While Ryan was at a mall, buying sheets and towels and a TV, two New Jersey state patrolmen were being let into his old apartment by the manager, their guns drawn, only to find it empty, except for a note to the manager telling him to go fuck himself.

Chapter 44

Stone, Dino, and Viv sat in Dino’s study, finishing their sandwiches. Viv parked Dino out of reach of the phone, in case he was tempted to use it. Finally, she gave up the vigil and took their plates to the kitchen.

“What do you think Ryan is doing right now?” Dino asked.

“Well, if recent events are any indication, he’s probably thinking about killing you or me, or perhaps both of us.”

“That’s what I think he’s doing, too.”

Stone’s phone rang, and he answered it, twisting his body so Dino couldn’t snatch it out of his hand. He listened for a couple of minutes, asking a question or two, then hung up.

“That was Dan Harrigan, wasn’t it?” Dino asked.

“Gee, I don’t know how you guessed,” Stone replied.

“All right, tell me what he said.”

“First answer a question.”

“What?”

“Do you have a headache?”

Dino shrugged. “Sort of.”

Stone went to the door and yelled, “Viv, painkillers, please.”

“Now, why’d you have to do that? She was all settled down, and now you’ve got her going again.”

Viv came in with a pill and a glass of water. “Open,” she said, then waited. “I said, open!”

Dino opened and she popped the pill into his mouth and made him drink half a glass of water. “Let me see,” she said.

Dino opened his mouth.

“Lift your tongue.”

He lifted his tongue.

“All right,” she said. She left the glass of water and the pills on the table at his elbow and looked at her watch. “No more until six o’clock.” Then she left the room.

“All right, what did Harrigan say?”

“He said he got a call from somebody at the New Jersey DMV, saying that an E. P. Ryan registered a car and a motorcycle half an hour after they had told him they had nothing on the guy. He swapped his New York license for a Jersey one, too.”

“Did they get his address?”

“The New Jersey state cops did—they’re the ones who got the call first. They went there and found him moved out, except for a rude note to the building manager.”

“Out where?”

“They’ve no idea.”

“What the fuck are those guys doing out there?”

“Dino, they’re doing their jobs. After all, there are no charges against Ryan, he’s just wanted for questioning, and on no better evidence than your hunch.”

“What do you think Ryan is doing over there?”

“The evidence seems to tell us he’s moving to New Jersey.”

“Why would he do a thing like that?”