“My investigation of the event confirmed your claim of innocence, if not total innocence.”
“I’m relieved to hear it.”
“We had some good times,” she said. “It might be fun to revisit them.”
“Right now, Tiff, I’m embroiled in a number of things that are creating great pressures on my time. Maybe in a few weeks.” She might forget about it in a few weeks.
“I’ll look forward to it,” Tiffany said. “Good-bye.”
Stone hung up and dialed Mitzi’s cell phone.
“Hello?”
“I’ve just had a phone call from the U.S. Attorney,” he said.
“Oh?”
“Don’t play innocent with me. You failed to remove my name from that prospectus before you faxed it to her.”
“I asked Brian to do that,” she said. “I’m sorry, if he didn’t.”
“I might have known,” Stone said. “Ms. Baldwin would like you to be an undercover agent for her in the pursuit of Sig Larsen. What shall I tell her?”
“Does she know I’m a cop?”
“No.”
“I’d better speak to Brian about this, then.”
“Do it now; Tiffany is an impatient woman.”
“You should know,” Mitzi said, with a vocal leer. “I’ll get back to you.” She hung up.
Stone went back to his sandwich, which had grown cold. He nuked it for a few seconds, then started to eat again. The phone rang.
“Stone Barrington.”
“It’s Brian Doyle, your commanding officer.”
“Go fuck yourself, commander.”
“I hear you’ve got the U.S. Attorney trying to poach one of my people.”
“You sent her the fucking prospectus without taking my name off it, as requested. That’s why she called me.”
“What did you tell her?”
“Nothing. I refused her to give her my client’s-Mitzi’s-name. She wants to use her to get at Larsen.”
“I’m using her to get at Sharpe.”
“Look, if you’d shown some interest in busting Larsen, this wouldn’t have happened. Trust me, Tiffany Baldwin is going to gnaw away at this case until she knows everything, so my advice to you is to call her right now and offer to share the fruits of your investigation and the use of your undercover officer in making a federal case against Larsen. Maybe Sharpe, too. It’s an easier way for you to get him off the street.”
“But without the credit.”
“So work out a credit-sharing plan with Tiff. She’ll keep her word if you get it in writing.”
“Why did you get me into this shit, Stone?”