Stuart Woods - Loitering With Intent (Stone Barrington)

with IN T EN T S t u a r t W o o d s G . P. P U T N A M S S O N S New Yorkwith IN T EN T f i c t i o n Mounting Fears Dirty Work Imperfect Strangers Hot Mahogany Blood Orchid* Heat Santa Fe Dead The Short Forever Dead Eyes Beverly Hills Dead Orchid Blues* L.A. Times Shoot Him If He Runs Cold Paradise Santa Fe Rules Fresh Disasters L.A. Dead New York Dead Short Straw The Run Palindrome Dark Harbor Worst Fears Realized Grass Roots Iron Orchid* Orchid Beach* White Cargo Two-Dollar Bill Swimming to Catalina Under the Lake The Prince of Beverly Hills Dead in the Water Deep Lie Reckless Abandon Dirt Run Before the Wind Capital Crimes Choke Chiefs t r a v e l A Romantics Guide to the Country Inns of Britain and Ireland (1979) m e m o i r Blue Water, Green Skipper (1977) *A Holly Barker Novel A Stone Barrington Novel A Will Lee Novel An Ed Eagle Novel with IN T EN T S t u a r t W o o d s G . P.

P U T N A M S S O N S New York G. P. PUTNAMS SONS Publishers Since 1838 Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Ofces: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Copyright 2009 by Stuart Woods All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Woods, Stuart. Loitering with intent / Stuart Woods p. cm. ISBN: 1-101-04488-8 1. Barrington, Stone (Fictitious character)Fiction. Title. Title.

PS3573.O642L65 2009 2009002503 813'.54dc22

This is a work of ction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used ctitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. This book is for Lisa Towbin.with IN T EN T ELA I N E S, LA T E . Stone Barrington arrived at his table at the same time as his usual Knob Creek on the rocks and made a mental note to increase the waiters tip.

This generosity was blown right out of his mind as he took his rst welcome sip, because entering the restaurant immediately after him, as if she had been following him in another cab, was his girlfriend, Tatiana Orlovsky. Stone was surprised to see her, because earlier in the day he had asked her to dinner and she had declined. Her excuse had been better than the I-have-to-wash-my-hair standby, but not much, and she had declined an invitation the evening before as well. They had been seeing each other for some months, and she pleased him more and more. He stood up to greet her. Hello, she said.

May I take your coat and get you a drink? I have a business dinner in a few minutes, but we have time. She sat down without removing her coat, a bad sign. No, she said, Im not staying. Theres something I have to say to you. Very bad sign: Say to you, not talk with you. His inference 1 S t u a r t W o o d s was that a response would not be entertained.

All right, he said, taking a long drag on his bourbon. He had a feeling he was going to need it. Henry is moving back in, she said. Henry Kennerly was her estranged husband, and in Stones experience and from her stories, he was an unreconstructed drunk and bully. Tati, Stone said, as gently as possible, are you out of your fucking mind? Hes been sober for ninety-one days, she replied, choosing not to address the issue of her sanity. Hes never done that before.

And how long do you expect him to remain in that condition? Hes a new man, or rather an old one, the one I knew when I rst met him. He has melted my heart. Stone felt his sex life leaving his body, like a departing spirit. Tati... Stop, she said, holding up a hand like a trafc cop. It wont do any good to talk about it.

Our time together has been wonderful, and Ive enjoyed every moment of it, but its not going anywhere, and besides, this is my marriage Im talking about. Stone wanted to remind her that it had been an unpleasant and abusive marriage for years, but he uncharacteristically managed to sense the obvious, that she was in no mood to talk. He shrugged. She stood up, and he stood up with her. She walked around the table, gave him a light, sweet kiss on the lips, then walked out of the restaurant. As she made her way through the tiny vestibule, one man attened himself against the wall to let her pass, while another held the outside door open for her.

Stone could see a cab waiting with the rear door standing open; she got into it and rode away down Second Avenue into what had become a blowing snowstorm. The two men entered the restaurant and walked toward Stone. The taller of the two was Bill Eggers, his law school buddy and currently the managing partner of the prestigious law rm of Woodman & Weld, to which Stone was of counsel, which meant that he 2 L o i t e r i n g w i t h I n t e n t was hired to handle the cases the rm did not wish to be seen to handle. The other man was a stranger, shorter, heftier and squarershaped than Eggers. Stone did not know him but presumed he was the client Eggers wanted him to meet with. Evening, Stone, Eggers said, shaking his hand.

This is our client, Warren Keating. Stone shook the mans hand and offered them both a chair. How do you do? he said. Ordinarily I do very well, the man said, sitting down, but... Warren has a problem I think you can help him with, Eggers interrupted. I hope so, Stone replied.

Can I get you a drink? Scotch, Keating replied quickly. Laphroaig, if they have it. Two, Eggers said. They have it, Stone replied, lifting an eyebrow in the direction of a waiter, who scurried over and took their order. And another for me, Stone said, tossing off the remainder of his bourbon. Eggers looked sharply at Stone but didnt comment.

How can I help you, Mr. Keating? Stone asked. Its Warren, the man said. I... Do you mind if I sum this up for you, Warren? Eggers said, interrupting again. Stone reected that Eggers did not interrupt clients without a good reason.

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