“Not to worry, I slept very nicely in the rear seat,” Fred said, starting the car. He picked his way through the rush-hour traffic and delivered Stone to his home.

Joan was at her desk when he entered through the street door. “How is he?”

“He’s good, and he’s going to be better in a couple of days.”

“How about you?”

“I slept amazingly well in a reclining chair, then had some breakfast with Viv. She’s fine, too, now that Dino is out of the woods.”

“Then if everybody is fine, you’d better read this. It was stuck to the front door,” she said, handing him a single sheet of paper with a scrawl on it.

ONE DOWN, ONE TO GO, it read.

Chapter 42

On Monday morning Stone sat down at his desk and called Captain Dan Harrigan, chief of detectives. Harrigan had been on the squad at the 19th Precinct when Stone and Dino were partners; he had been a good guy and a good detective, enough of both that Dino had wanted him for chief. Dan affected an Irish brogue, even though he was three generations away from the Old Sod.

“How’s Dino?” Harrigan asked. “Sure, he won’t see anybody but you and Vivian.”

“He’ll come around, Dan. He’s a little too worried about how he looks. He’ll be more receptive to visitors when the swelling goes down.”

“Man, he’s lucky to be alive.”

“He is that, and he already has a theory of who the shooter was.”

“No kidding? I heard he didn’t see or hear anything.”

“He knows that the shooter was wearing motorcycle clothes and a helmet, and he has a strong feeling that he’s Gene Ryan.”

“The ex-cop who’s been after you? We’ve been looking everywhere for that guy.”

“Well, keep looking—Dino’s convinced that Ryan is the perp.”

“Why would Ryan want Dino dead? What’s his motive?”

“He wants me, and I was unavailable, so he went after Dino.”

“That’s his motive? That he’s pissed off at you?”

“Stranger things have happened. Ryan drove a motorcycle, you know, he used it when he fired a pistol into my car.”

“And we found the thing in the East River. My theory is that he was riding it when it went in, and his body just hasn’t turned up yet.”

“That’s a plausible theory, Dan, but Dino isn’t buying it, and I think it would be a good idea to get your thumb out of your ass and find Ryan before Dino gets out of the hospital. You and I both know that once he has an idea in his head, he’s not going to let go of it until it’s been nailed to the wall and thoroughly inspected.”