“I fired expert in the army with the old automatic,” Ham said.

“I couldn’t hit a wall with that thing,” Stone said.

“Ham fired expert with everything the army had,” Holly said. “He’s the best shot in the world.”

Ham shook his head. “No, just the best shot you ever saw.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Stone said, glancing at Holly, who made a face at him.

“Be nice to my little girl,” Ham said.

Stone turned to Holly. “See?”

“Oh, Ham, shut up,” Holly said. “Don’t go scaring the men off.”

“I’m just saying,” Ham said.

“It’s all right, Ham,” Stone replied. “I understand.”

“Good. Good spaghetti, too,” he said.

“It’s penne, actually.”

“It’s all spaghetti to me.” He stuffed another forkful into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

“Did you do anything about my house?” Holly said.

“I got you a new door and installed it. Ginny was cleaning up the place when I left for the airport.”

“So you came up here to rescue me?”

“I just thought you might need somebody to watch your back.”

“The Feds seem to be doing that,” Stone pointed out. “After all, she’s the one who’s dogging their witness.”

“Any luck?” Ham asked.

“A couple of sightings, no collar.”

“Want me to collar him for you?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that, Ham. The Feds are involved, so is the Mafia. Grant’s up here. That’s why those guys are out in the street. They followed us to Connecticut, too.”

“I guess that boy is taking a proprietary interest in you.”

Stone laughed, and Holly shot him a glance.

“Don’t worry, it’s all business.”

“I liked him, till he got to running the Miami office,” Ham said. “After that, he was just another bureaucrat.”

“That’s what I hear,” Stone said.

“So who the hell are you, Stone?” Ham asked.

“Lawyer,” Stone replied.

“Oh.”

“Don’t take it so hard, Ham,” Holly said. “He’s also a retired cop.”

“Little young to be retired, aren’t you?”

“Bullet in the knee,” Stone said, realizing that he was adopting Ham’s mode of speech.

“Uh-huh,” Ham said. “Must of hurt.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“You two are going to be comparing scars in a minute,” Holly said.

“Who was that Herbie character?” Ham asked.

“Former client and current nuisance,” Stone replied.

“He’s dangerous.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You can smell it on him. He’d sell you to save his own ass.”

“You’re a fine judge of character, Ham.”

“I trained a lot of young men in the army. You get to know what to expect of them.”

The doorbell rang. Stone picked up a phone, pressed a button, and listened for a moment. “Come on in,” he said, pressing another button. He turned to Holly. “It’s Lance.”

“Who’s Lance?” Ham asked.

“Tell you what, Ham,” Stone said. “You meet him and tell me.”

27