Carnal Curiosity by Stuart Woods

Author:Stuart Woods [Woods, Stuart]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780399164163
Amazon: 0399164162
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Published: 2014-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

32

Stone had closed his office for the day and was sitting in his study with Dino, who had dropped by on the way home. Stone had just poured the drinks when his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Stone, it’s Jack Coulter.”

“Good to hear from you,” Stone said, not wanting to mention his name in Dino’s presence.

“I wonder if you’re free for lunch tomorrow?”

“Certainly.”

“May we meet at the Brook, the club on East Fifty-fourth? You know it?”

“Yes, that will be fine.”

“Twelve-thirty. See you then.” Jack hung up.

“Sorry,” Stone said, taking his seat, “a client wants to have our annual lunch.”

“Does that happen a lot?” Dino asked.

“A fair amount. I think they just want to know I haven’t forgotten them. Tell me, how’s the commissioner’s run for mayor next year looking?”

“All I know is what I hear on the local TV news. Everybody seems to think he’s running.”

“Are you among them?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me. If he didn’t run and somebody got elected who isn’t his pal and who wanted to appoint his own commissioner, he could find himself on the sidewalk.”

“Not for long,” Stone said. “A law firm or a security outfit like Strategic Services would snap him up.”

“I can’t see him wanting to run the city. Do you have any kind of idea what sort of horseshit the mayor of New York has to put up with?”

“Only a fair idea. If he runs, and if he’s elected, he’s going to appoint you commissioner to replace him.”

Dino nearly choked on his drink. “Why do you say that?”

“Because you’re the only member of the police hierarchy he likes. He hates everybody else. One of the reasons he appointed you chief of detectives was to piss off the half dozen other top captains who wanted the job. Most of them quit when you got it, which must have delighted the commissioner.”

“Yeah, well, it was nice to see them go.”

“And if he appoints you commissioner, a whole bunch of other guys will walk, and you’ll get to replace them with your people, which is to say, the commissioner’s people.”

“I admire your logical thinking,” Dino said, “but we’re a long way from that happening.”

“Maybe not as long as you think,” Stone said. “When he announces for mayor, he’ll have to resign as commissioner.”

“Right, and he doesn’t get to appoint his successor, not until he’s mayor.”

“But the commissioner and our current mayor are pretty tight, aren’t they?”

“They certainly are.”

“What’s the matter with his asking the mayor to appoint you? Anybody else he appointed would just be a chair warmer until the commissioner is elected.”

“You think the commissioner would do that?”

“I do.”

“And you think our present mayor would appoint me?”

“If the commissioner asked him nicely, yes.”

“It’s hard for me to get my head around the big job,” Dino said.

“It was hard for you to get your head around being chief of detectives, too, but you did it.”

“I guess I did, at that. What’s more, I’ve gotten to love it.”

“You can’t love doing something unless you’re good at it, Dino.”

“You sound a lot like Viv.

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