“He tried to bribe me to throw the Centurion deal his way.”
“What did he offer you?”
“Nothing specific, just the promise of a lot of business in New York.”
“Anything else?”
“He blithely denied any connection to the stabbings of Jennifer Harris and Jim Long. Long is awake, by the way, and it looks like he’ll make it.”
“If Prince doesn’t get to him again.”
“His lawyer has security on the job. Where are you going?”
“I’m going to check in with Rivera, to see if there’s anything new on the recent mayhem.”
“Did you tell him about this guy, Carter, at Parker Center?”
“Yeah, he’s looking into it,” Dino said, then added, “Arrington’s around somewhere.”
“I’ll find her.”
Stone gave Dino the car keys and watched him go. He walked through the house and emerged to find Arrington sunning herself, topless, by the pool. He walked over and kissed her on each nipple.
“That was nice,” she said, smiling.
“It certainly was.”
“Where have you been?”
“Having lunch with Mr. Prince.”
“Did you enjoy yourself?”
“No.” Stone told her the details.
“He really is slimy, isn’t he?”
“I hope there’s something terribly wrong with the house you sold him,” Stone said.
She laughed. “I told him there were bats in the cellar and raccoons in the attic, but he didn’t believe me.”
“Are there?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. It will be a nice surprise for him. I put it on the disclosure form, too, but I’ll bet he didn’t bother to read it.”
“He implied that Howard Sharp somehow slanted things in his favor during the proceedings.”
“Then he deserves the raccoons and bats.”
“I think you’re well rid of Mr. Sharp,” Stone said.
“Well, I’m certainly a lot happier with you and Woodman amp; Weld,” she said. “I’m very impressed at how smoothly you’re all handling things. I would never have dreamed of asking Chase for a two-hundred-million-dollar loan.”
“The rich are different from you and me,” Stone said. “Well, from me, anyway.”
“I never paid much attention to what I have,” Arrington said, “as long as the check arrived every month, and there was enough to pay for the house and furnishings. That reminds me: the auction of all my furnishings is this weekend, so I hope to be able to fly home tomorrow.”
“I’ll speak to Mike and see that everything is ready for you.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. When I’m in the new house I want you to come and visit. It would be nice if you got to know your son a little, too. I think you’ll like him.”
“I’m sure I will,” Stone replied, though the thought of dealing with a child frightened him. “I hope I’ll know what to say to him.”
“Oh, he’s easy to talk to; easy to listen to as well.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
Stone’s phone buzzed, and he answered it.
“Hi, it’s Mike.”
“Just talking about you,” Stone said.
“I hope that’s good. I just wanted you to know that all the paperwork on the airplane will be finalized by the end of business today. The pre-purchase inspection went very well indeed, only a few small things to be corrected. It’s in beautiful shape.”
“Can she fly out tomorrow morning for Virginia?”
“She can indeed. Our New York office has arranged temporary housing for her crew, while they look for something more permanent, and she now has hangar space at Charlottesville Airport.”
“You’ve done a fantastic job for her, Mike. Please send your bill to me in New York, and I’ll see that it’s taken care of.”
“There won’t be a bill; it was mostly a few phone calls.”
“You’ve done a lot more than that,” Stone said. “I owe you.”
“I have to run,” Mike said. “I’ll tell the crew to be ready for a nine a.m. departure tomorrow.”
“Perfect.” Stone hung up and gave Arrington the news.
“Oh, I’m so happy about this,” she said. “I hated borrowing the Centurion jet, and I was appalled at what air charters cost.”
“You’ll be queen of the air,” Stone said. “Start making a list of places you’d like to go.”
“A happy thought.”
Stone’s phone rang again. “Hello?”
“It’s Eggers.”
“Hello, Bill.”
“We’ve received all of Arrington’s documents, properly signed, and dispersed the funds required in each case. She now owns the airplane, the Baird shares, and the property adjacent to hers. The previous owners have ninety days to vacate, as per the original option.”
“Great news; I’ll tell her.”
“I had a call from Terrence Prince earlier today,” Eggers said. “He made noise about big New York projects to come and suggested he might like us to represent him.”
“I’ve just had lunch with him, Bill, and you can forget about that.”
“Oh? I thought it an attractive idea.”
“That’s what he wanted you to think. He was trying to soften me up on the Centurion deal with empty promises. You watch-there won’t be any New York projects.”
“I did tell him that representing him was out, until the Centurion situation is resolved.”
“So did I.”
“What do you think his next move will be?”
Stone paused and looked over at Arrington. “Arrington is taking her new airplane home tomorrow morning.”
“Ah, you’re getting her out of harm’s way, then?”
“Of course.”
“Stone, you might watch your own back, too.”
“Dino’s doing that for me,” Stone said. They hung up.
“Is Bill all right?” Arrington asked.
“Never better,” Stone said. He told her about the substance of the conversation with Eggers.
“All good news.”
“Let’s have a farewell dinner tonight; I’ll take you out.”
“I’d love that,” she said.
30
Stone started to book a table at Spago Beverly Hills, but then thought better of it. He’s already had dinner there once this trip, and with Carolyn Blaine, Prince’s assistant. Instead, he booked a table at Vincenzo, an Italian restaurant he’d heard good things about.
As he pulled out of the Calder driveway, he noticed a car parked up the street-unusual, because people didn’t
