Page 154 of Stuart Woods' Smolder

Simon’s brother, who had just finished closing the box, handed him the hammer.

Sticks examined it, then cocked his arm back like he wasgoing to throw the hammer at Simon. Simon brought his arms up to protect his head and ducked.

Sticks laughed, the hammer still in his hand. “You should see your face.” He tossed the hammer at the worktable, and it landed with a loudbang. “Let’s roll.”

The second the men were gone and the door closed, Simon sagged against the wall.

“Wait.” Stone turned to Billy. “Does the truck have a tracker?”

“Don’t need one.”

“You have someone following it?” Dino asked.

“Don’t need that, either.”

Billy brought up a map on the computer, upon which a red dot was moving away from the gallery location.

“While Rudy was showing you where he’d hid your mother’s originals, I planted a tracker in the box. Unless they rip the thing apart, they’ll never find it.”

“If it sounded like I doubted you, I apologize,” Stone said. “And I will never do so again.”

Chapter 46

On Saturday morning, Stone lay in bed, attempting to read through the agenda for the final day of board meetings. The problem was his mind had other ideas and kept trying to poke holes in the plan to take down Petry.

Beside him, Monica groaned and nuzzled against him. She tilted her head back, peeking at him through half-closed eyes. “Hi.”

“Hello, yourself. Did I wake you?”

Her hand traveled down his stomach, her lips following close behind. “Does it matter?”

He tossed the papers on the nightstand. “Not in the slightest.”

A half hour later, they lay in each other’s arms, worries of the coming day temporarily banished from Stone’s thoughts.

“I believe that’s what’s referred to as an excellent start to the morning,” Stone said. “Here’s hoping it’s a harbinger for the day ahead.”

Monica propped herself up on an elbow. “Tell you what. If everything goes as planned, tomorrow I’ll treat you to a repeat performance.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

She grinned. “Then you’ll treat me.”

“Deal.”

They sealed it with a kiss.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“Five-thirty.”

“Too early to get out of bed and too late to go back to sleep. Whatever will we do to fill the time?”

“Perhaps I should practice for tomorrow, in case things go awry.”

She lay back on her pillow. “What an excellent idea.”

Practice went so well that if this were any other day, they would have never left the bed.

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