At the same time Dominicwas handing his phone to Manny, Pinkie Ramirez received a call from Toomey. He put it on speaker so Miguel could listen in.
“Good morning, Toomey. What can I do for you?”
“Good morning, Mr. Ramirez,” Toomey said. “Sorry to bother you so early, but I had a call I thought you’d want to know about.”
“Do tell.”
“Ricky Gennaro just hired me to keep an eye on that lawyer whose phone I grabbed last week.”
“Stone Barrington?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Didn’t say. Just told me he wants to know where Barrington is at all times.”
“When do you start?”
“I’m heading into Manhattan right after I finish talking to you. I figure he’ll probably be at his home, which he also uses as an office. If he’s not, he’ll be there at some point.”
“How long are you supposed to keep this up?”
“He didn’t say, but he knows I have another gig on Friday, and that didn’t seem to bother him. So, I’m guessing a day or two at most. Sorry, that’s all I got. I figured you’d want to know he has something going on, though.”
“You’ve done good. Real good. Keep calling me if something comes up. If you can’t reach me, call Miguel.”
“You got it, Mr. Ramirez.”
“When this is all over, you come see me. It’s time we bring you on full-time.”
“Thank you, sir. Thank you so much.”
“Talk later.” Pinkie hung up and looked at Miguel. “What do you think?”
“I think I really want to know what Gennaro’s up to.”
“It’s good to know we’re in sync,” Pinkie said.
“Very much so.”
“Then I’ll leave it in your hands.”
It was noon by thetime Stefan checked into his new hotel.
It was the cheapest place he could book, and he was still paying close to two hundred a night. The room wasn’t any larger than his old prison cell, either. The only thing that made it tolerable was knowing that as soon as he and Sara were back together, he’d be living the high life.
After washing up and changing out of his travel clothes, he headed out. He hadn’t picked up a new rental yet, so he took the subway to a station a few blocks from Sara’s building. It had been five days since the last time he’d seen her with his own eyes, and he didn’t want to make it six.
It would have been nice if he hadn’t had to miss all that time. But skipping his monthly meeting with his parole officer in Los Angeles would have been a bad idea.
He spent the better part of the afternoon across the street and just around the corner from where Sara lived. Fromthere, he could keep an eye on her high-rise without drawing attention. He saw plenty of people go in and out, but not one of them had been her.
He decided she must be someplace else. While he could think of a few possibilities, one stood out from the others.
He hailed a cab and took it to Turtle Bay.
Chapter 31
