33
Dino returned to the
house late in the afternoon. “I’ve got news,” he said.
“Tell me,” Stone
replied.
“Terry Prince’s guy
at Parker Center? The one who probably set up Jim Long’s
shanking?”
“I
remember.”
“He’s
disappeared.”
“What a shock!” Stone
replied, laughing. “What’s your best guess: was he paid off and
sent away or does he now reside in the La Brea Tar
Pits?”
“My friend Rivera
would like to know,” Dino said.
“My money’s on La
Brea, or some other equally suitable resting place.”
Manolo paged Stone on
the house phone, and he picked it up. “Yes?”
“Mrs. Calder is on
line one for you,” Manolo said.
Stone punched the
button. “Hello, there; safe and sound in Charlottesville, I
hope.”
“Safe and sound at
home,” she replied.
“How was your
flight?”
“Absolutely
wonderful! And Mike Freeman was very good company. His company
airplane met him in Charlottesville and flew him to New York, but
not before he showed me my new hangar. It’s wonderful! I could
almost live there myself.”
“I’ll get New York to
wire the funds, then,” Stone said.
“The crew are living
there, until we can find something more permanent for them in
town.”
“When’s your
auction?”
“Tomorrow morning.
The auctioneers have been working here the whole time I’ve been
away. It’s very odd to have a tag on every object in your
house.”
“When do you move
out?”
“Tomorrow morning,
early. They’re packing my things now. I’ve taken a very nice
furnished house down the road for eighteen months. Phone numbers
will be the same.”
“How much do you hope
to raise in the auction?”
“As much as I spent,
I fervently hope!”
“Good luck with
that.”
“Any news from James
Long?”
“No, and frankly,
that worries me.”
“What will you do if
he doesn’t recover?”
“Regroup.”
“What does that
mean?”
“Well, I have an idea
for how to redirect Mr. Prince’s attention.”
“And how would you do
that?”
“Get him interested
in buying your Bel-Air property for a hotel.”
“But that’s
my plan!”
“I didn’t say sell it
to him, just get him interested. That should buy us some time to
get the Centurion shares nailed down.”
“Well, I’m certainly
not selling to him; you remember that.”
“Don’t
worry.”
“I have to go now and
finish packing.”
“Bye-bye.” He hung
up. “Arrington is very happy now; she likes her new
airplane.”
“Who wouldn’t?” Dino
asked.
Stone’s cell phone
vibrated. “Hello?”
“Hey, babe, it’s
Charlene.”
Stone felt the usual
stirring in his loins at the sound of her voice. “Hey,
Charlene.”
“Would you and Dino
like to go to a Malibu dinner party with Hetty and me this
evening?”
“I and Dino would be
delighted.”
“Then come get us at
six-thirty.”
“Will
do.”
“Bye.”
“You and I would be
delighted to do what?” Dino asked.
“We’re taking
Charlene and Hetty to a dinner party in Malibu tonight, picking
them up at six-thirty.”
“I’ll pack my
toothbrush,” Dino said.
They drove out to
Malibu in Vance Calder’s Bentley Arnage, which Stone thought might
get them a better parking spot from the valets at the party. He was
right.
The dinner party was
a mile up the beach toward L.A. from Charlene’s house in the
Colony. “Whose party is this?” Stone asked her.
“His name is Jack
Schmeltzer; he’s an independent producer, and he has a production
deal at Centurion. He’s produced a couple of my pictures, and I
still like him. That’s saying a lot.”
The house was a
Bauhaus wonderland, glass and very little apparent steel. Once
inside, they had a spectacular view of the Pacific with the sun low
in the sky, and the dinner crowd, at least forty people by Stone’s
estimate, was pretty spectacular, too. The women were all gorgeous,
and the men all looked very rich. Stone was glad he’d brought the
Bentley.
They had just placed
an order with a waiter for drinks when Stone peered through the
glass living room wall out onto the deck. There he saw Terry Prince
leaning on the rail, holding court with half a dozen people close
around him.
“Shall we go out and
say hello?” Dino asked.
“Let’s let him come
to us,” Stone said.
“Why do you think he
will?”
“I sent him a
message, sort of. Believe me, he is overwhelmingly
curious.”
“What sort of
message?”
“It’s complicated;
I’ll tell you about it later. I wouldn’t want to be overheard in
this crowd.”
Their host, Jack
Schmeltzer, appeared, kissed Charlene and Hetty on their cheeks,
and introduced himself to Stone and Dino.
“Thanks for letting
us come to your home, Jack,” Stone said.
“I’m very glad to
have you,” Schmeltzer said. “I’ve heard a lot about you the past
couple of days. How’s Jim Long doing?”
“In and out of it,
last I heard,” Stone said. “I’m hoping for the best.”
“I hear he’s willing
to sell you his shares,” Schmeltzer said.
“The rumor is
true.”
“And I hear that
would give you control of Centurion.”
“It would give my
client control,” Stone said.
Schmeltzer looked
toward the front door. “I have more guests arriving,” he said.
“Perhaps we could find a moment to talk privately after
dinner?”
“Of course,” Stone
said.
Schmeltzer wandered
off to greet his guests, and Stone looked out at the deck. Terry
Prince had disappeared.
“Good evening,”
someone said from behind him.
Stone turned to find
Prince standing there. He wondered how he had managed to sneak up
on him.
“Can we talk?” Prince
asked.