“That could be a good investment, Dink. Prices are lower than they were before the recession.” Herbie took a card from a drawer and handed it to him. “This is a good agent, if you’re looking to buy on the East Side or downtown. Those are her specialties.”

“Downtown interests me,” Dink said. “I’ll give her a call.”

“All right, Dink, I’ll be your attorney. Just remember, you can fire me at any time, and I reserve the same right.”

Dink stood up to go. “I hope it won’t come to that on either side,” he said. He shook hands and left.

Cookie came into the office. “So that’s Dink Brennan? He looks awfully normal.”

“Yes, he does, doesn’t he? Let’s see how that goes. Oh, he’s our new client, so you can open a file for him.” He handed her the card. “Here’s his address, until he goes back to Yale in the fall.”

Cookie started back to her desk.

“Oh, and, Cookie?”

She turned. “Yes?”

“Don’t let RoseAnn talk to clients until she learns to watch her language.”

“Gotcha.”

44

VIV AND ROSIE stood in Viv’s friend’s apartment and looked around. “It’s not obvious,” Viv said to the tech guy.

“That’s because they’re wireless—we didn’t have to hide a lot of wiring.” He pointed. “You’ve got four cameras in here, one at roughly each corner of the living room. Nothing can happen here that we can’t see.” He led them into the bedroom. “We’ve got one in the light fixture here and one in that basket on the chest of drawers.”

“Don’t worry,” Rosie said, “we’re not going to get this far.”

The techie shrugged. “Whatever. Each camera has a microphone, too. We’ll be in the second bedroom, down the hall. There’s a lock on the door, so he won’t walk in on us by mistake. When are you guys going to start the ball rolling?”

“You may not have noticed this, Albie,” Viv said, “but we’re not guys.”

“I hope your mark notices that,” Albie said. He handed Rosie a wristwatch. “I’ve only got one of these, so you’ll have to decide who wears it.”

“What does it do?” Viv asked.

“Two things: it’s got a GPS chip, so if we should lose you in the street, we can still keep track, and if you press the stem, it’s a panic button. It sets off an alarm that flares your location on the screen and buzzes loud, in case somebody’s in the john.”

“You’re going to have two cops in there with you, so don’t all go to the john at the same time,” Rosie said.

VIV AND ROSIE sat in an unmarked car on West Forty-fourth Street and watched the entrance to the building that housed the Bright Lights, Ink, agency. It was raining. Viv’s cell rang. “DeCarlo.”

“It’s Bacchetti. I see you on West Forty-fourth on my laptop screen.”

“Shall I wave?” Viv asked.

“Just watch your ass,” Dino said. “I’m not up for wearing my uniform to your funeral.”