourbon. “I’m moving into our New York station after dinner. You’ll all be safe then.”

“I’m glad you’re here,” Dino said. “I want witnesses, and Stone isn’t enough.”

“Witnesses?” Viv asked.

Dino set the velvet box on the table and opened it. “Will you marry me?”

Viv stared at the ring. “I notice that you put the ring on the table before you asked. Are you trying to buy me?”

“Whatever works,” Dino said. “I can’t live without you, and Stone and Holly are witnesses that I said that, because we both know I might try to weasel out of it later.”

Viv removed the ring from the box and slipped it on. “It fits,” she said.

“Of course it fits,” Dino replied. “It’s yours. Now answer me, please.”

“I forgot the question.”

“Love, marriage, death do us part?”

“Yeah, okay, that works for me.”

Dino put a hand on her face and kissed her. “Thank God we got that out of the way,” he said. “Now we can eat.”

“Five minutes,” Stone said, stirring in a fistful of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, then prying open a carton of crème fraîche and spooning half of it into the pan. He added more of the cheese, then raked in a plate of shrimp and a bowl of asparagus tips.

“That looks good,” Holly said, polishing off her bourbon, then pouring herself a glass of wine.

“I’ve had it before,” Dino said. “You won’t die from eating it.”

“High praise, Dino,” Stone said, putting a trivet on the table and setting the pan on it. He slid into the banquette beside Holly and raised his wineglass. “Dino and Viv,” he said. “May they not kill each other the first year.”

They all drank.

—

Across town Habib sat at the kitchen table with a block of C4 explosive, a detonator, some wire, and a throwaway cell phone. He used a soldering iron to make the connections, then plugged one end of the wire into the cell phone and the end with the detonator into the soft C4.

“There you are,” he said, “one bomb.”

“You’re sure this will set off the rest?”

“My bombs go off when they’re told to,” Habib said. “The other forty-nine kilos are already in the van. All I have to do is place this block with the others, then you can have the honor of detonating.” He pushed another cell phone across the table. “It’s already programmed. All you have to do is press one, and it will autodial the correct number. The detonator will fire on the first ring: then
poof!
No more Ms. Barker or Mr. Barrington.”

“Do we know they’re there now?”

“We assume Barrington is there. Two other people, a man and a woman, arrived earlier and checked in with the guards in the SUV. Holly Barker arrived twenty minutes ago. I told our observer to get out of there.”

“Then we’re all set?”

“We are. The van and the Toyota you wanted for our trip are parked outside, and our luggage is in the trunk. You blow it after leaving Barrington’s street—on Forty-second Street, headed for the tunnel. Fifteen minutes after that we’ll be in New Jersey, headed west.”

“Why can’t we blow it from New Jersey? I’d feel safer.”

“We can’t leave the van there untended any longer than absolutely necessary. Some traffic cop might take exception and screw things up. Don’t worry, Forty-second Street is plenty far away, and it won’t take long to get there. Once we turn onto Second Avenue the traffic signals are programmed to change as we drive downtown. We have only two turns to make, so it will go smoothly.”

“All right,” Jasmine said. “Let’s do it.”

They were on their second helpings of risotto and their second bottle of Far Niente Chardonnay. Stone looked at his friends and felt good. He had never seen Dino happier.

“Okay,” Stone said, “when’s the wedding?”

“Don’t rush me,” Dino said.

“Who’s rushing you?” Stone asked.

“Yeah, who’s rushing you?” Viv echoed. “How about a week from tomorrow in the police chapel?”

“That sounds wonderful,” Holly chipped in.

“What’s the hurry?” Dino asked. “I haven’t even gotten used to being engaged yet.”

“You’re not supposed to get used to it,” Holly said. “That way lies delay after delay.”

“She has a point, Dino,” Stone said, patting him on the shoulder in a fatherly manner.

“But where are we going to live?” Dino asked plaintively.

“Last time I checked,” Viv said, “and that was this morning, you have an apartment, I have an apartment. Take your pick.”

“Well, you know I’m not going to pick yours,” Dino said.

“Good, that leaves yours.”

“It’s not big enough—it’s a bachelor apartment, for God’s sake.”

“It’s plenty big,” Viv said.

“There’s not enough closet space for your underwear, let alone everything else.”

“I don’t intend to wear much underwear for a while,” Viv said. “That will leave room for my other stuff.”

“You could get rid of some of those old suits that are moldering away in your closets,” Stone said. “You’ve had some of them since high school.”

“Those are perfectly good clothes that I’ll wear again,” Dino protested.

“Not as long as the trousers won’t button,” Stone pointed out.

“There’s another alternative,” Viv said. “We could sell both our apartments and buy a bigger one.”

Dino seemed struck dumb.

“Aha, you’ve got him,” Holly said, giggling.

“I’m thinking it over,” Dino said.

The others stared at him, determined to wait him out. Dino squirmed.