She made several quick lane changes, turned onto SixthAvenue, and was in the process of stopping at the curb just shy of the intersection with Forty-First Street when the phone began to ring again.
Jack hopped out of the car, while Stone took a moment to put in one ear pod and call Dino.
“What’s going on?” Dino asked.
“Hold on. I’ll know in a second.” To Alicia, Stone said, “Find somewhere nearby to wait, and I’ll call if we need you.”
By the time he jumped out and circled around to the sidewalk, Jack was lowering the phone.
“New instructions?”
“We’re to walk west on Forty-First Street, and he’ll call again in two minutes.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s all he said.”
“Dino, you get that?” Stone asked.
“I’m betting he’s sending you to Times Square,” Dino said. “Wants to take advantage of the crowds.”
“That’s what I was thinking, too.”
“We’ve got a lot of uniforms in the area. I can rally them as soon as needed. Wait a sec.” Dino talked with someone in the sedan. “Everyone who’s not driving is getting out to follow you, me included. I’ll stay on the line, too, so we have direct contact.”
“Thanks, Dino.”
The light changed, and Stone and Jack crossed to the other side of Sixth Avenue, then started down Forty-First Street.
The throwaway rang again. Jack answered, listened to the new instructions, then lowered the phone and pointed at a walkway on the north side of the street that went betweentwo skyscrapers. “We’re to go to Forty-Second Street through there, then continue west.”
Gennaro told Toomey to waitfor him at the bottom of the stairs at the Columbus Circle subway entrance, then found a relatively deserted spot at street level.
He plugged his ear pod in, then called Rosa on his personal cell.
“The courier is almost there,” he said, then described Coulter.
“What does ‘almost’ mean?”
“Huh?”
“The way you use it, it could be ten minutes or it could be an hour.”
“We’re talking minutes, okay? A couple at most. So quit messing around.”
“Yes, sir,” she sassed.
Ignoring the attitude, he said, “I’m putting you on mute but stay on the phone.”
He silenced the line, then called Fratelli on the throwaway.
“Yes?” Fratelli answered.
“Where are you?” Gennaro asked.
“At the corner of Forty-Second and Broadway.”
“Cross the street, then enter the subway station. You have a MetroCard?”
