“Stevie?” Stone said.
“AKA Stefan Howard.”
“Stefan Howard?” Jack said, surprised.
“Sara’s ex-husband, Stefan Howard?” Stone said.
“I don’t know how many of them there are, but he is that one.”
“How do you know it’s him?”
“He had an ID on him. Multiple, actually. One of the detectives ran a check to see if any were real.”
“His was, I assume,” Stone said.
“I always knew you were smart.”
Ignoring the comment, Stone asked, “Why would he be here?”
“I was curious about that myself, so I had a look at his phone before it was boxed up. There were several calls and incriminating texts between Stefan and Gennaro.”
“Incriminating how?”
“If you were wondering who was behind beating up Sara’s blind date and her second ex-husband, wonder no more.”
“Stefan?” Jack said.
“Stefan.”
Jack was momentarily lost in thought. “Dino, if you don’t mind, I’d like to be the one to tell her.”
“Given that there are no current familial ties, there’s no reason for us to contact her at all.”
“I suppose that’s correct. Perhaps she doesn’t need to know at all.”
“That’s your call, Jack,” Stone said. “But if I were her, I’d at least want to know he’d passed away.”
Jack nodded. “You’re right. I’ll tell her, but after things calm down.”
“That does remind me,” Stone said. “There is something we need to deal with as soon as possible.” He gave Jack a knowing look.
“Right,” Jack said.
“Dino, if you no longer need us, I think we’ll be off.”
“As far as I’m concerned, you’re just in the way.”
“Perfect.”
“One request,” Dino said. “If you plan on being in close proximity to another shoot-out, I would appreciate it if you did so in someone else’s jurisdiction.”
Chapter 61
Rosa admired herself in themirror, in her room at the Holiday Inn Hasbrouck Heights-Meadowlands.
The Setchu dress looked even better on her than she’d hoped.
The clothes she’d left home in were now stuffed in the trash, along with her old shoes and the two duffel bags.
