“No, I’m at the office—I told you I’m fine.”

“Not tired anymore?”

“I’m just fine, trust me!”

“Okay, you’re fine. Any news on Ryan?”

“Yeah, Harrigan finally figured out that he has a cell phone. We checked his calls, but he hasn’t made any for a while.”

“What’s the billing address?”

“His old place, in Queens.”

“I don’t know why it’s so hard to find a guy who doesn’t seem to be hiding.”

“Neither do I, believe me.”

“What’s his cell phone number?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I just want to know, okay? Maybe I’ll call him, and we’ll chat.”

Dino gave him the number. “Don’t call it,” he said, “you’ll just fuck things up, and Harrigan would love to have somebody to blame.”

Stone ignored that. “When are you going to feel like having dinner?”

“I feel like it right now!” Dino yelled. “Can’t you get it into your head that I’m fine?”

“Great, then call Viv, and let’s go to Patroon tonight.”

“Viv’s back in Chicago, this time overnight.”

“See you there at seven-thirty.”

“Right.” Dino hung up and so did Stone.

Stone called Bob Cantor, his general all-around tech guy.

“How you doing?” Bob asked.

“Just fine,” Stone replied. “I’ve got a little thing for you.”

“What do you need?”

Stone gave him Ryan’s cell number. “I need to find the owner of that cell number. His name is Gene Ryan. It’s still listed under his old address, but he’s moved to New Jersey.”

“I’ll see what I can do. You want to know about his calls?”

“Sure, anything you can learn about the guy.”

“I’ll get back to you.”

—

The Silver Meteor pulled into Pennsylvania Station on time. Ryan, out of an abundance of caution, didn’t get off until there were a lot of people on the platform. He’d managed to keep some soup down at lunch, and he was getting hungry, which he regarded as a good sign. What had that bitch put in his drink?

He joined the crowd on the platform, burdened only by his small suitcase. He was about to look for a cab when he realized he had no money. He found an ATM and got five hundred, then he succumbed to hunger and went into a fast-food restaurant and got a burger. He was standing at a tall table, taking his first bite, when he noticed two men walking quickly toward his train. They were clearly looking for somebody, and they didn’t act like cops. They were burly, wearing suits but no ties, and one of them had a bulge under his left armpit. They walked on toward the train.