Page 39 of Stuart Woods' Smolder

“They’d be able to cover their debts, maybe even have a little extra to split between themselves.”

Stone scanned the land again, liking what he saw. “I’ll discuss it with Mike Freeman. No promises, though.”

“I wouldn’t expect any.”

Once they were back in the car, Ed said, “If you’re free tomorrow night, Susannah and I are going to an exhibition opening at a gallery in town, and we’d love to have you join us.”

“Count me in.”

“Dinner first?”

“A man has to eat.”

“I’ll call you with the details.”

—

Stone sent Mike photos of the property as soon as he returned to the Lees’ house and had no sooner set his phone down when it rang.

“A potential location for the new Arrington?” Mike asked.

“Right in one.”

“It’s breathtaking. Where is this?”

“Santa Fe.”

“Ah, I should have recognized the mountains. You’re there now?”

“I am. Ed Eagle represents the estate that owns the property. He’s the one who showed it to me.”

“Your thoughts?”

“It’s definitely worth looking into.”

“I agree. I’m flying to San Diego the day after tomorrow. I can make a stop there and drop off an assessment team.”

“That’s a great idea. And bring Herb Fisher, if he’s free. He can coordinate everything and handle an offer if we decide to make one.”

“Will do.”

Chapter 14

Later that afternoon, Simon Duchamp locked himself inside the small office at the back of Duchamp Gallery Santa Fe and used a new burner phone to call Dalton Conroy.

Conroy was his inside man at Vitale Insurance. The company offered a wide variety of specialized plans, including policies for valuable works of art. Conroy oversaw fraud investigations, had access to who had what art pieces, where the pieces were kept, and any security that was used to protect said pieces.

It took four rings before the insurance exec picked up. “Yes?”

“Is this a bad time?”

“Oh, it’s you. Call you back in five.”

The line went dead.

Simon looked at his phone, eyebrow raised.

Conroy had a higher opinion of his status than was warranted, both in his importance to Simon and at his day job. Simon knew for a fact the man often took credit for work done by subordinates.For a long time, Simon had been able to overlook the man’s arrogance thanks to the quality of information passed on, but recently, Conroy had begun acting as if Simon couldn’t operate without him.

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