"I told you I spoke to her." Well, it was almost true. He'd yelled at her. "She's very . . . unsettled just now. But I guess you know that"
"Hey, she was always fucked-up, but W.B. liked all the energy behind that. He looked right past the eating disorders and the coke and the late-night clubs she went to all the time. But, man, if you think she's spaced, try her mother. That crazy--"
"Grant, why not level with me? There's something very wrong going on here. I'm in the business of telling the truth, and I've got a keen nose for medical horse-pucky. So how about coming clean? If it's good, why not, and if it's bad, it's going to come out eventually anyway. Hasn't Winston Bartlett learned anything from all the screw-ups in Washington? It's not the situation--it's the cover-up."
"Well, I don't know what Kristy did or didn't tell you, so we're not going in that direction. I heard about her little trip downtown this morning. I assume that's probably when you saw her, if in fact you actually did. Right now she's being taken care of, for her own good."
" 'Being taken care of'? So happens I had a close encounter with a couple of her caregivers today. They're taking care of her, all right."
"Look, she used to be W.B.'s girlfriend okay? He's still very concerned about her. Everybody's really sorry about her situation, but nobody saw it coming. And now he's got some problems of his own."
"You seem to be pretty heavily involved with Winston Bartlett's personal problems."
"Yeah, well, the man's been like a father to me. And I think he feels that way too, since he doesn't have a son of his own."
Stone let the taunt just hang in the air for a moment. He mainly just wanted to slug the smug little bastard.
"You don't know how little you know, about him or about anything. Someday I may take the trouble to straighten you out. But right now you're not worth the effort. All I care about at the moment is what's going to happen to Ally."
"Everybody cares what happens to her. A lot depends on it. Dr. Vee thinks she's our best shot"
"What . . . what the hell are you talking about?" Stone stared at him through the twilight. "What depends on it?"
"Guess you're not as smart as you think you are." He was up and heading for the parking lot. "Come on, pal. Time to hit the road. I'm gonna tuck you in. This conversation is terminated. And it never happened anyway. I'll have them unlock the gates for you."