“I told you about my bones,” Dino said.
“And I’ll never doubt your bones again,” Stone said.
56
They watched as a police car drove Terry Prince away.
Rick Barron chuckled. “I was going to have studio security escort him off the lot,” he said. “I’ll give them instructions that he not be allowed to set a cloven hoof on these grounds again.”
Everybody laughed.
“The exhilaration is wearing off, now, and I’m tired,” Rick said. “Will you excuse Glenna and me?”
“Of course,” Arrington replied.
Rick’s car pulled up and they were driven away.
Stone led his party to the Bentley and everyone got in.
“I know how Rick feels,” Arrington said. “I’m tired, too.”
“Suspense is wearing,” Stone said.
“I’m sorry to have added to it,” Mike said from the rear seat.
“No, you stood up at just the right moment in the proceedings,” Arrington said.
They had been back at the house for only a few minutes when Stone’s cell buzzed. “Hello?”
“It’s Carolyn Blaine. I’d like to see you for a few minutes, if you can manage the time.”
“Come over,” Stone said, then hung up. He buzzed Manolo and told him to expect a guest.
“Who was that?” Dino asked.
“Carolyn Blaine.”
“She’s coming over? She’s a big loser in all this, isn’t she?”
“Maybe not,” Stone said. “I’m interested to hear what she has to say.”
Manolo escorted Carolyn out to the patio.
“You’ve met Dino Bacchetti, haven’t you?” Stone said.
“Yes, nice to see you again.”
Dino nodded.
Stone offered her a drink-not to be hospitable but to get hold of her glass.
“No, thank you,” she said, sniffling. “I’m not feeling all that well.”
“Nothing serious, I hope,” Stone said, trying to think of some other way to get a sample.
“Just the start of a cold, I think; I’ve already taken something for it.” She took the chair offered to her. “I believe the shareholders’ meeting went as you wished it to.”
“It did, indeed,” Stone said.
“I expect you’re wondering why Eleanor Grosvenor allowed Jim Long to vote his shares with you.”
“Tell me,” Stone said, though he thought he already knew.
“Eleanor and I are old acquaintances,” she said.
“Oh?”
“We met last year and spent some time together.”
“Did you?”
“Eleanor and Jim are old and dear friends,” Carolyn said. “When I told her that Terry Prince had been behind the attack on Jim in jail, she was furious. Then I told her how she could help, and she was on board immediately.”
“Well, as it turned out, we would have had the votes without Jim’s shares,” Stone said.
“I wasn’t at the meeting,” she said. “What happened?”
Stone told her about Rick Barron’s film and the effect it had had on the shareholders. “And beyond that, a friend of our side bought Jennifer Harris’s shares, and Jack Schmeltzer decided to go with us.”
“That’s very interesting,” she said. “I expect Terry will be furious.”
“Haven’t you spoken to him?”
“Not since before the meeting. Frankly, I’ve been avoiding him. He’ll soon find out about my connection with Eleanor, and he won’t like it.”
“I don’t think you’ll have any trouble avoiding him,” Stone said, “unless he can get bail.”
She wrinkled her forehead. “Bail?”
“He’s under arrest for the attempted murder of Jim Long.”
“They’ll never pin that on him,” she said.
“Yes they will. The LAPD brought Carter back from his mother’s place in Mexico. They’ve offered him immunity, and he’s agreed to testify.”
Carolyn looked stunned for a moment. “That’s wonderful,” she said finally, and with some feeling.
“Wonderful?”
“Wonderful for me. It gets him off the street and out of my hair.”
“But you told me, didn’t you, that even if he lost the Centurion fight, he would still want to do the hotel project, and you were supposed to run that, weren’t you?”
“I still will,” she said, “even if he can’t close on Friday-especially if he can’t close on Friday.”
Now Stone was puzzled. “I don’t understand.”
“When Terry lost the Centurion deal, he lost his Colombian and Mexican financial backing,” she said.
“Does he have the personal funds to close on Friday?”
“No. Eleanor Grosvenor is, or was, his backer on the hotel deal, and she will now back out, with pleasure. That will give her almost all the revenge she wants for what he did to Jim.”
“Then that means you’re out of the hotel development, too, doesn’t it?”
“No, Eleanor wants to proceed with the hotel. I’ll run the project for her, and I’ll have a lot more freedom than I would have had with Terry. Once she closes on the property I’ll help her find partners for the money required to design and develop the hotel.”
“You’re overlooking something,” Stone said.
“I don’t think so,” Carolyn replied, looking confident.
“Tell me, why did Prince make the initial payment from his personal account?”
“That was his money,” she said. “Eleanor was to provide the rest of the purchase price, in return for a share of the project. But now Terry is out of it, and it’s all Eleanor’s. And mine.”
“Ah, I see,” Stone said.
A cell phone rang, and she rummaged in her purse until she found it. “Excuse me, Stone. I don’t recognize this number, but I’d better take it. Hello? Yes, I heard,” she said. “All right, I can take care of that. Call me when you can.” She hung up. “That was Terry,” she said, “calling from Parker Center on a borrowed cell phone.”
“And what did he have to say?” Stone asked.
“He wants me to go ahead with the closing before noon on Friday. I’m to send him a power of attorney, so that I can sign the documents for him.”
“So he doesn’t know yet about yours and Eleanor’s plan?”
“No, and the D.A. plans to ask at his arraignment that he be held without bail, so he’s unlikely to get the full picture for a while.”
“So, you plan to close, but for Eleanor, not Prince?”
“Exactly. It’s poetic, isn’t it? Bad people always get what’s coming to them. Even if Terry beats this rap he’ll be ruined by the time the trial is over, and he’ll still have the Colombians and the Mexicans to deal with. They’re going to want their money from the Centurion deal back, and they’re going to insist.”
“Yes,” Stone said, “bad people always get what’s coming to them. Usually, anyway.”
“Can we close at ten o’clock on Friday morning?” she asked.
“Where?”
“I don’t think we’d better do it in Terry’s office. How about here? All we’ll need is a table to sign on, and I’ll bring a cashier’s check for two hundred twenty-five million.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Stone said, rising.
