Chapter 57

It was a nice evening, so Stone walked up to the Four Seasons for Dino’s event. As he approached the elevator banks he saw a couple walk into a car. They turned and faced the doors as they closed, and Stone caught sight of Gene Ryan, or at least he thought he did. The elevator started up, and before he could see how high it went, Stone was hustled into another elevator by Dino on one arm and Viv on the other.

“I swear I just saw Gene Ryan get onto another elevator,” Stone said.

“It’s what, six-thirty?” Dino asked. “Are you drunk already?” He turned to his wife. “Viv, we’ve got to get Stone to cut down on his drinking. It’s getting out of hand.”

“Extremely amusing,” Stone said as the elevator doors opened and they stepped into a hallway.

“Stone hallucinates when he drinks too much,” Dino said, pushing him toward the end of the hallway.

“Is this a dinner?” Stone asked.

“No, it’s a cocktail party,” Viv said, “but we’re having dinner later. Let me brief you: my client is Henry Hasker of Hasker & Hasker, a very large hedge fund based in Chicago. His daughter is Henrietta, known as Hank, who has just opened a New York office for the firm. That is the event being celebrated this evening. Henry doesn’t like big dinners, so he invited a couple of dozen of his top people for drinks and heavy hors d’oeuvres, so they won’t go away hungry, then we’re joining Henry and his wife, Helen, for dinner, which will be served in the suite, and of course Hank will be there, as well. Having just moved to New York, she doesn’t know a lot of people, hence my request for your company.”

“What’s she like?” Stone asked, as they reached the double doors of the suite.

“I’ve no idea,” Viv said. “I haven’t met her.”

“I hear she resembles a camel,” Dino said, ringing the bell.

The door was opened by a uniformed butler, and they stepped into the living room of what Stone thought must be the Presidential Suite, because it was huge. A pianist and a bass player were delivering light jazz in a corner of the room, and waiters in red jackets were circulating among the fifty or so H&H employees and their spouses or significant others. A tall man who had to be Henry Hasker detached from a group and introduced himself, then began introducing them to people, none of whose names Stone caught. Then unexpectedly a six-foot-tall knockout of a woman in a strapless cocktail dress materialized, and Stone caught her name: Hank. In heels, she was as tall as Stone, maybe a little taller.

“How do you do?” Stone asked.