Stone uncovered the phone. “I talked him into it; what time?”
“Seven?”
“Seven it is.”
“You remember the way?”
“I do.”
“I’ll let the guard at the gate know. Bye-bye.”
Stone hung up. “If I know Charlene, she’s planning to get you laid.”
“I can live with that.”
They drove out to Malibu in the early evening, missing rush hour, so the Pacific Coast Highway was fast. Stone pulled into a gated area and gave his name to a guard, then was waved through.
“What is this place?” Dino asked.
“This is the Malibu Colony,” Stone replied. “The most expensive real estate anywhere on the Pacific Coast, I should think.” He drove to Charlene’s house and parked out front.
She answered the bell on the intercom. “Come straight through the house and out to the pool,” she said, buzzing the door open.
They walked down the center hallway and emerged onto a large rear patio with a pool, overlooking the Pacific. Charlene and another woman were arrayed on chaises, facing the setting sun. They both got up.
“Hey, Stone,” Charlene said, giving him a wet kiss. “Hey, Dino. This is my friend Hetty Lang; she’s a contract player at Centurion.”
Everyone shook hands. Dino appeared to be trying not to salivate.
“Anybody feel like a plunge in the Pacific before the sun goes down?” Charlene asked.
“Sure,” Stone said.
“Swimsuits are in the dressing room, over there,” she said, pointing.
Stone and Dino found suits the right size.
“I hadn’t expected to get wet,” Dino said, hanging up his clothes.
They walked back to the pool, and followed as the girls ran off the patio and raced for the ocean. Stone hit the water running and was stunned at how cold it was. Everybody swam out a few yards, then bodysurfed the waves back to the beach.
“Cold, fellas?” Charlene asked.
Dino’s teeth were chattering. “A little,” he said.
“Well, we don’t want shrinkage, do we? You guys hit the showers and fix yourselves a drink. We’ll be down in half an hour.”
Stone and Dino went back to the dressing room.
“I’ve never been so cold in my life,” Dino said, turning on the hot water.
“It’s a cold ocean,” Stone said.
“Thanks for the warning.”
They showered and dressed, then went into the house.
“There’s a bar in here, as I recall,” Stone said, turning into the study. He poured Dino a Johnnie Walker Black and himself a Knob Creek, and they sat down in a pair of large chairs.
“Refresh my memory,” Dino said. “Wasn’t Charlene involved with a president?”
“It was Will Lee,” Stone said, “but before he was president and before he was married. They’re both from Georgia, and he was representing her fiance, who was charged with murder. They had a brief fling; then, when the fiance was convicted, he tried to get it overturned on the grounds that his attorney was sleeping with his girl. It didn’t work.”
“I’ve read about that,” Dino said. “Didn’t he get his death sentence commuted?”
“Yes, and the rumor was Charlene slept with the governor of Georgia to effect the commutation.”
“I’d have pardoned the bastard, in those circumstances,” Dino said.
They sipped their drinks until they heard the girls coming down the stairs, giggling.
“Hey, fellas,” Charlene said. “Let’s all go into the kitchen.”
“Dino, you and Hetty go ahead,” Stone said. “I need to talk with Charlene for a minute.”
She gave him another kiss. “What’s up, lover?”
“Cool down for a minute, sweetheart,” Stone said. “I have some news, and it’s not good.”
She backed up a step. “What is it?”
“Jennifer Harris-the other stockholder Rick was counting on?”
“The one who died?”
“The one who was murdered,” Stone said.
Charlene’s face fell. “Murdered?”
“And by a professional.” Stone explained what the medical examiner had found. “I think you should be very careful for a while.”
“Why?”
“Because you hold shares committed to Rick, too. I don’t think you’re going to be safe until this whole thing with Centurion and Terrence Prince is resolved.”
“Excuse me a minute,” Charlene said. She went to a telephone and dialed a number. “Hello? This is Charlene Joiner; who’s this? Hello, Jerry, listen carefully: I want a team at my house, right now, and 24/7, until further notice, got that? Good. Yes, I anticipate a threat. Goodbye.” She hung up and took Stone’s hand. “Let’s go cook dinner,” she said.
Stone followed her into the kitchen, where Dino had mixed Hetty a drink from another bar, and Charlene turned on the grill. “How do you like your steaks?” she asked.
Stone marveled at how cool she was, given the circumstances.
15
Stone woke up the following morning, sprawled across Charlene’s bed, naked. The scent of bacon cooking wafted up from the kitchen. He showered and shaved and went downstairs.
Dino and Hetty were seated at the kitchen table, looking rested and fresh, while Charlene was dishing up scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. They all sat down, and Stone found a Los Angeles Times on the table. A story just above the fold caught his eye: DEATH OF MOVIE
Stone held up the paper for the others. “Did you see this?”
“We were talking about it when you were still asleep,” Dino said. “I wonder who let the press know?”
“I don’t think it was Prince,” Stone said. “Somebody who knows a reporter, I guess.”
“Maybe Rick Barron?” Dino offered.
“Could be,” Stone replied. “Charlene, I think this takes the heat off you, at least a little. The opposition can’t afford two murders in the papers.”
“I’ll stick with my security people for a while,” Charlene replied. “Better safe than dead.”
Stone’s cell phone hummed on his belt. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said, getting up and walking out of the kitchen.
“Hello?”
“It’s Eggers.”
“Good morning, Bill.”
“It’s afternoon here.”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“I spoke to Rex Champion early this morning, offered him thirty-six million. He ranted for a while, then accepted. I’m sending him a deal memo; the price is contingent on our due diligence turning up nothing untoward and on his putting an immediate stop to selling blood stock.”
“That’s great news, Bill.”
“Closing is a week from today.”
“What?”
“I know, I know, but Rex is hard up and needs the cash immediately.”
“How are we going to raise the cash for Arrington that fast?”
“Look, Stone, I know you’re not accustomed to dealing with billionaires, but Woodman amp; Weld is. When one of our clients needs a loan, he doesn’t fill out an application and wait for word from the loan committee. Call Arrington, tell her to instruct Chase to deal with us, and we’ll have it wrapped up in a day or two. And send me her financial statement, so I’ll know what I’m dealing with.”
“You’re dealing with a billion two in investments with Chase; that’s all you need to know.”
“You’re right, it is. I need a letter from Arrington appointing us as her attorneys and authorizing us to act for her. Can you get that faxed to me right away?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll look forward to hearing from her.” Eggers hung up.
Stone called Arrington. “Good morning,” he said.
“It’s afternoon.”
“Yes, it is. I have good things to report,” he said. “Rex Champion has accepted your offer of thirty-six million dollars for Virginia Champion Farms.”
“That’s wonderful! It’s less than I offered.”
“It’s what you offered,” Stone said. “We thought the extra million was too much.”
She laughed. “Thank you for ignoring my orders.”
“Improving on your orders. Now, we’re closing in a week, and I need some paperwork from you right away. Got a pen and paper?”
“Yes,” she said.