Page 50 of Black Dog

“A vodka gimlet.”

“I’ll take a chance.”

Stone went to the little freezer in the bar and poured two vodka gimlets into champagne glasses, then handed her one. “Cheers.”

She sipped, then put a hand to her breast. “Oh, that’s breathtaking!”

“I’m glad you think so.” He sat down beside her. “How was your day?”

“Interesting. I made my first court appearance for Woodside & Weems. Nothing big. I hope we don’t talk about work,” she said. “It gets boring fast.”

“Agreed, no work.”

“And your day?”

“I’ve promised not to talk about work,” Stone said, “and today was work.”

“What shall we talk about then?” she asked.

“You choose. I’ll cooperate.”

“All right, give me your sixty-seconds biography.”

“Okay,” Stone said, taking a deep breath. “Born, Greenwich Village, P.S. Six, NYU prelaw, followed by NYU Law, took a ride with a couple of cops on duty, liked it, applied for the police academy. Fourteen years on the street, ten as a detective. Took a bullet in the knee, invalided out of the NYPD. How much time do I have left?”

“Enough, go ahead.”

“Inherited this house from a great-aunt, got into debt renovating it. Then a friend at Woodman & Weld offered me a job, if I took the bar exam cram course. Then I passed the exam. Lived happily ever after, so far. Your turn.”

“Born in Delano, Georgia, a small town, public schools, University of Georgia, UGA law school. Came to New York and worked as a public defender because there wasn’t anyother work. Got good at it. Then got an offer from Woodside & Weems a few weeks ago. I had whipped one of theirs in court, and they were impressed.”

“Great,” Stone said. “Now what shall we talk about?”

“I’m drawing a blank. I guess we’re going to have to talk about work.”

“Okay, what would you like to know?”

“What do you work on at Woodman & Weld?”

“I started with the cases the firm didn’t want to be seen to be handling—you know, client’s wife has a DUI, client’s son accused of date rape at college, like that. Eventually, I began to make some rain, and they took me seriously. Now I’m a senior partner, handling a number of big accounts.”

“Such as?”

“Strategic Services, a big security firm. Steele Insurance Group, self-explanatory. Centurion Pictures, in L.A. I serve on those three boards, as well. What has Woodside & Weems put you to work on?”

“Cases like the ones you started out with, the ones they don’t want to know about. They didn’t have anybody with much criminal practice, so that was my first assignment.”

“What was your court appearance about?”

“Bailing out a client, or rather, somebody they hope will become a client.”

“Who was that?”

“Can’t talk about it.”

“As you wish. Did he make bail?”

“He did, to the ADA’s surprise. The judge wanted twomillion, cash, and my client had it. Shocked the whole courtroom.”

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