HEAVENLY PEACE SHOWED UP with two men carrying toolboxes; she was dressed in a nicely tailored boiler suit with a Strategic Services emblem embroidered above her left breast and carrying a small suitcase. “May I leave my case here somewhere, Stone? It’s got my civvies in it, for later.”

“Of course,” Stone said, “just leave it in my closet over there.” He pointed across his office.

“Now, you’ve seen the plans, can we start in here? We’ll make as little noise as possible, then we’ll drift upstairs.”

“As you wish,” Stone said. “I’ve got to read some documents. I’ll take them up to my study while you work in here.”

“See you later,” she said, tossing her long blond hair out of her way, then quickly pinning it up.

Stone took his briefcase upstairs and settled into a comfortable chair. His phone rang. “Yes?”

“Dino on one,” Joan said.

Stone punched the button. “Morning.”

“Yeah, and a nice one, too. I hear you have an unusual security tech wandering around your house. Quite a dish, huh?”

“Yeah, I think this is Mike Freeman’s idea of a joke.”

“You’re taking it all wrong—he’s heard you’re lonely, and he just wants to make you feel better.”

“Nah, he just wants me to walk around the house with a bulge in my trousers all day.”

Dino laughed loudly. “First step in feeling better.”

“I thought Jinx was the first step in feeling better.”

“She’s nice, but she heads off downtown every day to her studio, and you only see her at night.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, but she’s a professional woman with a lot of work on her hands, so she can’t devote herself fully to you.”

“That describes just about every woman I’ve met since Arrington died, even Heavenly Peace.”

“Nice name, huh? It’s how you’ll feel when she’s through with you. And she’s not the type to take her work to bed with her.”

“You have a point. Jinx has a bad habit of sketching ideas while I’m trying to get to sleep. Her painters are supposed to be out of her place today, though, so I should be able to get some rest.”

“Tell you what, if she abandons you, bring Hev to dinner.”

“Where’d you have in mind?”

“How about Rotisserie Georgette, on Sixtieth? I’ll book.”

“Let’s see how the day goes.”

“Talk to you later.”

There was a knock on the study door, and Jinx came in. “Joan said you were up here.”

“I’ve got workmen in my office installing security cameras, the result of our little incident the other night. What brings you uptown this time of day?”

“I came to get my stuff.”

“Abandoning me?”