Bel-Air Dead (12 page)

“What is he offering?”

“It’s a she, and she’s offering twenty-five hundred dollars a share.”

“Yeah, I heard about Terry Prince’s takeover attempt of the studio. I’ll bet he’d give me more than twenty-five hundred.”

“Twenty-five hundred is his current offer, and I have some reason to believe that the deal is not going to work out for him, and if that happens, then his current offer disappears, so your shares might be worth quite a lot less.”

“Yeah, so you say.”

“It’s up to you, Mr. Long: you can accept my client’s offer or stick with Prince and take a chance of losing a lot of money on your shares. It’s up to you.”

Long fidgeted in his seat. “Oh, hell, all right; I’d rather be on Rick Barron’s side in all this, anyway.”

“Rick has asked me to give you his regards and to thank you for selling to us. This way, you’ll still have a studio to go back to when you get out of here. If Prince got his hands on the property, it would have made it impossible for Centurion to continue as they have.”

“All right, how do we go about this?”

“Where are your share certificates?”

“In my office safe at Centurion.”

“Does your attorney have the combination?”

“I’ll give it to him when I see him; he’s coming tomorrow.”

“I’ll see that he gets the sales documents to sign, so he can bring them with him. He asked me to tell you to call him as soon as you can.”

“I’ll try to call him this afternoon, if I can get to the phone. There’s always a line.”

“I’ll have the documents faxed to him from New York first thing tomorrow morning. They’re already closed for the day.”

“I’m sure that will be fine. When will I get the money?”

“As soon as Harvey sends me the signed documents, I’ll have it wired to your bank account. We might be able to manage it tomorrow, certainly the day after.”

“Good.” Long stood up and rapped on the door. The guard came in and cuffed him. “Nice to meet you,” Long said.

“I hope you get your writ,” Stone said.

Dino was waiting on the front steps when Stone emerged from the building. “How’d it go?”

“Long has agreed to sell us his shares. With the five thousand from the other guy, Baird, we should have a majority ownership in a day or two.”

“I’ve got some news, too: Alexei what’s-his-name, Prince’s driver, has turned up dead. Somebody dumped his body at the La Brea Tar Pits, where they found all those prehistoric bones of animals that went down to the water for a drink, got stuck in the tar, and sank. Luckily, they found Alexei’s body before it could sink. Want to take a guess on cause of death?”

“Tell me.”

“Ice pick to the back of the neck, like Jennifer Harris.”

“I guess it would be easy to make that happen if you’re being driven by Alexei, sitting behind him.”

“Prince has an alibi, of course.”

“Of course. Man, I’ll be glad when this business is over,” Stone said. “And I hope it’s over before somebody else gets ice-picked.”

“You can hope,” Dino said.

Arrington was at the Calder house when they got back, and she was very excited about her airplane.

“It’s beautiful, Stone, just exactly what I wanted. It’s already got a crew and everything, and they’re willing to move east.”

“Sounds perfect,” Stone said. “Mike is working on getting you an early closing, and a tax attorney at Woodman & Weld is setting up the corporate structure.”

“Corporate structure?”

“Jet airplanes are usually owned by corporations, for liability and tax purposes. You’ll own the corporation. And I have other news.”

“Good news, I hope?”

“It looks like Rick has found us the shares we need to gain control of Centurion. They should be transferred in the next day or two.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that. I hope Mr. Prince doesn’t hear about it before we get it done. I’m not sure how much more of his personal charm I can stand.”

“We’ll have a lot of paperwork for you to sign tomorrow, on the Centurion thing, Champion Farms, the Bel-Air property options, and the airplane. You should be able to fly out of here in your new airplane in a couple of days, with any luck at all.”

“I’m anxious to get back and go to work with the architect on the new house,” Arrington said.

“You’ll be back by the weekend,” Stone said, “unless there’s a snag.” Please, he thought, no snags.

24

Stone went back to the Calder house and called Rick Barron.

“How did it go?” Rick asked.

“Very well; Long has agreed to sell to us. Woodman & Weld will produce the sale documents and fax them to his attorney tomorrow. We’ll wire the funds, and we’ll be done.”

