Two Dollar Bill Read Free Page B

through a mouthful of food.
    I like it medium to medium rare, Stone said, getting up and flipping the steak. He waited another couple of minutes, then removed the meat to his plate.
    Real nice morning out there. Billy Bob said. I brought in your paper.
    The forecast for this morning was six degrees Fahrenheit, Stone said.
    Yeah, I guess it's about that, Billy Bob agreed.
    You call that a real nice morning?
    Well, the sun's shining bright, Billy Bob said. That's good enough for me.
    Did you come to New York without an overcoat? Stone asked.
    I never really needed one, Billy Bob said. I spent a week in Nome, Alaska, on an oil deal once, in the middle of the winter, and I got by all right without one. What'd you do with my gun?
    I locked it in my safe, Stone said. You can have it back when you're on your way out of town.
    You folks sure are fussy about what a man carries, Billy Bob said.
    It's not us folks; it's the NYPD.
    You're my lawyer; get me a license for the thing.
    You have no idea what you're asking, Stone said. The process is so long and drawn out that most people stop when they see the forms. And in the end, you only get it if you can prove you carry diamonds or large amounts of cash.
    How large is a large amount of cash?
    I don't know, fifty grand, maybe.
    Well, shoot, I'm carrying that right now. I mean, it's in my briefcase. That's pocket money where I come from.
    In New York it's an invitation to get hit over the head. You think that had anything to do with your getting shot at last night?
    You know, I've been thinking on that, and you know what? Them bullets was fired at your side of the car.
    Stone stopped eating. They were not fired at me.
    Well, we just don't know that, do we? You made any enemies lately?
    I'm a lawyer, Stone said. People don't shoot at lawyers.
    Why, shucks, Billy Bob said, in Texas, every lawyer I know is packin'. Don't you ever pack?
    Sometimes, when it's called for.
    Well, there you go.
    They weren't shooting at me. Nobody has ever shot at me, except when I was a cop.
    Maybe there's bad people you put in the pokey; maybe they're all pissed off about it.
    There had, in fact, been such a case in Stone's past, but only one, and he was not about to admit it to Billy Bob Barnstormer. Nope.
    Well, how 'bout that feller with the German name that got after you and Dino that time? Billy Bob asked.
    How'd you hear about that? Stone asked.
    I got my sources. You think I'd hire you without checking you out?
    You haven't hired me, Billy Bob, and it's my considered opinion that there's no reason why you should.
    I don't see how you figure that, Billy Bob replied. I needed a lawyer last night.
    Not really; all you needed was somebody to disarm you. I just made the investigation go a little faster.
    Funny, I thought it was when I mentioned Mike Bloomberg that things got to going faster.
    Right, you see? You don't need a lawyer.
    Well, I think I'm going to be the judge of that, Billy Bob said, taking an envelope from a pocket and laying it on the table.
    What's that?
    Your retainer, Billy Bob said.
    My retainer for what?
    For representing me as my lawyer. It's a check for fifty grand.
    Stone gulped and washed down some eggs with some orange juice. What are you involved in, Billy Bob?
    Why, I don't know what you mean.
    I mean, you got shot at last night, and you seem real anxious to have a lawyer.
    Just in case.
    Just in case of what?
    You know what I mean.
    No, I don't know what you mean.
    Everybody ought to have a lawyer. I have a lawyer ever' place I do business.
    And how many lawyers is that?
    A whole mess of 'em.
    At fifty grand a pop?
    Well, I pay less in the boondocks, but when you're in a place like New York, you got to go first class.
    I appreciate that, Billy Bob, but if I'm going to be your lawyer, you're going to have to level with me.
    Stone, I promise you, the second there's something to level with you about, I'll level with you.
    Stone eyed the envelope with the check. He had been prepared to