“Sounds promising,” Stone said.
“Eggers is champing at the bit for me to get that.”
“I’m sure he is.”
“But I’m not going to rush it. I’m going to let him come to me.”
“That’s wise, if he comes.”
“He’ll come-his son is my associate.”
“How’d you swing that?” Dino asked.
“I didn’t swing it. The kid is the newest associate, and I’m the newest senior associate.”
“A marriage made in heaven,” Dino said.
“Don’t laugh, it could turn out that way. If we handle a major litigation for Bentley, it could bring millions into the firm.”
“Eggers would like that,” Stone said.
“I’m redoing my apartment,” Herbie said, apropos of nothing.
“Okay,” Stone replied.
“My secretary is doing it. Turns out she has a real gift. You should come and see my office-even Eggers liked it. He picked up the tab for it, too.”
“My word,” Stone said, “you did have a good week, didn’t you?”
“I’m going to make more rain,” Herbie said. “My goal is to bring in more business than a senior associate ever has.”
“The boy has ambition,” Dino said. “Who knew? Herbie-”
“Herb, please.”
“Ah, Herb, how’d you go from being a gold-plated fuckup to being a senior associate at Woodman and Weld?”
“Hard work and good luck,” Herbie said. “And good friends.”
“That’s an unbeatable combination,” Stone said, clapping him on the back.
Stone looked toward the door and saw Mike Freeman standing there. “Over here!” he yelled.
Mike came over and sat down. “You know, I went to Elaine’s automatically, looking for you.”
“I have to stop myself from doing the same thing,” Stone said.
“Stone, you up for a trip to L.A.?”
“What’s up in L.A.?”
“I think it’s time we had a look at our hotel’s progress.”
“Well, the hotel is a Woodman and Weld client, so I guess I can justify the trip.”
“We’ll take the Strategic Services G-550,” Mike said.
“That will take the sting out of air travel.”
“Can I come?” Herbie asked.
Stone shook his head. “No junkets for you. You have new business to take care of.”
“How about me?” Dino asked. “I can take the time.”
“You’re welcome, Dino,” Mike said. He looked around. “Do they serve food here?”
23
The big Gulfstream lined up for takeoff on Runway 1 at Teterboro, and the pilot pushed the throttles forward.
“What happened to the beautiful pilot Suzanne Alley?” Stone asked. “We had dinner in London once.”
“She got a better offer,” Mike replied.
The pilot rotated and the jet rose and climbed quickly.
“I’ll be interested to see if we get cleared all the way to cruising altitude,” Stone said.
“Not until we get away from Newark Liberty,” Mike said, “but that won’t take long.”
The airplane leveled off at Flight Level 440. The stewardess unbuckled her seat belt and came aft with a tray of breakfast pastries and a pot of coffee.
Dino accepted a pastry and a cup of coffee. “This is better than flying in your airplane,” he said to Stone.
“We have pastries and coffee on my airplane,” Stone replied. “If you bring them.”
“I believe my point is made,” Dino said. “I’d also have to bring my own stewardess.”
Later that day they set down at Burbank and got into a waiting rented Mercedes. Mike drove.
“I’ve booked us into the Bel-Air,” he said. “Might as well check out our competition.”
“I hope they don’t know who we are,” Stone said. “We might get mugged.”
“They’ll know,” Mike said. “They knew well before we broke ground. Shall we visit the site now?”
“Sure,” Stone said.
Mike drove them to Bel-Air and up to Vance Calder’s old property. Cars and pickup trucks were lined up along the road for a quarter of a mile. “I guess they don’t have any parking areas finished yet,” he said. They turned into the driveway and stopped to identify themselves to the security guard, then they continued up the winding driveway. “There’ll be cottages on both sides of the road all the way up,” Mike said.
They parked just short of the front door to the old house and got out of the car. A portico wide enough for half a dozen cars was being constructed, and the old garage was being turned into interior space. They looked down the hill to where an enormous pit had been dug. Mike pointed. “Underground parking,” he said.
“It looks like a giant anthill,” Stone said. “I’ve never seen so many workmen on a site.”
“We’ve got three construction companies working two shifts,” Mike said. “Nobody is going to believe how quickly this hotel is going to open.”
“Where is Arrington’s house going to be?” Stone asked.
“Follow me,” Mike said, and led the way into the house, which was being enlarged to serve as the reception area and main restaurant. They walked down the central hallway and into the back garden, then around the swimming pool, to where a building was being framed.
“Here we are,” Mike said.
They walked through the rooms on plywood subflooring. The sound of electric hammers and saws was everywhere.
“This is good,” Stone said. In the original deal he had negotiated for Arrington to have her own house on the property. “It’s not as big as the old house, but it’s plenty big.”
“It’s your house now,” Mike said. “And Peter’s.”
“And yours, Mike, and yours, too, Dino, whenever you’re out here.”
“Free?” Dino asked, amazed.
“You can pay your own room service bill,” Stone said.
“That’s a pretty good deal,” Dino said, laughing. “How many bedrooms?”
“Four bedrooms, six baths, and two powder rooms, plus two staff rooms. Also, living room, dining room, kitchen, and a very nice study/library.”
“Are you going to let them rent it when you’re not here?” Mike asked.
“Maybe. It’s arranged so that the master suite can be locked off from paying guests.”
“That will help with the cash flow,” Mike pointed out. He found the architect and the construction foreman, and they began answering questions.
Later, they checked into a three-bedroom cottage at the Bel-Air Hotel.
“What did you think about how things are going?” Stone asked Mike.
“I was impressed,” Mike said. “Everything is on schedule. Frankly, I hadn’t expected that.”
There was a large bowl of fruit on the entrance hall table, and a note addressed to Stone, from the manager. He read it aloud to Mike and Dino. “The Bel-Air welcomes the competition,” it said. “We’ll do our best to show you how it’s done.”
