said. “There’s a paragraph in here that says you take a commission on anything she ever does involving somebody you introduced her to. That won’t do.”
“It’s standard,” Goodwin said.
“The other thing is, you can fire her as a client whenever you like, but she has to give you a year’s notice. That won’t do, either. We want termination on thirty days’ written notice by either party, and the other paragraph comes out.”
“Can’t do it,” Goodwin said.
“I’m so sorry we couldn’t reach an agreement, Mark,” Carrie said, “but I think Stone’s points are valid.” She got to her feet.
“Sit down, sit down,” Goodwin said. “For you, I’ll do this.” He made some notes on the contract and buzzed for his girl. “Make these changes pronto,” he said, and then turned back to Carrie. “Here’s your contract with Del Wood.” He handed it to her, and she signed it without reading it.
“You don’t want your attorney to read it first?”
“Not necessary,” Carrie said, handing the contract back to him. “You represent me to others.”
The secretary returned with the other contract, and Stone looked it over and handed it to Carrie. “Looks fine with me,” he said.
Carrie signed it and handed it to Goodwin. He signed both contracts and handed copies to Stone, then he handed Carrie a script and another thick booklet. “Carrie, here are your script and score. You start rehearsals Monday morning at Central Plaza, ten o’clock sharp. You should learn the first act by then, and you should run through the score with a pianist, so that you’re familiar with it.”
“Who’s directing?” she asked.
“Jack Wright,” he replied.
“Oh, good.” She stood up. “Thank you so much, Mark. I look forward to working with you. By the way, I don’t need my hand held; I’ll call you if I have any problems with Woodie.”
Goodwin stood up. “Remember not to call him that,” he said. “He doesn’t like it.”
“I’ll be nice to him, if he’s nice to me,” she said.
“If he gets mad and fires you for any reason, don’t worry about it, just call me.” He handed her a card. “Here’s my BlackBerry number. Memorize it, then eat the card.” He offered Stone his hand. “Nice working with you, Stone. I take it you’ll be Carrie’s personal attorney from here on.”
“That’s correct,” Carrie said, not giving Stone a chance to reply. “Bye-bye, Mark.”
They left the office. Stone looked at his watch: They had been there for twenty-seven minutes. “You do business briskly,” he said to Carrie.
“You have no idea,” she replied. “Please bill me for this and any other work at your usual hourly rate. Now come with me.”
They hailed a taxi, and five minutes later they were at Carrie’s new address. “I want you to see this,” she said, getting out of the cab.
“I saw it last night, remember?”
“No, you didn’t,” she said. She let them into the building. The double doors to her apartment were already open, and some men were carrying boxes upstairs.
Stone’s jaw dropped. The living room was completely furnished, down to small objets d’art on side tables, and there was a Steinway grand piano in a corner. It looked as though Carrie had lived there for a year.
“Like it?” she asked.
“It’s gorgeous. How did you do it so fast?”
“A friend of mine is the best theatrical designer in town. I told him to do it fast, with the best stuff he could find on short notice. I had the pictures and some smaller things in storage.”
“It took me two years to get my house to this state,” Stone said.
“As you said, I do things briskly. What time is dinner?”
6
STONE AND DINO WERE on their second drink, and Carrie still hadn’t arrived. It was nearly nine o’clock.
“She didn’t strike me as the late type,” Dino said.
“She’s had a busy day,” Stone replied, “and she’s just moved into her new apartment; she probably couldn’t find what she wanted to wear in the boxes.” Stone told Dino about the instant furnishing and decoration of the new apartment.
“Here we go,” Dino said, nodding toward the door.
Carrie, dressed in slacks and a sweater, was walking toward the table, limping.
Stone stood and held a chair for her, and it was not until he sat down and looked at her closely that he realized something was wrong. He waved at a waiter, pointed at his drink, then at Carrie.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” Carrie said, trembling.
The drink came, and Stone handed it to her. “Big swig,” he said, and she complied.
“Now tell me what’s wrong.”
She gulped. “I was leaving my building, and as I came down the front steps I saw a man coming down the street from the direction of Fifth Avenue.”
Stone waited while she took a couple of deep breaths.
“He was backlit by a streetlight, so his face was in shadow. To get a taxi I had to walk toward Sixth Avenue for a little bit, because the parked cars were so close together that I couldn’t squeeze between them without getting my clothes dirty. As I walked I could hear his footsteps getting quicker and realized he was running toward me. I saw a cab coming from up the street, and without even looking back, I just threw myself over the hood of a parked car and in front of the cab. As soon as I got inside, I screamed at the driver to get out of there, and I locked the door, because I saw the man reaching for the handle. There was a knife in his other hand.”
“Did he hurt you?” Stone asked. “You were limping when you came in.”
She reached down, took off a shoe, and held it up. The heel was missing. “This was the only wound,” she said. Calmer now and breathing more slowly, she took another big swig of the bourbon.
“Describe him,” Dino said.
“Tall, over six feet, athletic-looking, wearing a raincoat and a felt hat.”
“Any distinguishing features?” Dino asked. He was taking notes now.
“Small scar at the corner of the left eye, another scar on the inside of the right wrist-childhood injury-and a broken nose from football that never healed properly.”
“You saw all that?” Stone asked. “How?”
“I’ve known him since college; he’s my ex-husband.”
“Did you ever see his face?”
“No, but I know how he walks. I know his fascination with knives; he has a collection. It was Max.”
“What’s his last name?” Dino asked.
“Long.”
“Address?”
“It used to be on Habersham Road in Atlanta, big house. He’s living in an apartment now. I don’t know where; it’s just what I’ve heard. Maybe one of his own developments.”
“But in Atlanta.”
“Yes. He wouldn’t go any farther from Habersham Road than he had to.” She was perfectly collected now.
Dino produced his cell phone. “I’ll get the precinct looking for him now.”
“No, don’t,” Carrie said, putting her hand over the cell phone. “I can’t have this in the papers.”
“Carrie,” Stone said, “if you know Max was the guy, then we have to get him off the street. He knows where you live.”
“Monday morning I start rehearsals, the biggest break of my life,” she said. “I’ve been all over the papers for two days; they would just love this.”
Stone looked at Dino and shook his head. “Do you have an alarm system in your apartment?” he asked
