Shoot First (A Stone Barrington Novel) Read online

  BOOKS BY STUART WOODS

  FICTION

  Shoot First†

  Unbound†

  Quick & Dirty†

  Indecent Exposure†

  Fast & Loose†

  Below the Belt†

  Sex, Lies & Serious Money†

  Dishonorable Intentions†

  Family Jewels†

  Scandalous Behavior†

  Foreign Affairs†

  Naked Greed†

  Hot Pursuit†

  Insatiable Appetites†

  Paris Match†

  Cut and Thrust†

  Carnal Curiosity†

  Standup Guy†

  Doing Hard Time†

  Unintended Consequences†

  Collateral Damage†

  Severe Clear†

  Unnatural Acts†

  D.C. Dead†

  Son of Stone†

  Bel-Air Dead†

  Strategic Moves†

  Santa Fe Edge§

  Lucid Intervals†

  Kisser†

  Hothouse Orchid*

  Loitering with Intent†

  Mounting Fears‡

  Hot Mahogany†

  Santa Fe Dead§

  Beverly Hills Dead

  Shoot Him If He Runs†

  Fresh Disasters†

  Short Straw§

  Dark Harbor†

  Iron Orchid*

  Two-Dollar Bill†

  The Prince of Beverly Hills

  Reckless Abandon†

  Capital Crimes‡

  Dirty Work†

  Blood Orchid*

  The Short Forever†

  Orchid Blues*

  Cold Paradise†

  L.A. Dead†

  The Run‡

  Worst Fears Realized†

  Orchid Beach*

  Swimming to Catalina†

  Dead in the Water†

  Dirt†

  Choke

  Imperfect Strangers

  Heat

  Dead Eyes

  L.A. Times

  Santa Fe Rules§

  New York Dead†

  Palindrome

  Grass Roots‡

  White Cargo

  Deep Lie‡

  Under the Lake

  Run Before the Wind‡

  Chiefs‡

  COAUTHORED BOOKS

  Barely Legal††

  (with Parnell Hall)

  Smooth Operator**

  (with Parnell Hall)

  TRAVEL

  A Romantic’s Guide to the Country Inns of Britain and Ireland (1979)

  MEMOIR

  Blue Water, Green Skipper

  *A Holly Barker Novel

  †A Stone Barrington Novel

  ‡A Will Lee Novel

  §An Ed Eagle Novel

  **A Teddy Fay Novel

  ††A Herbie Fisher Novel

  G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS

  Publishers Since 1838

  An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

  375 Hudson Street

  New York, New York 10014

  Copyright © 2018 by Stuart Woods

  Excerpt from Turbulence copyright © 2018 by Stuart Woods

  Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Woods, Stuart, author.

  Title: Shoot first: (think later) / Stuart Woods.

  Description: New York : G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2018. | Series: A Stone Barrington novel ; 45

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017050288| ISBN 9780735217201 (hardback) | ISBN 9780735217225 (ebook)

  Subjects: LCSH: Barrington, Stone (Fictitious character)—Fiction. | Private investigators—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Action & Adventure. | FICTION / Suspense. | FICTION / Thrillers. | GSAFD: Suspense fiction. | Adventure fiction.

  Classification: LCC PS3573.O642 S54 2018 | DDC 813/.54—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017050288

  p. cm.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Version_2

  CONTENTS

  Books by Stuart Woods

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Author’s Note

  Excerpt from Turbulence

  About the Author

  1

  Stone Barrington and his friends Dino and Vivian Bacchetti had just finished a dinner of Caesar salad and Dover sole at Patroon, a favorite restaurant of theirs in the East Forties of New York.

  “Oh, by the way,” Stone said, “there’s a Steele Group board meeting this weekend, and I wondered if you two would like to come?”

  “Let me get this straight,” Dino said. “You want us to come to a corporate board meeting?”

  “Did I mention that it’s in Key West?” Stone asked.

  �
��Love to,” Dino said.

  “Same here,” Viv echoed.

  “Joan has found a rental house for me, and I’m told it’s comfortable, and she’s stocked it with food and drink. Why don’t we all stay a few days?”

  “I can get some time off,” Viv said.

  “I’ll ask my boss,” Dino said. Dino was the police commissioner of New York City.

  “The mayor?”

  “No, me. I asked, and I said, ‘Sure, it’s okay, stay as long as you like.’”

