“Okay, Charlie, we’re in.”

“Great. Get on a plane, pick up a rental at the airport, and drive to the Sea Castle Motel, on the beach.” He gave Al the address. “I’ll take you to dinner Sunday night and brief you. You need me, call on this phone.”

“See you Sunday,” Al said, and hung up. “Okay, guys, here’s what we do: we get flights to Lauderdale or Miami from three airports. Vinny—LaGuardia, Gene—Newark, me—Kennedy.

“We each make our own bookings and pay cash. When you get in, take a cab or a rental to the Sea Castle Motel, on the beach in Lauderdale. There’ll be rooms in each of our names. Take a girl, if you want, or Charlie will find you somebody. We have dinner with Charlie Sunday night, no girls. We’re there for a few days, then we’re out, fifty grand richer.”

“I’ll bet Charlie is making a lot more,” Ryan said.

“Who gives a shit? Is your time worth more than fifty grand? And we don’t have local law enforcement to deal with.”

“Okay by me.”

“Me too,” Vinny said.

“Speaking of local law enforcement,” Ryan said, “are we gonna be hearing from them?”

“Probably not, but we should always be ready. If they ask, you both know me, but you don’t know each other. No need to hide the trip to Florida.”

“Okay,” Vinny said, pointing at the money. “Sixty grand each, now we gotta get outta here before my mom gets home.”

“You already dispose of the costumes?” Al asked.

“On the way here,” Vinny said. “They’re burned.”

—

Dino was almost his old self, and Stone had postponed his dinner with Pepe Perado, so that evening, Stone hosted a dinner at the Post House, a steak place in Dino’s block and next to Pepe’s hotel. Stone took Pat Frank, and Pepe said he was bringing somebody. Somebody turned out to be the lovely Caroline Woodhouse, from the ad agency, who Stone, as an act of self-preservation, had hooked up with Major Ian Rattle, his former houseguest. He had forgotten that Pepe had met Caroline at the same time he had.

“You’re looking very well, Dino,” Pepe said, shaking his hand. “Considering.”

Dino laughed. “Yeah, considering. I’ve got a hard head, as Stone keeps pointing out to me. How’s the brewery business?”

“Distribution business, for the moment. It’s going very well, and we’re starting to plan for the brewery. We’re going to have a big bash in a couple of weeks to introduce ourselves to the New York market. You’re all invited—invitations to follow.”

“Hello, Stone,” Caroline said, holding on to his hand for a moment. “You’re looking well.”

“And you’re looking better than that, Caroline. This is Pat Frank. Pat, Caroline Woodhouse.”