‘In a manner of speaking.’ I told her about the supposedly casual visit to my dad, and about our telephone conversation.
‘She said, “Much worse than hurt”? God help whoever did it, then, for there’s only one thing that my sister takes lying down. Take some advice, my dear Oz: don’t get involved.’
‘I’ll hear what the story is, Dawn, and then I’ll take a view.’
‘Let me know what’s happening.’
‘Promise. Thanks; take care of that big koala of yours.’
When I put the phone down, Audrey was standing beside me. ‘That’s done. She’s on the two o’clock shuttle from Heathrow, ticket to be collected. I didn’t know you had two sisters, Oz.’ She turned slightly pink when I explained who Prim was.
I turned to the business that had been lined up for me the day before. I called the man from the television company. He wanted me to play on one of those ‘guess the celebrity’ panel games. It would have meant letting cameras into our home, so I declined, politely but irrevocably, without a second thought.
Next, Susie, Audrey and I spent an hour drafting a brief for Mr Potter, and Clark Gow, his firm, setting out our financial position, as of that moment, and as it would be in two years, once I had completed my latest contracts and the partial flotation of the Gantry Group had gone through. When it was ready for transmission, Audrey called him and asked for his e-mail address so that she could send it.
‘You know what he’s going to tell us, don’t you?’ said Susie, when it was done. ‘He’s going to say the same as Roscoe did, that we should go and live in some tax haven or other.’
‘Probably,’ I conceded. ‘So let’s the two of us and our kids go for a walk round our bloody great garden to remind ourselves why we should stay here.’
Chapter 6
It was a beautiful summer morning, the kind you wish you could bottle. I did the next best thing: I filmed it on my camcorder, Susie playing on the grass with wee Jonathan, Janet on the electric quad bike that I’d found for her, and all the time, the sun glistening and sparkling on Loch Lomond below us. We had no trouble convincing ourselves that we were going to live there happily for the rest of our days.
Actually we’d made the place even bigger: for added privacy and security we’d acquired some commercially useless woodland and fields from the neighbouring estate. The extension included some virtually bottomless bogs, which I’d had capped with concrete, for safety’s sake. It all meant that we had so much land we’d bought a Mini to run around in … and because it’s a lovely piece of design. Susie and I do like our toys.
The morning was so idyllic that I had almost forgotten the call I was going to have to make. It took Susie to remind me of it.
‘Will Everett’s office be open yet?’ she asked, as we finished lunch, just after one o’clock. I knew that it would.
As its name implies, his is a global business, so the switchboard in the New York headquarters is manned from seven a.m. on. I nodded and went back to the office.
I didn’t expect him to be there: the GWA wrestlers are on the road a lot, and Everett, although he controls and runs the business, is still on the active list, so, after I had told her who I was, I simply asked his receptionist where he could be found. ‘Right here, Mr Blackstone,’ she replied. ‘I’ll put you through.’
I braced myself. A few seconds later, the big drawly voice was on the line. ‘Oz, my man! This is an honour and a surprise. You found the time to call me.’
‘What have I done?’ I asked him, my voice all innocence. ‘What’s upset you?’
‘You have to ask me? You blew me out, man. You turned me down flat and you didn’t even have the stones to do it yourself: got your Mr Smooth from LA to do it instead.’
‘What the hell are you talking about?’
‘My proposition. You turned me down, Oz. I can’t believe it.’
Oh, shit.
‘What proposition?’
‘You mean Mr Roscoe Goddamn Brown didn’t even tell you about it? Well, I’ll tell you something now, I am going to pay a call on that mother when I’m on the west coast next week and he will not enjoy it.’
‘Now hold on there. Before you go off and commit homicide, or agenticide at least, this wasn’t Roscoe’s fault. Blame me, if you’re going to blame anyone. Yes, he recommended that I decline whatever it is, but it was at the end of a very positive session on other things and I wanted to demonstrate my complete trust in him. So I told him that he didn’t have to go through the details with me. I’m sorry, it was my mistake. Do you want to tell me about it now, or are you so deep in the huff that it’s off the table?’
‘If I do will you listen to me politely then turn me down again?’
‘That depends on what it is and on the time frame. In three months’ time, I’m pretty much committed through to next summer.’
‘This would work, in that case.’
‘Go on then.’
‘Oz, I’m diversifying.’
‘You’re starting a dance troupe?’
‘Hey, wouldn’t that be something? Imagine Jerry Gradi in a tutu.’
‘It worked for J. Edgar Hoover.’
He chuckled. ‘Maybe, but not for the GWA. No, I’m going into the movie business. I have a project all set up as a vehicle for Liam Matthews, Jerry and a new girl we’ve got on board. It’s written, the director’s in place and we’re all ready to start shooting. There’s only one thing left to do. I have a cameo role that I need to fill, the bad guy. It’s perfect for you and I want you to do it. I’d only need you for a couple of weeks.’
‘That’s what you put to Roscoe?’
‘Yup.’
‘How much did you offer him?’
‘A million dollars.’
‘Everett, my next three movies will earn me over twenty million euros.’
If I’d had wax in my ear, the big man’s whistle would have blown it right out. ‘Jeez,’ he exclaimed, ‘I didn’t realise you were in that bracket. No wonder your guy turned me down.’
‘There might be more to it than that. You’re a newcomer to the business, and he doesn’t know you like I do.’
‘I’ve got someone else in place for the part,’ he said, perking up again, ‘but nothing’s signed yet. It’s still yours if you want it. Maybe I could squeeze some more money out of the pot.’
‘Friend, I’d do it for free,’ I told him, meaning every word, ‘but I’ve got Roscoe to consider. He earns his cut, and twenty per cent of nothing doesn’t amount to much more than that. I’ll tell you what. E-mail me the script today, and I’ll take a quick look at it. What is it, anyway? I assume that with Liam and Jerry in the lead, it’s not a remake of Pride and Prejudice.’
‘Hell, no! It’s an action thriller called Serious Impact, based on a novel by a hot young writer. It’s set mostly in Las Vegas. I’ll have someone send it to you right away.’
‘Do that. I’ll be speaking to Roscoe later today: I’ll talk it through with him, I promise.’ I paused, turning a thought over in my mind. ‘Two weeks in Vegas, eh? When?’
‘We’d need you the week after next. I’ll book you the best suite in the Mandalay Bay, or the Bellagio, if you’d prefer to be in the heart of the Strip.’
‘Okay, okay, you can ease off the arm lock now: I’ll get back to you.’ I put the phone back in the cradle.
‘What was that about Las Vegas?’ Susie asked.
‘Everett fancies himself as a movie producer.’
‘Are you going to do it?’
‘That depends. Do you fancy it?’