Stone Barrington 27 - Doing Hard Time

she’s not here this evening. We’re expecting one of Hollywood’s most famous actresses, Charlene Joiner, for dinner. She said she’d be a little late.”
    “Uh-oh,” Dino said. “Stone has fixed you up, Mike.”
    “I wanted it to be a surprise,” Stone said.
    “Okay, I’m surprised,” Mike replied. “Charlene Joiner! Imagine!”
    The doorbell rang, and Charlene swept into the room, all smiles. Big kisses for Stone and Dino and firm handshakes with Mike and Emma. “I’m so sorry to be late, but we wrapped a film an hour ago. I changed in my trailer.”
    •   •   •
    “I’ve seen your two most recent films with my daughter, who’s an aspiring actor,” Emma said. “We both thought you were splendid.”
    “Thank you so much,” Charlene said, beaming. “I’ve had a good run of luck with directors and scripts lately. Is your daughter in town?”
    “Arriving tomorrow.”
    “Then you must let me arrange a tour of Centurion Studios for her.”
    “She would love that.”
    “I’m sure Ben would be delighted to conduct the tour,” Dino said. “Charlene, our boys, Peter and Ben, are arriving in a couple of days, along with Peter’s girl, Hattie Patrick.”
    “Yes, I met them at the grand opening of the hotel, and I heard Hattie perform at the piano, too.”
    “Yes, I had forgotten.”
    The butler came into the room. “Dinner is served,” he said, and they all went in.
    •   •   •
    After dinner and brandy, Stone walked Emma back to her cottage. “I do like the dress,” he said. “You look almost as good in it as you do out of it.”
    She laughed. “You’re not going to let me forget this afternoon, are you?”
    “Why should I? I’ll never forget it.”
    They stopped at her door, and she opened it. “It sounds like we’re both going to be pretty busy after tonight,” she said. “Would you like to come in?”
    “I’d like that very much,” Stone said, and went in. Things progressed very quickly after that.
    •   •   •
    After breakfast, Peter, Hattie, and Ben walked across the highway with their bags and put them into the rear of the Cayenne, then Peter went into the office to pay his bill.
    Teddy took his credit card and ran it, then Peter signed it.
    “Thanks for making this go so smoothly,” Peter said to him.
    “There’s something you should know,” Teddy said. He held up the little GPS transmitter. “I found this in the wheel well of your car. You were being tracked by someone.”
    Peter looked at it closely. “So we’re not crazy. We were all sure that we were being followed, and for a long time, too.”
    “You won’t be followed anymore,” Teddy said. “I had a brief conversation with two Russian gentlemen in a big black SUV, and they turned around and went back the way they came. You have any idea who they might be?”
    “My father had a problem with some Russians recently,” Peter said. “He told me to watch out for them.”
    “Your father was right—they were not nice people. Who is your father?”
    “His name is Stone Barrington. He’s a lawyer in New York.”
    Teddy knew that name; he had met the man on the island of St. Marks a few years back, and he had been in the company of Holly Barker, who was with the CIA. “Well, he’s a smart guy. Tell him about this, and listen to his advice.”
    Peter wrote down his cell number. “Billy, if you should find yourself in L.A., this is my number. We’re all going to be working at Centurion Studios. You seem like a very capable man, so if you’re ever looking for work out there, call me.”
    Teddy tucked the card into his pocket. “You never know,” he said.
    The two shook hands, and the young people got into the Cayenne and drove away.
    •   •   •
    Once on their way, Peter said, “You’re not going to believe what Billy Burnett just told me.” And he told them.

Teddy Fay waved off the kids in the Cayenne, then he went back inside and began to put the office and shops in good order, pending the return of Tom Fields after a few days off to see to his wife during her recovery. He was interrupted only a few times by cars stopping for gas, and by the arrival of Bobby after school. Teddy had already managed to broaden the range of the boy’s skills with cars, and he could see him becoming more confident in his judgments.
    Teddy found a few minutes to walk the few hundred feet to where he had buried the black SUV containing the bodies of its Russian operators. It