“Are you sure this guy is entirely sane?” Dino asked.
Stone shook his head. “No, I’m not entirely sure he’s entirely sane. I think maybe he’s just trying to impress Arrington.” Stone picked up the phone and called Virginia.
“Hello?”
“Hi there, it’s Stone.”
“Funny, I was about to call you.”
“Then you first.”
“I think I’ll come out there for the Centurion shareholders’ meeting on Tuesday.”
“That would be great, but you don’t have to; I already have your proxy.”
“I think I might enjoy voting my shares personally,” she said.
“I think you just want to fly somewhere in your new airplane.”
She giggled. “Well, there is that. Okay, your turn.”
“We got a new offer from Prince today,” he said. “It’s the same amount, but it’s from Prince personally, not from his company, and there was included a check for twenty-five million dollars as a nonrefundable deposit. You have until five p.m. on Tuesday to accept.”
“I’ve never seen a check for twenty-five million dollars,” she said.
“Neither had I, until today.”
“Well, don’t lose it,” she said.
“When will you be out here?”
“How about dinner tomorrow night, you and Dino?”
“I think I can talk Dino into that; you’re on. Call me from the plane and give me an ETA, and I’ll meet you at the airport.”
“How sweet of you; I’ll do that. See you then.”
“Bye.” Stone hung up.
“What do you think you can talk me into?” Dino asked.
“Dinner tomorrow night with Arrington.”
“You talked me into it.”
“She’s coming for the stockholders’ meeting; wants to vote her own shares.”
“Okay by me.”
“Me, too,” Stone said.
“Stone, why don’t you marry the girl?”
“We talked about it a while back, in Dark Harbor; decided it wouldn’t work.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to live in Virginia, and she doesn’t want to live in New York.”
“Oh. Somehow I could see you living the life of a Virginia gentleman, riding to the hounds and all that.”
“I haven’t been on a horse since I was twelve, at summer camp,” Stone said, “and if I started a hunt on horseback, the horse would very likely finish without me.”
“How about being a gentleman farmer?”
“Not the slightest interest,” Stone said. “Isn’t that what grocery stores are for?”
“When was the last time you were in a grocery store?” Dino asked.
“I don’t remember. Joan and my housekeeper Helene do all the shopping.”
“Have you heard from Joan?”
“We’ve talked most days.”
“Is she happy about your partnership?”
“Yes, since she found out she doesn’t have to work in the Seagram Building. She likes it at my house.”
“How is the partnership going to change your life?”
Stone sighed. “I don’t know, really. I suppose I’ll have to attend more meetings, but I’m going to keep life as much like it is now as I can.”
“Everything changes.”
“Not everything; you’re still a lieutenant, when you could be a captain, or maybe even chief of detectives.”
“I don’t want that to change,” Dino said. “I’ve got it really good as it is; I pretty much work for myself, don’t have to take daily orders from anybody else. The commissioner likes me, the chief likes me, and the chief of detectives likes me. If I let them promote me, I’d be somebody’s rival, and the politics would start.”
“You’re right; you’ve got a sweet deal, and it would be a shame to screw that up.”
“You want to know what I’m doing right this minute?” Dino asked.
“You’re sitting on your ass,” Stone said.
“No, I’m liaising with my counterparts at the LAPD, comparing procedures and programs.”
“You could have fooled me,” Stone said.
“Didn’t you wonder what all that stuff with Rivera was about?”
“I thought you were just keeping your hand in.”
“Well, that, too.”
Stone’s cell rang. “Hello?”
“Stone, it’s Mike Freeman.”
“How are you, Mike?”
“Very well thanks.”
“Thank you again for doing the airplane and hangar deals for Arrington. She’s very appreciative.”
“You’re both very welcome,” Mike said. “I enjoyed doing it.”
“What’s happening in New York?”
“It’s weirdly quiet,” Mike said. “Things are just rolling along; the company seems to be taking care of itself. None of our security clients has been shot or had his car blown up.”
“Oh, that reminds me,” Stone said. He told him about the exploding Mercedes.
“Well, shit,” Mike said. “I should have kept some people at the house. I thought that, after Arrington left, there wouldn’t be any further problems.”
“So did I,” Stone said.
“I’ll have people there in an hour.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Stone said. “Dino and I can handle it.”
“You didn’t handle it too well the last time, did you? And anyway, you’re our corporate counsel and a member of our board, and you have to be protected.”
“If you insist.”
“I do insist! I’m glad I called to see how things were, since things are so terrible in L.A. I’m going to come out there and personally see that you don’t die before Tuesday.”
“You’re just bored and looking for an excuse to get out of New York.”
“You could be right,” Mike said, “between now and Tuesday, we’re all going to watch your ass. I’ll be there tomorrow. Dinner?”
“You can join Arrington, Dino, and me.”
“I’ve got an airplane to catch,” Mike said, then hung up.
44
Stone managed to sleep late on Sunday morning. He had eggs Benedict in bed and read both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. It was nearly noon when the bedside phone rang.
“Stone? It’s Rick Barron.”
“Good morning, Rick. How is everything?”
“I’m not sure,” Rick replied.
“What’s making you unsure?”
“Something’s wrong with Jim Long.”
“Rick, he’s suffered a knife wound and lost a kidney; of course something’s wrong with him.”
“No, I mean about his shares in Centurion.”
“Rick, you can rest easy about those shares; they’re bought and paid for, and I have the stock certificate.”
“Yes, I know that, but I just had a call from the attorney for Jennifer Harris’s estate, and he told me he’s had an offer for her shares.”
“So Prince is still trying to get them.”
“No, the offer is not from Prince; he wouldn’t tell me who it was, but he did tell me it was for four thousand dollars a share.”
“Four thousand!”
“That’s what he said. He’s waiting for an answer from her trustees, and he wanted to give us a chance to match the offer.”
“Then that means that Prince is going to show up on Tuesday and make that offer to all the stockholders.”
“Stone, I told you, the offer isn’t from Prince.”
“Who else could it be?”
“I don’t have the slightest idea, and I’m very worried about it.”
“It doesn’t matter, Rick; we have enough shares on our side to get along without Jennifer Harris’s.”
“There’s something else, Stone.”
Stone felt a trickle of apprehension run down his bowels. “What else, Rick.”
“The attorney intimated that Jim Long’s shares might be in play as well.”
“That’s not possible, and Long knows it,” Stone said. “At least, his attorney, Harvey Stein, does.”
“I hope you’re right, but I just have the feeling that everything is about to go wrong.”
“Then there’s the shareholder who promised to vote with us.”
“Yes, you wouldn’t tell me his name. Maybe you’d better call him and have a chat.”
“I can’t; it’s Sunday, and I don’t have his home number.”
“Is his office number at Centurion?”
“Well, yes.”
“Then I probably have his home number in my book.”
“But if I ask you for that, I’d be violating his confidence, and I can’t call him and ask him for his permission.”