Doing Hard Time Read Free Page A

said. “I didn’t read him as Russian, but you’re right, he could be. You worrying about Russians?”
    “After the past few weeks,” Stone said, “I’ll worry about Russians for the rest of my life.”
    “What would one of that mob be doing at Peter’s and Ben’s graduation?”
    “That’s what worries me,” Stone said.
    “Excuse me for a moment,” Viv said, rising. “I’ll be right back.”
    “Dino,” Stone said when she had gone, “you don’t know how lucky you were to find that woman.”
    “Oh, yes I do,” Dino replied, “and if I forget for a moment, she’ll remind me.”
    “How’s the city’s new chief of detectives doing?” Stone asked, referring to Dino’s new job.
    “He’s scared shitless that he’s going to make some big mistake and embarrass the commissioner when the guy’s about to announce his run for mayor.”
    “You’ll do fine,” Stone said, “because you have good instincts—both cop instincts and political instincts.”
    “There are a lot of unhappy captains who didn’t get the job,” Dino pointed out.
    “You’re going to have enemies no matter what job you’re in,” Stone said. “You had enemies when you were running the detective squad at the Nineteenth Precinct, and you always handled them with aplomb.”
    “Aplomb? That’s a word I’ve never associated with myself,” Dino said. “I like it.”
    “It comes naturally to Italians.”
    Viv returned to the study and sat down. “We have an interview tomorrow at six PM ,” she said.
    “Who’s interviewing us?” Dino asked, looking mystified.
    “We’re doing the interviewing: I spoke to Eduardo Bianci, and he spoke to his man, Peter, who recommended a nice couple.”
    “If I wanted to find a guy to slip a knife into somebody’s liver, then I’d ask Peter’s advice.”
    “Can’t a person have more than one talent?” Viv asked.
    “Eduardo is in love with you,” Dino said. He had introduced her to his former father-in-law at their wedding.
    “Maybe a little,” she admitted.
    “Hey, wait a minute! You said ‘couple’?”
    “We need a housekeeper,” Viv said. “That daily cleaning lady isn’t cutting it—nothing gets really clean. And anyway, we have two maid’s rooms—they can use one for a sitting room and the other for a bedroom.”
    “You’ve got this whole thing worked out already?”
    “Dino,” Stone said, “I told you: shut up and get out of her way.”
    Fred appeared. “Dinner is served in the kitchen, as requested,” he said.
    They polished off their drinks and went downstairs.
    “I’ll see what I can learn about the Russian guy at graduation,” he said to Stone as they started down the stairs.
    • • •
    After a first course of smoked salmon, Fred set three plates in front of them, each covered with a slab of meat that hung over the edges.
    Dino cut off a chunk and ate it. “Interesting,” he said.
    Viv tried it, too. “A little gamy, but nice, even tender. What is it?”
    “Moose,” Stone replied.
    The Bacchettis set down their knives and forks and stared at Stone. “What?” Dino said. “Did you find that at Grace’s Market?” he asked, referring to a tony East Side grocery.
    “Bill Eggers shot it. He sent me fifteen pounds of it.”
    “And you thought you’d feed it to us?” Dino asked incredulously.
    “What have you got against moose?” Stone asked.
    “Nothing that would make me want to kill it and eat it.”
    “It’s like when you’re eating venison you’re eating Bambi,” Viv said.
    “There is no moose equivalent of Bambi,” Stone said. “At least I don’t think there is. Anyway, Bambi is a baby deer. Eggers shoots only grown-up moose. Or meese. What is the plural of moose, anyway?”
    “Mice?” Dino offered.
    “Dino,” his wife said, “you’re just making it worse.”
    Reluctantly they re-attacked their moose. Finally, Dino had had enough and dropped his utensils. “Maybe it’s more like horse,” he said.
    “A moose is almost