Standup Guy

They got out of the van and stood in the dim moonlight, listening. Nothing but an owl somewhere. Parese unlocked the front door and turned on a light. “Looks okay,” he called back.

“Let’s get the bags inside,” Hank yelled. Parese came outside, and they wheeled in the five suitcases and their own bags. They set three of the bags containing the money in the middle of the living room, and put two of them on the dining table.

Parese went back to the van and came back with the counter-sorting machine, then he went back and brought in two grocery bags.

“That’s not a week’s groceries,” she said.

“I just said that for Barrington’s benefit,” Parese replied. “There’s enough for a snack tonight and breakfast tomorrow.”

“You hungry?” she asked.

“I’m too excited to eat. This is go

They put their own bags in the bedroom, and when they came out, they could hear the crunch of tires on gravel.

“This is it,” Parese said. He pulled out his Glock and stood by the door, his back to the wall. A car door slammed.

“Marty?” a man’s gruff voice called.

“I’m here, Tommy. Come on in.”

Hank stood where she could be seen. A man appeared on the porch, and Parese turned on the outside light. “Who’s with you?” he called.

“Just the guy who drove me. He won’t move.”

“Come on in, then.”

Tommy walked into the living room and stopped. “I’m unarmed,” he said, opening his jacket and turning around. He also hoisted his trouser legs so Parese could see there was nothing strapped to his ankles.

“You brought the four and a half?” Parese asked.

“In the trunk of the car. Where’s yours?”

“Right over here.” Parese led him to the dining table and unzipped the two suitcases.

Tommy dug down into the bundles of bills and made sure it was all money. “Good,” he said, zipping up the bags and moving them to the floor. “Now let’s see the others.”

The two men hoisted the other three bags onto the table, and Tommy inspected them, then set them on the floor. “Fu

“It’s just paper,” Parese replied. “You satisfied, or you want to run it all through the machine again?” He handed Tommy some folded sheets of paper. “Here’s the count as it went through the machine.”

Tommy took the paper and put it in his pocket. “I’m okay,” he said. “Let’s go get my bags.”

“The lady will go with you,” Parese said. “I’ll wait here.” He nodded at Hank. “Don’t worry, babe, you’ll be okay with Tommy.”

Hank followed the man out to his car and around to the trunk. He opened it with a key and hoisted a bag onto the ground. “Take it in,” he said. “I’ll bring the other one.”

The two of them wheeled the bags into the house and to the dining room table. Parese put them on the table and opened them. They were filled with banded stacks of hundreds. He went through random stacks to be sure there was no newspaper in them.

“You want to put them through the machine?” Tommy asked.

“I’m good. You delivered, Tommy, and I appreciate it.”

“I appreciate the action,” Tommy replied.

The two men hugged, and Parese stood in the doorway and watched him walk back to the car. The driver started it, turned around, and drove up the drive. They could see his taillights through the woods as he drove away.

Parese turned and took Hank in his arms. “It’s done, babe.”

“Let’s get those two bags into the van, in case we need to make a hasty departure,” she said. They each took a bag and wheeled it outside, and Parese hoisted the bags into the van and closed the door. “Now,” he said, “I want to fuck you in the worst way.”

“And I want to fuck you, too, Marty,” she said.

57

Stone sat in the backseat with Viv. He didn’t know why he was so tired; after all, he’d spent the day on the sofa in his office. He wished he’d gotten more sleep.

“You’re awful quiet, Stone,” Dino said when they were on the Sawmill.

“I’m just thinking, what if we’re wrong about the lake cottage?”

“Then we’re wrong—it’ll cost you five million dollars, but the world won’t end. I bet your insurance company will cover you. I mean, it’s a straight-up armed robbery.”

“I don’t know what the limits are on my policy.”

“Dino,” Viv said, “suppose Stone is right about being wrong. What’s our backup plan?”

“Gee, I don’t know, Viv. Stone, you got a backup plan?”

“I’m thinking,” Stone said.

“Think faster, we’re half an hour out.”

“I’m thinking as fast as I can.”

“Oh, well, that’s all right, then.”

“You could think of something, you know, Dino.”

Dino got quiet.

• • •

They got to the convenience store at New Fairfield more or less on time. There were no police vehicles.

“I’ll bet Dan is inside,” Dino said.

They all got out and walked into the store. It was empty of customers. Dino walked over to the lone cashier. “Is Colonel Sparks of the State Police here?”

“Who wants to know?” the man asked.

Dino showed him his badge.

The man nodded toward the rear of the store. “Stockroom.”

They walked the length of the place and pushed open a swinging door. Sparks and seven or eight men were sitting around on crates and folding chairs, looking bored.

“Hey, Dino,” Sparks said. “You remember my team.”

“Hi, guys,” Dino said. “You remember Stone Barrington. This is my wife, Viv. She’s a retired NYPD detective.”

Viv’s credentials established, everybody nodded.

“When do you want to go in, Dino?”

“Well, I don’t want to get there first,” Dino said. “Let’s see, they left Stone’s house around seven, and it’s an hour-and-a-half drive up here, so that would be eight-thirty. It’s eleven now. If they’ve made the swap, they’ll probably spend the night, and they’re still there. If they haven’t made it, then they’re staying up late. Let’s go now.”

Sparks stood up. “Okay, everybody, saddle up. Put your gear on in the cars, not in the parking lot. We don’t want to attract attention. We’ll do this like last time—we’ll leave the cars after a right turn at the lake road, out of sight of any approaching vehicles, then we’ll walk down the road and take to the woods before we get to the cabin.”

Everybody got into the cars. They drove to the entry road and made the turn to the right, without headlights or incident. As quietly as possible, they left the vehicles around the first corner and began to walk up the road. Stone brought up the rear with Viv.

Stone and Viv waited in the road until the SWAT team had filtered into the woods, then Dan Sparks came back to get them. They followed him down the road. There was a light on in the living room.

“No van,” Stone said.

“No vehicle of any kind,” Sparks replied.

They followed him up onto the porch and into the living room. Nothing, nobody, except the counter-sorting machine on the floor next to the dining table, and two shotguns and an Uzi behind the front door. Stone went into the bedroom and turned on a light; there was a leather duffel on the bed. He unzipped it and pulled out a few things. “A man’s clothes,” he said to Sparks.

“I don’t see another bag,” Sparks said.

“And no five bags of tens and twenties,” Stone pointed out.

“There’s nothing in the place that says a woman was here,” Dino said. “There are two bags of groceries on the kitchen counter, untouched.”

“They’ve been here,” Sparks said.

“They’ve been here and gone,” Stone replied.

“At least, one of them did,” Sparks said. He walked back into the living room. “Everybody got a flashlight?” he asked.