but she said she needed a day off.”
“I see.”
“What do you know about Crane that you’re not telling me?”
“I heard from a girlfriend that Crane got the job with Mike.”
“Seems everybody knew it but me.”
“I saw her at Bloomingdale’s half an hour ago. She was getting out of a cab with Don Dugan.”
Stone’s jaw dropped. “Herb just got her a protection order today.”
“She apparently doesn’t need it anymore.”
“I guess not.” Stone thought Viv knew more, but he couldn’t get anything else out of her.
15
Stone got to his desk the following morning feeling tired and grumpy. He had gone to bed angry about Crane’s not telling him about her new job and, especially, about Viv’s report of sighting her with her, now officially, ex-husband.
Joan brought him a mug of coffee and some mail. “Uh-oh,” she said, looking at his face.
“Uh-oh what?”
“That is not a good face.”
“My face? It’s the only one available, at the moment. I didn’t sleep well.”
“That’s because you’re unaccustomed to sleeping alone.”
“And smart-ass remarks will not improve my mood.”
“There’s a check for fifty thousand in the mail. Maybe that will improve it.”
“From whom?”
“A lawyer named Robert Harvey.”
Stone riffled through the mail and found the check: it was made out to him and Woodman & Weld. “Well, I don’t know why it was sent to me. Messenger it over to Herbie.”
“And I was so looking forward to depositing it,” Joan said, and flounced out with the check.
Stone went through the mail, which was inconsequential, except for a dinner invitation from Mr. and Mrs. John Coulter. He scribbled Yes on it and put it in the pile to go back to Joan. He’d invite Crane, he thought.
Joan buzzed. “Mike Freeman on one.”
Stone pressed the button. “Hey, Mike.”
“You don’t sound so good this morning, Stone. Something wrong?”
“No, I just didn’t sleep well.”
“I thought you’d like to know I hired Crane Hart.”
“I heard, though I seem to be the last to hear. She didn’t mention it when I saw her yesterday, but I sure heard from Jeb Barnes at Steele. He was royally pissed off.”
“He’ll get over it,” Mike said.
“When did this happen?”
“On Tuesday. She had interviews last week. Didn’t she mention it?”
“Not a word.”
“She starts next Monday.”
“I hope you’ll be very happy together.”
“We’re not getting married, Stone, she’s just coming to work for me.”
“Where? In New York?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you have an Alaska office?”
“Stone, you really got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but she only accepted yesterday. I was going to invite you to lunch, by way of thanking you.”
“Not today, Mike,” Stone said. “I’d be poor company, I think.”
“I’ll call you again, then. Take care.” Mike hung up.
Stone finished the snail mail, then turned to his e-mail. He worked through the list for twenty minutes or so, then he came to the last one: it was from Crane.
Dear Stone,
I want to thank you again for referring me to Herb Fisher, who did such a brilliant job. Also, Michael Freeman has offered me a job at Strategic Services, and I’ve accepted. A good week for me!
Something else: Don and I had dinner together last night. He was very sweet and apologetic about his behavior. We managed to clear the air, and we’re back together again. In an odd way, I have you to thank for that. Of course, this means that you and I can’t see each other anymore, but things have all worked out for the best.
Affectionately,
Crane
Stone’s jaw very nearly hit his desktop. He stared at the screen, uncomprehending, for a long moment, then he typed a reply:
Congratulations on the new job. As to your personal life, I knew you were smart, but I didn’t know you were crazy.
Joan came back in and took the mail, then she regarded him closely. “Now what? You look as though you’ve been poleaxed.” Stone’s phone rang, and she picked it up. “Hi, Dino. Yes, he’s here, hang.” She handed the receiver to Stone.
“Hey, Dino.”
“You sound hungover.”
“No, just tired. I didn’t sleep well.”
“Had to do it alone, huh?”
“Don’t start.”
“Well, I called to tell you that I’m going to shoot you on sight for sneaking out to dinner with my wife last night, but I don’t want to add to your woes.”
“Thanks so much.”
“I hear the lovely Crane has a new job.”
Stone sighed. “I heard that, too.”
“Yeah, Viv interviewed her and recommended her to Mike.”
“Funny, Viv didn’t mention that.”
“She also said she saw Crane with that psycho, Don Dugan.”
“Yeah, I had an e-mail from her