Part 56 (1/2)

He strode purposefully down the hallway, realizing it was probably the last time he'd ever walk it, and pushed open Jane's door. She was on the phone and looked up startled putting her hand over the mouthpiece.

”What--”

”Just came to say farewell. Jay told me to come see you. I

guess he was sure you'd want to be part of this important life moment.”

”Stone, for G.o.d's sake”--she turned back to the phone--”let me ... I'll call you tomorrow.” She slammed down the receiver. ”You have to know I had nothing to do with this. Bartlett got to the Family. I think it was one of those n.o.blesse oblige kind of things. Old Money meets New Money and needs to placate it. The Sentinel is only marginally a profit- making enterprise and the last thing they need is a lot of s.h.i.+t from their landlord. He wanted you gone. And since your job was a small price for them to pay to ensure domestic tranquility, do the math.

Sorry, but that's how it had to be. For G.o.d's sake, Stone, why did you drive him to this?”

The ironic thing was, she was managing to look vaguely contrite--tugging at a lock of short hair. He wasn't sure how she had the bra.s.s.

Apologies from the executioner are traditionally a tough sell.

”Let me tell you something, Jane. I already know more about Winston Bartlett than he wants. He had somebody kidnapped today before my very eyes. I even got slugged trying to stop it. So you can tell his lawyers to tell him he'd better back off. The people who did it were recognized and they work for him. If he wants to play tough, I could have a heartfelt exchange with somebody I know very well at the Sixth Precinct, and also with the tabloids, where I know a s.h.i.+tload of hungry columnists. Winston Bartlett could get real famous, real fast”

”Stone, you brought this on yourself. I tried to warn you, but you're h.e.l.l-bent on your own destruction. You're your own worst enemy.” She picked up her Blackberry and switched it off and sighed. ”You never listened to me before and I don't expect you to do it now, but take some free advice anyway: try not to p.i.s.s off important people. It is frequently a negative career move.”

”Jane, you know John Kennedy once said, 'Sometimes party loyalty asks too much,' and I think that moment for me, is

now. From here on, I'm going to be doing what I need to do, not what Bartlett or Jay or whoever tells me to do. I guess that includes you too. There comes a time when I have to do what's in my heart.”

She was finally focusing, looking at him strangely. ”Stone, what did you just say? Bartlett had somebody kidnapped? Today? What on earth are you talking about?”

”Did I secure your vagrant attention? Good. Actually, it was less than an hour ago. There's no point in going into details, but I'm pretty sure she was the patient terminated from the clinical trials at the Dorian Inst.i.tute that I had you ask Bartlett's lawyers about. I think there's the possibility that something really weird began happening to her out there in New Jersey. But I didn't get a chance to talk to her because they grabbed her and took off.”

”Well, what do you think happened to her out there?”

”The only thing I've heard and that's secondhand is that she lost some part of her memory. She's even having trouble remembering her name.”

”How do you know all this?” she asked staring at him. ”Were you--?”

”I ... know somebody who talked with her this morning. Just a few short exchanges on the phone. That's all I can tell you. They're doing something very powerful there at the inst.i.tute, but in her case it seems to have gone horribly wrong. That's my best guess. So they dropped her from the clinical trials and gave her a new ident.i.ty and stashed her someplace incommunicado. But she got away for a couple of hours, somehow, and managed to go back to her old apartment. In her case, it's a Village town house. But Bartlett nabbed her back.”

”If you really believe all that, Stone, shouldn't you be worried for your own safety?” It was clear she was finally taking him seriously.

”Bartlett got me fired. That's probably enough for now. I don't know enough to be a threat to him. Yet.”