“That’s great news, Stone,” Rick said.

“Rick, we’ve discussed this before, but what instructions have you left for your estate’s disposal of your shares?”

“They’ll go to our grandchildren.”

“Do your grandkids want to be in the movie business?”

“One is a doctor, the other an architect,” Rick said, “but Centurion will produce a nice income for them.”

“Do you think they might just as well have cash?”

“They might,” Rick admitted. “Are you and Arrington offering to buy my shares?”

“I haven’t discussed it with her, but if you would consider selling her your shares, I’ll bring it up.”

“I would consider that,” Rick said. “It’s likely that some of the shares would have to be sold, anyway, to pay estate taxes.”

“I’ll speak to her about it,” Stone said, “and get back to you.” The two men said goodbye and hung up.

Stone went looking for Arrington in the main house. She wasn’t in the living room or the study, so he knocked on her bedroom door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Stone.”

“Come in.”

Stone walked into the large room and found Arrington sitting at her dressing table, fiddling with her makeup, and dressed in only a bath towel. “Would you like me to come back?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “You’ve seen me naked often enough.”

“And enjoyed the experience,” Stone replied, standing behind her and rubbing her shoulders.

She looked at him in the mirror, then dropped the towel, exposing her lovely breasts. “Would you like to enjoy it again?”

Stone’s reaction was immediate, and Arrington knew it. She moved her head back until it came in contact with his crotch.

“I think that’s an affirmative answer,” she said.

“You may be sure of that.” He reached down and fondled her nipples.

“You know what that does to me,” she said.

“I do, and it seems to be working.”

She spun around on her stool, unzipped his fly, and took him into her mouth.

Stone gave a little gasp. “I believe that’s a bed over there,” he said.

She stopped what she was doing, took his hand, and led him to the bed. “Get out of those clothes,” she said.

But Stone was way ahead of her. They fell onto the bed, and she resumed her earlier activity.

“Wait,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “I don’t want to finish too soon.”

“I don’t want that either,” she said, pulling him on top of her and helping him inside her. “It’s been too long,” she breathed as she began to move under him.

“You’re right,” he replied.

She came in less than a minute. “Again,” she said. “This time with you.”

Stone held it back as long as he could, and her rising orgasm finally set him off. They were both noisy about it.

An hour or so later, Stone disentangled himself from Arrington and used her shower. When he returned, she was back at her dressing table, wearing a slip. “Isn’t this where I came in?” he asked, rubbing her shoulders while she brushed her hair.

“It is, and what did you want to talk about?”

“We’ve got the shares we need to control the studio, in conjunction with Rick Barron. It occurred to me that it might be good for you to buy his shares, too. Rick’s in his nineties, and if he leaves them to his grandchildren, we could find ourselves back in the same situation in a few years.”

“Can I afford it?”

“I’ve already asked Bill Eggers to extend your line of credit for another hundred million.”

“That’s a breathtaking amount of money,” she said. “How will I ever pay it back?”

“When the market goes up again, and it will, you’ll sell other stocks and repay the loan. Hardly anything in your portfolio would be a better investment than Centurion.”

“I’ll do whatever you recommend,” she said. “You know I trust you.”

“Then I recommend that you buy the twenty thousand shares from Long and Baird.”

“And that will give us control?”

“With Rick voting his hundred thousand shares and Charlene Joiner voting her fifty thousand, yes.”

“What about Jennifer Harris’s shares?”

“We don’t know yet if her estate will sell them to us, but we don’t need them, because we have Long’s and Baird’s shares.”

“Sounds good to me,” Arrington said. “By the way, I’ve arranged for dinner here tonight and invited Mike Freeman, too. I hope that will be all right with you and Dino.”

“Of course. Why don’t we invite Rick and Glenna and Charlene Joiner, too? We can call it a celebration of both your new airplane and our achieving voting control of Centurion.”

“Sounds wonderful. Will you call the Barrons and Ms. Joiner?”

“Of course.” Stone got on the phone and issued the invitations.

“They’ll be here at six-thirty for drinks,” he told Arrington.

“Good. Now go away before you and I get started again. I have to do my hair and makeup.”

