Near Miss

“Just let me know when you’re ready.”

The party at Herb Fisher’s was good, and Stone and Matilda immediately fell into the swing of things. There was a jazz pianist and a bass player, which kept the party moving. The noise level, as it does in a good room, went up.

Then, an unwelcome sight greeted Stone: Trench Molder walked into the room with a beautiful blonde on his arm.

“Did you see?” Matilda asked.

“I saw. Ignore him. If he speaks to you, don’t respond. That’ll give his girlfriend something to ask him about, and he won’t have a good answer.”

“Good idea.”

They dragged some stools up to the piano and hung there. Stone liked the way the pianist played, putting thought into the music. Normally, as a kind of joke, Stone would ask a pianist to play “Lush Life,” a Billy Strayhorn ballad so complex that nobody could remember it without the sheet music.

But this guy probably would, Stone surmised.

Herb Fisher greeted the two new guests, but he didn’t look all that glad to see them, and he quickly moved on to speak to others. Molder looked unhappy about that, and his girl looked curiously at him. He took her elbow and moved her toward the piano, but Stone and Matilda both turned away as he approached, leaving his date with more questions to ask. Molder guided her angrily to the bar.

“Perfect,” Matilda said. “Did you see his face?”

“I saw her face,” Stone said.

Dino and Viv arrived and came over to the piano. Kisses and an introduction between Matilda and Viv followed.

“I see your cad of the other evening,” Dino said to her.

“That’s why he’s here,” she said. “To be seen. He’d like to be thought of as part of this crowd.”

“Did you see anything more of your tail?” Dino asked Stone.

“Nope. He found somebody else to bug, I guess.”

“I have a feeling you may see him again,” Dino said, “and it won’t be pretty.”

“You could be right.”

“Are you packing?”

“Not exactly,” Stone replied.

“That’s what I thought. I’ll be scraping you off the sidewalk somewhere soon.”

“I perceive no threats here,” Stone said. “Not even from the cad.”

Stone explained to Matilda what they were talking about.

“Describe the man,” she said.

Stone did so.

“That sounds like a man who works at Trench’s gym,” she said. “Trench calls him ‘Huff.’ ”

“You’ve met this Huff?” Stone asked.

“I picked Trench up at his gym once,” she said. “He was talking to Huff when I walked in. There was a perfunctory introduction.”

“I’m betting a perfunctory introduction is the only kind you’d want with a guy like Huff,” Dino said.

Chapter 7

Trench Molder stepped out of the living room in Herb Fisher’s apartment and into the guest room where coats were piled on the bed. He called a number on his burner phone.

“Yes?” Huff said.

“I’m at a party in a building a few blocks from you,” Trench said, giving him the address and location. “Barrington is here with Matilda, and it looks like they’re dug in for a while. I was thinking you might not need to wait a few weeks after all. What say you?”

“I can be there in twenty minutes.”

“The green Bentley with the driver is parked across the street from the front door. You might have to deal with that, too.”

“I can handle it,” Huff said.

“Hurry up, then.” Trench hung up his burner and returned to the party. The room had heated up, and someone had opened a sliding door to the large terrace on the front of the building. Trench took his date’s elbow and steered her outside. “Let’s get some air.”

They walked to the front of the terrace and sat down on a padded bench next to the parapet.

“It’s chilly out here,” she complained.

Trench, annoyed, shucked off his jacket and handed it to her.

She put it on, then pointed at his shoulder holster. “Why are you wearing a gun?”

“Because I don’t like being at the mercy of others,” Trench replied, “and I’d rather defend myself up front than wait for somebody else to make the first move.” He leaned over the parapet and saw the waiting Bentley. “You’d be surprised if all the men at this party removed their jackets.”

“I didn’t know paranoia ran that deep,” she said.

Trench resisted the temptation to slap her across the face. He didn’t need a scene that would cement his location at this hour into other guests’ minds.

They had been sitting there for half an hour before Trench saw Barrington and Matilda make a move inside. Barrington went to the spare bedroom and came back with their coats. Then they said their goodbyes to their hosts and walked to the elevator.

Trench pressed the button for the last number dialed on his throwaway.

“Where are you?”

“Out front.”

“They’ve just left the party and are on the way down.”

“I’m on it.”

Trench looked at his date and saw her reaction to the call, but she said nothing. He stood and rested his elbows on the parapet, looking down at the street. The Bentley was nicely illuminated by a streetlamp. He saw a movement in the doorway of the building across the street. Huff was ready.

“Can we go back inside now?” the girl asked. “I need to stand by the fire and warm my ass.”