BooksBarbecue
Back Dirty Work
Chapters (62)
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  62. AUTHOR’S NOTE

“Ten minutes,” she said, then hung up.

Stone waited as patiently as he could, then picked up the phone as soon as it rang. “That you?”

“It’s me.”

“I have a meeting with the English gentleman at five.”

“Good.”

“We have to talk about what you want, so I’ll have something to negotiate about.”

“I want what he offered me, plus as much else as I can get.”

“You mean money? Damages for your parents’ death?”

“That would be nice.”

“Given the attrition you’ve caused in his organization, I don’t think you’d have a leg to stand on. You’ve already realized a good deal more than tit for tat.”

“All right, I want a written apology for the deaths of my parents.”

“I like that. It’s good to start with something we know he’ll never give us. What else?”

“I don’t really care, except I think we need something to punish him with, if he reneges.”

“Let me give that some thought. I’ll call you when the meeting is over.”

“Where is the meeting being held?”

“Oh no, you don’t. You’re not going to harm a hair on anybody’s head while I’m in this, or you’ll have to get yourself a new lawyer. I’m not going to be an accessory to a killing.”

“Oh, all right, I won’t murder anybody for a while,” she said, like a child promising to be good.

“Good. Talk to you later.” He dictated some notes to Joan and read them as they came off the printer, then read them again. He was ready. He looked at his watch, impatient to get on with it.

42

Sir Edward and Carpenter were on time, and Stone showed them into the dining room. “Would you like some refreshment?” he asked.

“Perhaps later,” Sir Edward replied. “Let’s get on with it.”

Stone sat down. “Marie-Thérèse is willing to meet with you in a public place of her choosing, under stringent security requirements, which she will dictate.”

“Agreed,” Sir Edward replied. “Subject to my approval of her choice of place.”

“You offered to meet at a place of her choosing. You won’t know the place until you’re there. If you become concerned as you make your way there, you can always abort.”

“How will she arrange this?”

“You’ll go to a public place, then be contacted by cell phone and directed to another public place, then another, until she is satisfied you didn’t bring company. Then, and only then, will the meeting take place.”

“Agreed,” Sir Edward replied.

“She will require a written apology from you, personally, on your service’s letterhead, for the deaths of her parents.”

Sir Edward grew an inch. “Absolutely out of the question,” he said.

“And monetary damages,” Stone said.

“That is patently ridiculous,” Sir Edward replied hotly.