Once on dry land, he lay down and, with the greatest possible effort, got his handcuffed hands under his ass and finally over his feet. Now, with his hands in front of him, he was able to get to the cell phone under his sweater on his belt. He punched in the number.

“The Shames yacht,” Dino said.

“Dino,” Stone said, “I need you to come and get me, and bring your handcuffs key.”

Chapter 39

39

DINO FOUND THE WHOLE STORY HILARIOUS. “I DON’T believe it,” he cackled. “Bartlett bites you on the ass from the grave! I wish I had been there!”

“Dino, it wouldn’t have been funny, even if you were there.”

“And you thought it was Manning who bought the hit!” He cackled again.

“And it still isn’t funny.”

Stone went to his cabin, showered and changed, retrieved his laptop computer and brought it into the saloon.

“What are you doing with that?” Dino asked.

“The only address we have for Frederick James is an e-mail address, so I’m going to e-mail him.”

“Will he be able to tell you’re in Palm Beach?”

“No. The return address will be the same as if I’d sent it from New York.”

“Okay, why not?”

Stone made some adjustments in his telephone dialing program, logged on to his Internet provider and went to e-mail.

TO: FREDERICK JAMES

FROM: STONE BARRINGTON

DEAR MR. JAMES:

I UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ME. IF SO, YOU MAY REACH ME AT THE ABOVE E-MAIL ADDRESS, OR TELEPHONE ME AT (917) 555-1455. I THINK YOU AND I MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DISCUSS THAT WOULD REACT TO YOUR BENEFIT.

Stone sent the e-mail. “Let’s see if that raises him.”

“And what if it does?”

“All I want to do is buy the guy off. Maybe he’ll listen to reason.”

“You think he’s interested in money?”

“I don’t think he’s interested in anything else. He’s doing this because he’s pissed off at his wife for taking all his money. I’m going to propose that she give some of it back.”

“I think the guy’s a fruitcake, Stone, and . . .”

A chime from Stone’s computer interrupted him. “You have mail,” a notice on the screen said.

“That was quick. The guy must have been working on his computer.” Stone opened the e-mail.

TO: STONE BARRINGTON

FROM: FREDERICK JAMES

DEAR MR. BARRINGTON:

WHY DO YOU THINK I AM TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU? I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

Stone was annoyed. He immediately wrote back.

TO: PAUL MANNING

FROM: STONE BARRINGTON

PAUL:

ALLISON HAS ASKED ME TO REPRESENT HER IN COMING TO TERMS WITH YOU. SHE IS WILLING TO PART WITH A SUBSTANTIAL SUM OF MONEY IN ORDER TO AMICABLY END ALL TIES WITH YOU. LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.

“Let’s see if that has any effect,” Stone said.