“You overestimate me,” Stone said, retreating.

“No, I don’t,” she replied.

Stone fled. He went back to the guesthouse, got Bill Eggers’s voice mail at Woodman & Weld, and left him a description of the sales documents for the purchase of both Long’s and Baird’s shares, and instructions to fax Long’s to Harvey Stein and Baird’s to himself. Now he wouldn’t have to rise at six o’clock the next morning to get that done.

Dino woke up from a nap, and Stone told him of the dinner arrangements.

“Good excuse for a party,” Dino said.

“Two good excuses,” Stone replied. “Don’t forget Arrington’s new airplane.”

25

Stone walked out to the pool a little before six-thirty and found half a dozen bottles of ten-year-old Krug champagne in a copper tub of ice. Arrington appeared from the main house in a gossamer white dress, looking ravishing.

“Why don’t you pop one of those corks?” she suggested.

Stone popped the cork and found a pair of her Baccarat champagne flutes. “To the movie business and fast airplanes,” he said, and they drank. “Yeasty,” he offered.

“Crisp,” she said. “Wonderful stuff. It’s been in the cellar for years.”

Dino appeared and accepted a flute. “Arrington,” he said, “you’ve never looked more beautiful.”

She kissed him lightly on the lips. “Dino, you’ve just paid the rent on a permanent lease of my guesthouse.”

“A bargain,” Dino said. “Hey, what is this champagne? It’s different from what they sell at Elaine’s.”

“Elaine sells Dom Pérignon; this is Krug Brut, the good stuff.”

“I like the good stuff.”

“When are you going to retire, Dino?” Arrington asked.

“Retire from the NYPD? What would I do for fun?” he replied.

Manolo showed Mike Freeman out to the pool, arm in arm with Charlene Joiner. “Miss Joiner and I have just met,” he said. “I’m a big fan.”

“Isn’t he sweet?” Charlene said.

Stone introduced Arrington and Charlene. Each eyed the other up and down as they shook hands.

“Arrington,” Mike said, “everything is in hand for your airplane purchase. The insurance has been arranged, and we’ll have the pre-purchase inspection finished tomorrow. I’ve faxed the sales agreement to Woodman & Weld for their approval. Everything seems to be in perfect order.”

“Perfect order is what I like,” Arrington said.

Rick and Glenna Barron arrived and received champagne.

Rick raised his glass. “To a new day at Centurion, with a long life ahead.” They all drank.

They were about to sit down for dinner when Manolo came to Stone and whispered, “There’s a Mister Harvey Stein on the phone for you. He said it was urgent.”

“I’ll take it in the guesthouse,” Stone said. “Please excuse me for a moment, everybody.” He went into the guesthouse living room, picked up the phone, and pressed the lighted button. “Harvey?”

“Stone, I’m sorry to have to call you in the evening, but I’ve just had a call from Parker Center. Jim Long is on his way to the hospital.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“There was some sort of fight among several inmates in the dining hall during the supper hour, and Jim was knifed with a homemade shank.”

“How is he?”

“He’s lost a lot of blood, and he’s about to lose a kidney, but he’s hanging on.”

“Is he in the prison hospital?”

“The warden has agreed to move him to Cedars-Sinai for the surgery. He’s in the ambulance now. I’m meeting him at the hospital.”

“You’d better arrange some personal security for him,” Stone said.

“Why? Nobody’s going to knife him at Cedars-Sinai, and anyway, there’ll be a cop outside his door.”

“Harvey, does anybody besides you, me, and Long know that he’s agreed to sell us his shares in Centurion?”

“Why no…. well, possibly.”

“Who?”

“Terry Prince’s attorney phoned this afternoon to try and buy the shares. I was out of the office and an associate took the call. It’s possible that he might have spoken out of turn. Surely, you don’t think that Prince is responsible for this.”

“Did you read the piece in the
L
.
A
.
Times
about the death of Eddie Harris’s daughter, Jennifer?”

“Yes, I saw it. Was she going to sell you her shares?”

“No, but she was going to vote with us.”

“Oh, shit. I had no idea.”

“Did you talk to Jim today?” Stone asked.