Page 26 of Near Miss

“Just a little fear can go a long way to make life in the law easier. And don’t talk to Herb Fisher the way you talk to me. He’s in a position to cut you off at the knees, if you annoy him or insult his intelligence. Remember, he’s almost as smart as you are, and he has alotmore political savvy—in office politics—so shut up, listen, and learn.”

“Oh, all right.”

“And no matter what you do, don’t let him get you into bed. He won’t tell anyone, but everybody in the office will know immediately.”

“If I don’t tell anybody, and he doesn’t tell anybody, how will they know?”

“They can smell it on the breeze,” Stone said. “Trust me.” He paused. “You haven’t slept with him already, have you?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“But you were thinking about it, weren’t you?”

“Oh, stop it.”

“Here’s how to handle this: pretend that everybody in the office thinks the two of you have slept together, so spend all your time convincing them you have not.”

“That makes a weird kind of sense.”

“Would you like to have dinner with Dino and me this evening? Bill Eggers will be joining us, too. It would be good for you to get some face time with him.”

“Sure.”

“You know P. J. Clarke’s?”

“Of course.”

“Meet us at the bar at six-thirty. Oh, and Dino’s a fount of information on everything cop, so listen to him!”

“Got it.”

They both hung up.

Chapter 17

Carly, characteristically, got to Clarke’s first. She was perched on a barstool, showing a lot of leg, sipping a martini, when Stone walked in with Matilda.

The two women sized each other up as introductions were made.

“How long have you been here?” Stone asked Carly.

“Five, ten minutes.”

“How many offers have you had?”

“About that many.”

“I hope you turned down all of them.”

“Well, notallof them. There were one or two acceptable applicants.”

“Be careful.”

“That’s all you ever say to me.”

“It’s all the words I can get in edgewise when you’re talking, which is all of the time.”

“Stone,” Matilda said. “I’m sure Carly can handle herself. I doubt this is the first time she’s been approached.”

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