Manny thought about it for a moment. “He had a boat. He left in it—that’s why my agent couldn’t figure out where he went.”

“I already knew he had a boat. Give me something worth the hundred.”

“He was staying at the Delano, which, if you don’t already know, is a hotshot hotel for the young and stupid. They got a pretty bar, but the rooms look like underfurnished cells in an insane asylum. The people who stay there think this is stylish.”

“Did he have a girl with him?”

“A different one every night. At least one.”

“How long was he there?”

“A month, give or take, and in a suite, too.”

“Where’d he come from?”

“His mama’s belly, where do you think?”

“Where did he live before South Beach?” Stone could hear some papers shuffl ing.

“Santa Fe.”

“In New Mexico?”

“No, in Alaska. A very hot spot, I hear.”

“How long was he there?”

“A month, give or take. Same thing with the girls. I hear he’s cute. Lemme give you my P.O. box for the hundred, which you’ve used up.” He gave the number and zip code. “You want to start on a second hundred?”

“You got anything else?”

“No, but I’ll take the second hundred.”

“Thanks, Manny, you’re a prince.” Stone hung up.

“Was he always like that?” he asked Dino.

“Always. Did you call the Swede? You promised.”

Stone sighed and got out his cell again.

21

21

STONE L AY ON his back, panting. The ceiling fan was a blur above him. For the past two hours, off and on, he and Annika had explored every nook and cranny, every orifice, every nerve ending in both their bodies. To his credit, even she seemed tired.

“Tell me, Stone,” she said, “what do you do?”

They were going to have the first-date chitchat now? “Do you really want to know?”

“I don’t ask what I don’t want to know.”

“I’m an attorney.”

“Why do lawyers always say they are attorneys, instead of lawyers?”

“Because lawyers have a bad name with a lot of people.”

“And attorneys don’t?”

“Oh, no. Attorneys are a different class of people altogether. Much higher up the totem pole.”

“They are Eskimos?”

“Just a fi gure of speech.”

“Americans use a lot of figure of speeches.”

“Yes, we do. You will, too, when you’ve been here a little longer.”

“What possible business could an attorney have in Key West?”

she asked.

“I was looking for a man.”

“Did you fi nd him?”

“Finally.”

“Why was it so hard?”

“You know, today I asked the same question of another man who took a while to fi nd him.”

“It was hard for him, too?”

“Yes.”

“Who is this man?”

“His name is Evan Keating.”

“Oh, Evan.”

Stone lifted his head from the damp pillow and looked at her.

“You know him?”

“Of course.”