“Annika makes it hard to think about anything else when you’re with her.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Genevieve can be like that. I’ve been late to work a few times.”
“When do you think we ought to get out of here?”
“I’m good for another day,” Dino said. “Tommy invited us for lunch and a boat ride to nowhere.”
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“Sounds good,” Stone said. “I’ll ask Annika to join us; it’s her day off.”
“Tommy and I will protect you from her.”
“Let’s get an early start tomorrow. It’ll take us about fi ve fl ying hours, plus a fuel stop in South Carolina, and I’d like to get to Teterboro by three or so, before rush hour starts.”
“I’m fine with that,” Dino said.
Stone’s breakfast arrived, and he dug in.
ALI T T L E B E F O R E noon Stone dropped Dino at the yacht club, then went to pick up Annika. She wasn’t quite ready, and he took a chair in her bedroom and watched her get dressed. It wasn’t as much fun as watching her get undressed, but it wasn’t bad.
“Annika?”
“Yes?”
“You remember, you said you treated Evan Keating for a knife wound at the hospital?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“Do you remember how he paid his bill? I mean, did he have medical insurance?”
“I don’t know; that’s not my department.”
“Where was the knife wound?”
“He was raked across the ribs on the left side. The ribs protected the internal organs.”
“How long was the cut?”
“Perhaps twelve centimeters.”
“That’s what, fi ve inches?”
“A bit less.”
“Can you find out if he had insurance and, if not, how he paid his bill?”
“Yes,” she said. She picked up a phone, called the hospital’s billing department and spoke for a couple of minutes, then hung up. 17 1
S t u a r t W o o d s
“He didn’t have medical insurance,” she said. “He paid with his American Express card. The cashier remembered it, because it was black, and she had never seen one before.”
“A black American Express card? That’s the one you have to spend a lot of money to get, isn’t it?”
“I think so; I’ve never seen one. Why are you interested in this?”