  “You’re a very generous boss,” Stone said.

  “Thank you. I try to cultivate good employee relations.”

  “I can back him up on that,” Viv said. “When I was his employee, he cultivated relations with me.”

  “I hope he’s not that generous with all his employees,” Stone said.

  “I hope so, too,” Viv replied.

  “You can both hope,” Dino said. “When do we leap off?”

  “Saturday morning. Pick me up at ten. We’ll be in Key West by four. The board meeting isn’t until Friday, but most of us will be playing in a golf tournament on Sunday and Monday.”

  “Arthur Steele is getting very generous with his directors, isn’t he?”

  “Oh, once in a while he’ll spring for a jaunt. They’re all staying at the Casa Marina, the old hotel built by Henry Flagler, the railroad guy who built the Breakers in Palm Beach and others in the early part of the last century.”

  “So why aren’t we staying there?” Dino asked.

  “You want to rub elbows with a lot of suits this weekend?”

  “We’ll stay with you,” Dino said. “Should I go armed?”

  “I’m not anticipating bandits in the Keys, but suit yourself.” Dino always went armed.

  * * *

  —

  THEY WERE wheels-up before noon on Saturday, and Stone’s Citation 3 Plus made the flight easily in one leg, no refueling along the way.

  At Key West International there was an envelope waiting for Stone at the FBO’s front desk, containing house keys and a car key and instructions for operating the house, as well as some history of it. The car turned out to be a metallic white Mercedes S-Class convertible with twenty-eight miles on the odometer. They stowed their luggage in the trunk, and Stone put the top down.

  “I hope you like freckles on a girl,” Viv said. She was a redhead. “Dino will turn the color of mahogany in about an hour, and I try to keep up.”

  Stone followed the directions in the envelope; their landmark was a strip club called Bare Assets.

  “Sounds like a nice neighborhood,” Viv said.

  “Can we have drinks there tonight?” Dino asked.

  “If we do, it will be the only sex you’ll get on this trip,” Viv replied.

  “They don’t have sex there, just looking,” Dino protested.

  “I’m aware of that, and it’s all you’ll get. How many bedrooms are there, Stone?”

  “Four, I’m told.”

  “Then you’ll have two to choose from, Dino.”

  “Here’s a thought,” Dino said, “let’s stay home and grill some steaks.”

  “Good idea,” Viv replied.

  The house was on a narrow lane between Truman Avenue and the island’s cemetery. It had a bricked driveway and a garage and a carport, housing a golf cart, and Stone pulled into the garage. They got out and toured the house.

  There was a book-lined study, next to an outdoor courtyard, followed by a dining room, a living room, and another, larger courtyard bordered by a koi pond, and beyond that there was a spa and a sunken swimming pool, all of it surrounded by jungle-like vegetation and flowers.

  “Stone,” Viv said, “this is spectacular!”

  “We haven’t seen the guest rooms and the kitchen,” Stone said, consulting the note, “and there’s a bar/video room. Oh, and that little house over there is the master suite, and we have an outdoor kitchen, bar, dining room, and living room, as well as the indoor ones.” He pointed out everything. “From what it says here, I think you two will want the first guest room.” They looked at it and approved. The kitchen was next. “Laundry room off the kitchen, in case Dino wants to rinse out his underthings.” The next room contained a fully stocked bar and a very large flat-screen TV. They went back to the car, got their luggage, and settled in. “Drinks in half an hour,” Stone said. “Outdoor bar.”

  * * *

  —

  STONE CHECKED OUT the master suite and found a bedroom, dressing room, and a bath with a large tub. He found a TV remote control on the bedside table, but no set. He pressed the on button and a flat-screen TV rose from a cabinet and filled the facing wall. He could watch the Sunday political shows from there.

  * * *

  —

  EVERYBODY MET in the outdoor living room, which was covered with an awning, in case of showers. There was no rain, and Stone tended bar, also making a couple of bottles of vodka gimlets and putting them in the freezer. In the process he found steaks and groceries in the outdoor kitchen fridge.

  “I could live here,” Viv said, settling into a sofa with a gimlet.

  “If only it were in New York City,” Dino responded, “on top of a tall building, maybe.”

