Stone Cold Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Well, from the looks of it your Mr. Wallace will soon be making it a quartet.”
    “But Tony wasn’t innocent. He knew exactly what he was getting into.”
    “And what exactly was that?”
    She stopped pacing. “Oliver, I like you and I respect you, but this is a little . . .”
    “Illegal? I hope you realize that comes as no great shock to me.”
    “And that doesn’t bother you?”
    “I doubt anything you could have possibly done would surpass what I’ve seen in life.”
    She cocked her head. “Seen, or done?”
    “Who’s after you and why?”
    “That’s no concern of yours.”
    “It is if you want me to help you.”
    “I’m not looking for help. I just wanted you to understand why I have to leave.”
    “Do you really think you’ll be safer on your own?”
    “I think you and the others will be a lot safer without me around.”
    “That’s not what I asked you.”
    “I’ve been in plenty of jams before and I’ve always managed to get myself out of them.”
    “Out of a jam this tight?” He glanced at the paper. “This person doesn’t seem to fool around.”
    “Tony made a mistake, a big one. I don’t intend on doing that. I lay low, for as long as it takes, and as far away from here as I can get.”
    “But you don’t know what Tony might have told them. Did he have any information that could be used to track you down?”
    Annabelle perched on the edge of the fireplace’s raised hearth. “Maybe,” she said tersely. “Probably,” she corrected.
    “Then all the more reason for you not to go this alone. We can help protect you.”
    “Oliver, I appreciate the sentiment but you have no idea what you’re getting into. Not only is this guy the scum of the earth with a lot of money and muscle behind him, but on top of that, what I did was illegal. You’d be harboring a criminal on top of risking your life.”
    “Not the first time on either count,” he replied.
    “Who
are
you?” she asked pointedly.
    “You know all you need to know about me.”
    “And I thought
I
was a world-class liar.”
    “We’re wasting time, tell me about him.”
    She rubbed her long, thin fingers together, drew a deep breath and said, “His name’s Jerry Bagger. He owns the Pompeii Casino, the biggest in Atlantic City. He was run out of Vegas years ago because he was a whack job. He would literally rip out your intestines if you tried to steal a five-dollar casino chip.”
    “And how much did you, um,
relieve
him of?”
    “Why do you need to know?”
    “It’s important to know how much motivation the man has to come after you.”
    “Forty million dollars. Think that’ll motivate him?”
    “I’m impressed. It doesn’t sound like Bagger is a man easily conned.”
    Annabelle allowed herself a brief smile. “It was one of my better scams, I have to admit. But Jerry is also very dangerous, and not entirely sane. If he even thinks someone is helping me, that person might as well be me. He’ll get the same treatment: death by pain, great pain.”
    “You have no reason to believe that he’s aware you’re in D.C.?”
    “No. Tony had no idea I’d be coming here. Neither did the others.”
    “So there are others on the con team? Bagger might get to them.”
    “He might. But like I said, they don’t know I’m here either.”
    Stone slowly nodded. “Of course, we can’t be sure of what Bagger really knows or doesn’t know at this point. I’m sure that the public details of our little adventure involving the Library of Congress didn’t include your name or picture. However, we can’t be absolutely certain there isn’t something out there that would help him track you down.”
    “My original plan was to head to the South Pacific.”
    Stone shook his head. “Fugitives always head to the South Pacific. That’s probably the first place Bagger will check.”
    “You’re kidding me, right?”
    “Partly, yes. But only partly.”
    “So you really think I should stay here?”
    “I do. I’m assuming