4
Stone got dressed and
called Bill Eggers. Eggers was the managing director of the law
firm to which Stone was of counsel—meaning he handled the cases the
firm did not wish to be seen to handle. This association gave him
advice and backup when he needed it, and he needed it
now.
Eggers came on the
line. “Morning, Stone; what can I do you for?”
“You can do me some
advice, Bill, and some other help.”
“What have you got
yourself into now?”
“Two very large
business deals,” Stone replied.
“That’s a little out
of your line, isn’t it?”
“Bill, why do you
think I’m calling you?”
“Oh, all right; what
do you need?”
“I need these two
deals looked at objectively,” Stone said. “The first is the
possible sale of Centurion Studios to some real estate developer. I
know you have the contacts out here to put an ear to the ground. I
want to know what’s being said about the deal.”
“I can do that;
what’s the other one?”
“Arrington Calder
wants to buy Virginia Champion Farms for fifty million dollars. You
know the company?”
“I do, and I know Rex
Champion. He’s a gentleman, but with a sharp edge.”
“I want to know what
the farms are worth in today’s dollars—land, horses, other
assets—and I want to know about the quality of the current
management, and see the profit-and-loss statements for the past ten
years or so.”
“To find out all that
I’m going to have to send a business appraiser outfit down there to
rake the books and talk to the people. We can’t do this
surreptitiously.”
“Of course
not.”
“And Arrington is
going to pay for the assessment?”
“She
will.”
“I need a direct
statement from her about that, not your opinion of what she’ll do.
This is going to cost in the low six figures and take a couple of
weeks.”
“I’ll get her
permission today.”
“I’ll make the call
as soon as I hear from you. In the meantime, I’ll make some calls
about the Centurion deal. Are you in L.A.?”
“Yes, I’m here to
vote Arrington’s shares in Centurion.”
“Okay. See you.”
Eggers hung up.
Stone called
Arrington. “We have to send somebody to Virginia Champion to look
the company over.”
“Why? I trust Rex
Champion.”
“This is just due
diligence, Arrington; it has to be done to protect you, and it’s
going to cost in the low six figures. Champion will understand;
call him and tell him these people will be there
tomorrow.”
“Oh, all right, but
this is embarrassing.”
“It’s business;
Champion will understand that, and you have to learn not to be
embarrassed about proper business requests.”
Arrington hung up,
and Stone called Eggers back to report the conversation. He was
done for now, until he saw Rick Barron, anyway.
Stone and Dino were
in the living room of the main house when Manolo ushered in Rick
and Glenna Barron. They rose to greet their guests, and Stone
introduced them to Dino.
“Our other guest will
be along shortly,” Rick said, as they shook hands. His handshake
was dry and firm, and his movements were not those of a very old
man. Glenna, amazingly, looked a healthy sixty. Everyone ordered
drinks.
“When did you arrive,
Stone?” Rick asked as they sat down.
“Yesterday afternoon,
late. I flew us out.”
“Oh, in
what?”
“A Cessna Citation
Mustang, recently acquired.”
“Beautiful little
airplane,” Rick said.
“I know that you flew
off carriers in World War II,” Stone said.
“Yes, but I flew a
lot more than that. My father owned a little FBO at Santa Monica
Airport, and I flew charter flights for him for years. I still own
the FBO. I’ve also been type rated in every jet Centurion has
owned, including the current Citation Ten, though I haven’t been
pilot-in-command for years. I still have my medical certificate,
too.”
“I didn’t know all
that, Rick; you’ll have to come and fly my airplane.”
“I’ve already flown
one, thanks. We’re thinking of buying a smaller, shorter-range
airplane for flying around the West.”
The doorbell rang,
and Manolo escorted in a tall, striking blonde. It took Stone a
moment to recognize her.
“Stone!” she said,
rushing toward him and planting a tender, juicy kiss on his
lips.
Stone dabbed at his
lips with a handkerchief, and it came away red. “Charlene, it’s so
good to see you,” he said, then introduced her to Dino, who was
flabbergasted to meet a bona fide movie star. Stone had had a brief
fling with Charlene Joiner on a previous visit to L.A., just as she
had had flings with numerous men, including a
president.
They all sat down
again, and Manolo served their drinks.
“Rick was telling us
about his flying career,” Stone said.
“I’ve flown with
Rick, and he’s a marvelous pilot,” Charlene said.
Rick warmed to the
conversation. “Stone, do you remember the movie actor Clete
Barrow?”
“Of course,” Stone
said. “He swashed a lot of buckles in his time. Died in the war,
didn’t he?”
“That’s right, he
did. In September of 1939 I flew Clete, David Niven, and Clark
Gable up to Oregon for some steelhead fishing on the Rogue River.
We were up there when we heard Neville Chamberlain on the shortwave
radio, announcing that a state of war existed between Britain and
Germany. We returned to L.A. immediately, and before you knew it,
Clete and Niven had left for England, where they joined their old
regiments. Niven had a splendid war record, and Clete died at
Dunkirk, getting his men onto boats. After Clark’s wife, Carole
Lombard, was killed in an airplane crash while returning from a
bond tour, Clark enlisted, too. So did I, but for a different
reason.”
“That was quite a
moment in history,” Stone said.
“Glenna got into it,
too,” Rick said. “I was serving aboard the aircraft carrier
Saratoga when she came aboard with
Artie Shaw’s band for a show, and we got to have a very brief
meeting.”
“It was a remarkable
experience,” Glenna said. “Artie, the band, and I were lowered from
the main deck into a huge area hangar belowdecks on an aircraft
elevator, and three thousand sailors went wild. I’ve never heard
such a sound, before or since.”
Manolo came into the
room. “Dinner is served,” he said, and everyone followed him into
the dining room.
Rick walked arm in
arm with Stone and whispered, “We’ll get down to business over
coffee.”