Stone watched him go, then walked back to the yacht and found Callie. “Please add these names to the guest list for Sunday,” he said, handing her the paper.

Callie looked at it. “Do these people have first names?”

“No,” Stone said.

Chapter 53

53

STONE WALKED DOWN WORTH AVENUE WITH DINO AT his side, trying not to look behind him or at the reflections in windows.

“What are we doing, Stone?” Dino asked.

“We’re trolling.”

“For Dolce?”

“Yes.”

“Which one of us is the bait on the hook?”

“I am.”

“So what am I?”

“You’re the cork.”

“I must remember to stay out of the line of fire,” Dino said.

“Don’t worry. Guido and his buddies are on the job.”

“Oh, that really makes me feel better: protection from goombahs.”

“You’re a goombah,” Stone said.

“You say that again, and I’ll shoot you myself.”

“Come on, Dino, the only thing separating your life from Guido’s and his chums’ is the entrance exam to the police academy.”

“You’re really trying to piss me off, aren’t you?”

“Can’t you take a joke?”

“I’m going to sic the Italian-American Defamation League onto your ass,” Dino said.

“Didn’t the people who ran that fine organization all get gunned down while eating clams?”

“Only some of them. Are we trolling for Paul Manning, too?”

“No, I think Mr. Manning has retired from the field.”

“And what makes you think that?”

“I explained to him that I knew about his little bank escapades, and that I could very easily cause the FBI to know about them, too, if he should annoy me.”

“And you think that will get rid of him.”

“I do.”

“I expect it pissed him off, too.”

“Oh, yes, I took some pleasure in pissing him off.”

“Stone, you don’t want to piss off crazy people with homicidal tendencies.”

“I think he’s smart enough to stay out of my way, now.”

“Smart doesn’t enter into it,” Dino said. “Revenge has a way of doing away with smart.”

Stone stopped and looked into a jewelry shop window. “See if you can spot Guido and his friends.”

Dino didn’t even turn around. “You mean the three goombahs in the red Cadillac, parked across the street?”

Stone sighed. “Tell me you’re just saying that to annoy me.”

“I’m just saying that to annoy you,” Dino said. “They’re really parked about fifty feet up the street.”

“I told him to stay well away from me,” Stone said.

“Goombahs like Guido don’t listen, unless it involves an illegal profit, or the fun of shooting somebody in the head.”

“I don’t understand why Eduardo would send people like that to do this.”

“Who else is he going to trust?” Dino asked. “They’re his people. He’s not going to ask his fellow board members at the Metropolitan Opera to come to Palm Beach and bring his crazy daughter home.”