Stone Barrington: The Short Forever Part 46

"Good morning!" she said. "And welcome back!"

"Thank you, Joan," he said. "Will you let my broker know to expect the return of some funds I took out of my account? In a few days, I think."

"Of course," she said. She handed him a stack of message slips. "Here are your phone calls, and this was in the fax machine when I came in yesterday."

Stone looked at the paper. It was from his Swiss banker.

Sir, it read, I take pleasure in reporting the receipt of the following funds into your account. Stone looked at the bottom of the form. The amount was one million dollars.

"Good G.o.d!" Stone said.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing; Lance kept his word."

"Who?"

"Never mind." Stone stood and thought about the ramifications of receiving this money. Should he return it? If so, to whom?

"You look puzzled," Joan said.

Stone nodded. "I think you'd better get my accountant on the phone."

"That doesn't really mean what it says, does it?" she asked, nodding at the doc.u.ment in his hand.

"I'm afraid it does."

She picked up the phone. "I'll get your accountant," she said.

"You know," Stone said to her, "it's amazing what can happen in a short forever."

She stopped dialing. "What?"

"Never mind," Stone said. He was trying to figure out how he was going to explain all this to his accountant.

He'd had worse problems.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

I want to express my thanks to my editor, David Highfill, for making this the first ma.n.u.script in my career where an editor asked for no revisions whatever. It takes a highly discerning editor to know when something doesn't need fixing.

I am very grateful to my publisher, the remarkable Phyllis Grann, now gone on to other things, for her interest in my career and for her efforts to do the best for each of my t.i.tles that she published. I wish her well in whatever she undertakes.

My agents, Morton Janklow and Anne Sibbald, and all the people at Janklow & Nesbit, continue to manage my career with care and thoughtfulness, and always produce excellent results. I am very appreciative of all their efforts.

I thank Maldwin and Gilly Drummond for lending me the site of their wonderful house, if not the house itself, to use for the Wight home.

And I am always grateful to my wife, Chris, for her acute observations when reading my ma.n.u.scripts and for her affection.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

I am happy to hear from readers, but you should know that if you write to me in care of my publisher, three to six months will pa.s.s before I receive your letter, and when it finally arrives it will be one among many, and I will not be able to reply.

However, if you have access to the Internet, you may visit my website at www.stuartwoods.com, where there is a b.u.t.ton for sending me e-mail. So far, I have been able to reply to all of my e-mail, and I will continue to try to do so.

If you send me an e-mail and do not receive a reply, it is because you are among an alarming number of people who have entered their e-mail address incorrectly in their mail software. I have many of my replies returned as undeliverable.

Remember: e-mail, reply; snail mail, no reply.

When you e-mail, please do not send attachments, as I never open these. They can take twenty minutes to download, and they often contain viruses.

Please do not place me on your mailing lists for funny stories, prayers, political causes, charitable fund-raising, pet.i.tions, or sentimental claptrap. I get enough of that from people I already know. Generally speaking, when I get e-mail addressed to a large number of people, I immediately delete it without reading it.

Please do not send me your ideas for a book, as I have a policy of writing only what I myself invent. If you send me story ideas, I will immediately delete them without reading them. If you have a good idea for a book, write it yourself, but I will not be able to advise you on how to get it published. Buy a copy of Writer's Market at any bookstore; that will tell you how.

Anyone with a request concerning events or appearances may e-mail it to me or send it to: Publicity Department, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014.

Those ambitious folk who wish to buy film, dramatic, or television rights to my books should contact Matthew Snyder, Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wils.h.i.+re Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90212-1825.

Those who wish to conduct business of a more literary nature should contact Anne Sibbald, Janklow & Nesbit, 445 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022.

If you want to know if I will be signing books in your city, please visit my website, www.stuartwoods.com, where the tour schedule will be published a month or so in advance. If you wish me to do a book signing in your locality, ask your favorite bookseller to contact his Putnam representative or the G. P. Putnam's Sons Publicity Department with the request.

If you find typographical or editorial errors in my book and feel an irresistible urge to tell someone, please write to David Highfill at Putnam, address above. Do not e-mail your discoveries to me, as I will already have learned about them from others.

A list of all my published works appears in the front of this book. All the novels are still in print in paperback and can be found at or ordered from any bookstore. If you wish to obtain hardcover copies of earlier novels or of the two nonfiction books, a good used-book store or one of the on-line bookstores can help you find them. Otherwise, you will have to go to a great many garage sales.

BOOKS BY STUART WOODS.

FICTION.

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 Gra.s.s Roots*

White Cargo Under the Lake Deep Lie*

Run Before the Wind*

Chiefs.

TRAVEL.

A Romantic's Guide to the Country Inns of Britain and Ireland (1978).

MEMOIR.

Blue Water, Green Skipper.

*A Stone Barrington Book.

A Holly Barker Book.

*A Will Lee Book.