“I didn’t know that.”

“Well, everybody else on this island does. And nobody wants to end up posing for pictures like that.”

Stone sighed. “Well, I guess I can’t argue with them.”

“No, you can’t. And you ought to give some thought to what’s going to happen when the Stone boys learn who bought their family house out from under them.”

“I’ve taken precautions. The buyer is a Delaware corporation, and they can’t penetrate that.”

“Well, that’s exactly what I’m going to tell them, when they get around to asking. And they will.”

“Good idea, Billy.”

“I expect you know that I keep a forty-five automatic stashed under my cash register.”

“Everybody knows that, Billy.”

“Well, I’ve added a sawed-off shotgun to my little armory, and I don’t care who knows it.”

“I’ll be sure and mention that to the twins, when they come to see me.”

“Just you remember that those boys are wicked clever, with the emphasis on ‘wicked.’ And you might not see them coming.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“My story is that the buyers are a family from down south, and they don’t know anybody here. The only person I’ve talked to about the house is a lawyer from Savannah, and he doesn’t know who they are either, just that they like their privacy.”

“That sounds good to me.”

“Are you coming up here to close the sale, Stone?”

“No, Ed Rawls will stand in for me. He can sign everything, then I’ll release the funds.”

“Good, I hope it works. Is that all, Stone?”

“That’s all, Billy.”

Billy hung up.

Stone checked off the boxes in his brain. He was all out of options.

8

Stone was at his desk on Friday morning when Joan came in.

“I’ve got both Billy Hotchkiss and Ed Rawls on line one,” she said.

Stone punched the speaker button. “Good morning, gentlemen.”

“Good morning, yourself,” Billy said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Rawls grumbled.

“Everything okay?”

“That’s why we called,” Billy said. “Ed has signed and initialed everything. Now all we need is money, and the Stone property is yours.”

“Joan?” He knew she’d still be on the line.

“I await your instructions,” she replied.

“Send the rest of the money now.”

“The bank is standing by. Hold for a moment.” She got off the line, and another lit up on Stone’s desk phone. “What else is going on up there?”

“The hearing has started in Belfast,” Rawls said. “You want to watch?”

“How would I do that?”

“Well, I don’t know, but I believe Joan can figure it out. It’s streaming, live.”

Stone barely knew what that meant. “When we’re done with the money, tell her about it, will you?”

“Sure. And don’t worry about their seeing you. It’s a one-way thing.”