  “Oh,” Stone said, “there’s a little house next to the back door that used to be free-standing, but a previous owner moved it over, bolted it to the main house, and made room for the driveway. A caretaker lives there. He keeps the place running and feeds the koi.”

  As if on cue a large, well-built man appeared and introduced himself as George. “Let me know if you need help with the electronics or anything else,” he said, then he declined a drink, excused himself, and returned to his little house.

  “There’ll be a housekeeper, too, tomorrow morning.” Stone looked at another sheet of paper. “The property was originally three small houses on three lots. Somebody bought them all and made them into the property you see now.”

  “Smart move,” Dino said. “And you’re playing golf tomorrow?”

  “Arthur hustled me into playing in his tournament, and I haven’t touched a club for more than a year.”

  “Then you’ll lose,” Dino pointed out.

  “I think that’s what Arthur has in mind,” Stone replied.

  “Oh,” Viv said suddenly, putting a hand to a cheek.

  “What?” Stone asked.

  “I just had a premonition.”

  “A premonition of what?”

  “I don’t know, but something bad.”

  Dino waved an arm. “Bad? What bad could happen here?”

  “As Fats Waller used to say, ‘One never knows, do one?’”

  2

  Stone was up early and found a housekeeper cleaning up their dishes and the grill from the night before. She introduced herself as Anna, then went back to work.

  When she was done with the kitchen, Stone scrambled himself some eggs, microwaved some bacon, and toasted a Wolferman’s English muffin, the sourdough flavor he liked. Joan, his secretary, had briefed somebody well.

  He left Dino and Viv to sleep as late as they liked, then he recorded the Sunday political shows on the DVR, got the golf invitation from his briefcase, and followed the directions to the golf club. Somebody took his clubs from the trunk and carried them to the practice tee, and Arthur Steele greeted him there, his nose already sunburned.

  “You’ll be in my foursome with Arthur Junior and Meg Harmon, both new board members,” Arthur said.

  “I’d better hit a few to find out if I still can,” Stone said.

  He teed up a ball and made a big swing with his driver, then watched it slice fifty yards into a swamp. “Nothing’s changed,” he muttered, and he hit a bucket of balls, working on his swing until it began to straighten out a little.

  Arthur Jr. was a clone of his old man, and Meg H
armon was a thirty-five-ish blonde, slim and fit-looking. She, Stone knew, had started a Silicon Valley software company in her early twenties and had recently sold it to a syndicate, with the Steele Group as a partner, for $1.5 billion. She teed up, and her drive went straight for better than two hundred yards. Arthur Jr. was next, and he drove about the same distance, but hooked it into the rough, muttering under his breath. Big Arthur hit one straight for two hundred and fifty yards.

  “You’ve been practicing, Arthur,” Stone said. “That’s cheating.” He teed up and sliced into the rough, but he was long and he still had a shot to the green, if his lie was good.

  They were walking back to their carts when Stone heard a single crack, and he immediately thought: rifle! A man in the next foursome, waiting to tee off, made a loud noise and was knocked down.

  “Everybody on the ground!” Stone shouted as he ran to the man, who had a bleeding shoulder wound. Stone looked around him and from the way the man had fallen, thought the shot had come from a swampy area to his right. He heard a vehicle door slam and gravel spraying beyond the trees. “From over there,” he said, getting to his feet.

  A club employee came running up. “Call nine-one-one,” Stone said, “and tell them a man’s down with a gunshot wound. Ask for an ambulance and the police.”

  Arthur walked over, dusting himself off. “That’s Al Harris,” he said, nodding at the man on the ground. He knelt. “How are you feeling, Al?” He got a grunt for an answer. “Hang on, help is on the way.”

  Stone looked around him at everyone’s position. From where people had been standing when he heard the shot, he calculated that the shooter could have been aiming at Meg or Arthur, and with a miss, Al Harris had caught the stray bullet. It could, Stone thought, also have been aimed at himself.

  * * *

  —

  THE AMBULANCE arrived first, the hospital being nearby, and two detectives were next by a couple of minutes. Stone greeted them and introduced himself, then he told them his theory of where the shot had come from and where it had been aimed.

  “Are you a police officer?” the older of the two men asked.

  “Retired detective,” Stone replied. “I worked homicide.”

  “I’m Harry Kaufelt,” the man replied. “This is my partner, Moe Cramer. We work anything that comes up. Did you see the shooter or his vehicle?”