very kind to me; I liked him.”
“I think the two of them are in it together. What was your relationship to Ippolito like?”
“There was none. I only met him twice, once at a dinner party at David Sturmack’s house, and once at a cocktail party at the Beverly Hills Hotel, a charity thing.”
“I guess that’s all I have to ask.”
“My turn, then.”
“All right.”
“First of all, I want to tell you about the beginning, when I was supposed to come sailing with you. I had begun to believe that you were never going to make any kind of real commitment…”
“I was going to ask you to marry me when you got to St. Marks.”
A tear spilled down her cheek. “Boy, my timing was great, wasn’t it? I guess I was kind of hurting, more fragile than I thought, and Vance made me feel better. The more time we spent together the better it got, and after I came back to L.A. with him, well, I guess I became infatuated. I thought I was in love with him.”
“Aren’t you still?”
“I haven’t entirely figured that out yet, but I intend to. I’m certainly very fond of him, and I have great respect for him as a man.”
“Even after you were kidnapped, and he didn’t get you back right away?”
“I knew he was doing everything he could, and he’s explained his actions to my satisfaction. I don’t hold anything against him for what happened-I believe it was completely beyond his control.”
“He told you he’d be moving here with you while we sort everything out?”
“Yes, but I’m not staying.”
“Arrington, this isn’t over; we have to protect you.”
“I’m going back to Virginia; Betty Southard is arranging a chartered jet right now, and there’ll be some security people to meet me at the other end.”
“Why are you going back?”
“Vance told you I was pregnant, didn’t he? I figure that’s the only way he could have gotten you out here.”
“Yes, he did.”
“Don’t you have any questions about that?” she asked.
“I think I’ll just let you tell me what you want to.”
She smiled. “That’s like you, Stone; you were always a good listener.”
“Thank you.”
“You didn’t give away much, but you did listen.”
Stone said nothing.
“I am pregnant. I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to figure out who the father is, but my periods have been irregular for months, and I honestly don’t know; it could be either of you.”
“I see,” Stone said, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“So here’s what I’m going to do about it,” she said. “I’m going back to Virginia to be with my family and to have my baby. Vance has agreed to submit to a blood test, and I want one from you, too.”
“All right,” Stone said. “I want to know as much as you do.”
“If the baby is Vance’s, I’ll come back to California and be the best wife and mother I can. I know I don’t love Vance as deeply as I’ve loved you, but I think we can still make a good marriage of it, and a home for the child.”
“And if the baby isn’t Vance’s?”
She placed a hand on his cheek and kissed him lightly. “I love you, Stone, I really do. But I don’t know what you’re feeling, and…”
“I’ll tell you…”
“Don’t,” she said. “It wouldn’t do me much good to know right now. If the baby is yours, I’ll tell you, and we’ll talk about it. Certainly, you can be a part of his life. Or hers. But you and I have some things to work out, and we have to face the fact that we may not be able to work them out. I can’t let myself think too much about that until the baby is born; I have to protect myself emotionally. It’s no good for me to make a commitment to you and then find out the baby is Vance’s. Surely you can see how hard that would be for me.”
Stone nodded.
There was a knock on the door.
Arrington kissed him again, and then got up and opened the door. Betty Southard was waiting there.
“Good morning, Arrington,” she said. “I’m glad to see you back. They’re flying the Centurion jet from Van Nuys into Santa Monica; they should already have landed and refueled by the time we get there.”
“I’m ready,” Arrington said. She closed her suitcase and handed it to Betty. “Bye,” she said to Stone. “I’ll call you, but it may not be for a while.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” Stone said, past the lump in his throat.
55
Vance came back to the suite after Arrington had gone. He called room service for more coffee, and after it had come, he sat down on the terrace with Stone. “First of all, I’d like you to represent me as my attorney in this matter. Will you do that?”
“I’m not licensed to practice in California,” Stone said, “and if you should somehow become involved in a trial, you’ll have to get a California attorney. But for the moment, at least, I will advise you, and you may consider anything you say to me to be privileged, as communication between a lawyer and his client.”
“All right,” Vance said, “what do you want to know?”
“Everything,” Stone said. “And don’t leave anything out.”
“It started with stock,” Vance said. “Centurion stock. The company isn’t publicly owned, it’s very closely held, only a dozen or so shareholders of any size, and a couple of dozen smaller ones, mostly valued studio employees. Somebody began contacting shareholders, offering to buy their stock, obviously trying to find a way to gain control of the company.”
“Who?”
“No one knew at first; it was being done through a third party. Lou Regenstein got wind of it, but it was his strong impression that people were being intimidated into selling or, at least, keeping their mouths shut about having been approached. It was very bizarre, very ominous.”
“When did they approach you?”
“Wait, there are other things I have to tell you that will make this make more sense.”
“All right, go ahead.”
“David Sturmack and I have been good friends for a long time; I guess he and Lou have been my closest friends. It was David who introduced me to Oney Ippolito. I was involved in a real estate development project-a shopping mall-and our financing fell through. I was faced with either coming up with a very large amount of cash- thirty million dollars-or losing the five million I had already invested. I called David for advice, and he arranged a lunch with Ippolito. A week later, we had the financing from Safe Harbor.”
“Was the project a questionable one?”
“I never thought so. The managing partner had had some problems in the past with repaying debt on a project, and that made our lender shy away. The mall is open now, and doing excellent business. It was a good deal for Safe Harbor.”
“What happened next?”
“It was all very gradual. I began shifting my banking business to Safe Harbor, until finally they had everything- checking accounts, CDs, T-bills, and all the trusts I had set up over the years, including one for Arrington. Whenever I had a business investment that required financing, they were always willing and eager. When Oney asked me to join their board, I accepted.”
“How long have you been on the board?”
“Seven or eight months, I guess. I haven’t been happy.”
