“Well, as it turned out, we would have had the votes without Jim’s shares,” Stone said.
“I wasn’t at the meeting,” she said. “What happened?”
Stone told her about Rick Barron’s film and the effect it had had on the shareholders. “And beyond that, a friend of our side bought Jennifer Harris’s shares, and Jack Schmeltzer decided to go with us.”
“That’s very interesting,” she said. “I expect Terry will be furious.”
“Haven’t you spoken to him?”
“Not since before the meeting. Frankly, I’ve been avoiding him. He’ll soon find out about my connection with Eleanor, and he won’t like it.”
“I don’t think you’ll have any trouble avoiding him,” Stone said, “unless he can get bail.”
She wrinkled her forehead. “Bail?”
“He’s under arrest for the attempted murder of Jim Long.”
“They’ll never pin that on him,” she said.
“Yes they will. The LAPD brought Carter back from his mother’s place in Mexico. They’ve offered him immunity, and he’s agreed to testify.”
Carolyn looked stunned for a moment. “That’s wonderful,” she said finally, and with some feeling.
“Wonderful?”
“Wonderful for me. It gets him off the street and out of my hair.”
“But you told me, didn’t you, that even if he lost the Centurion fight, he would still want to do the hotel project, and you were supposed to run that, weren’t you?”
“I still will,” she said, “even if he can’t close on Friday-especially if he can’t close on Friday.”
Now Stone was puzzled. “I don’t understand.”
“When Terry lost the Centurion deal, he lost his Colombian and Mexican financial backing,” she said.
“Does he have the personal funds to close on Friday?”
“No. Eleanor Grosvenor is, or was, his backer on the hotel deal, and she will now back out, with pleasure. That will give her almost all the revenge she wants for what he did to Jim.”
“Then that means you’re out of the hotel development, too, doesn’t it?”
“No, Eleanor wants to proceed with the hotel. I’ll run the project for her, and I’ll have a lot more freedom than I would have had with Terry. Once she closes on the property I’ll help her find partners for the money required to design and develop the hotel.”
“You’re overlooking something,” Stone said.
“I don’t think so,” Carolyn replied, looking confident.
“Tell me, why did Prince make the initial payment from his personal account?”
“That was his money,” she said. “Eleanor was to provide the rest of the purchase price, in return for a share of the project. But now Terry is out of it, and it’s all Eleanor’s. And mine.”
“Ah, I see,” Stone said.
A cell phone rang, and she rummaged in her purse until she found it. “Excuse me, Stone. I don’t recognize this number, but I’d better take it. Hello? Yes, I heard,” she said. “All right, I can take care of that. Call me when you can.” She hung up. “That was Terry,” she said, “calling from Parker Center on a borrowed cell phone.”
“And what did he have to say?” Stone asked.
“He wants me to go ahead with the closing before noon on Friday. I’m to send him a power of attorney, so that I can sign the documents for him.”
“So he doesn’t know yet about yours and Eleanor’s plan?”
“No, and the D.A. plans to ask at his arraignment that he be held without bail, so he’s unlikely to get the full picture for a while.”
“So, you plan to close, but for Eleanor, not Prince?”
“Exactly. It’s poetic, isn’t it? Bad people always get what’s coming to them. Even if Terry beats this rap he’ll be ruined by the time the trial is over, and he’ll still have the Colombians and the Mexicans to deal with. They’re going to want their money from the Centurion deal back, and they’re going to insist.”
“Yes,” Stone said, “bad people always get what’s coming to them. Usually, anyway.”
“Can we close at ten o’clock on Friday morning?” she asked.
“Where?”
“I don’t think we’d better do it in Terry’s office. How about here? All we’ll need is a table to sign on, and I’ll bring a cashier’s check for two hundred twenty-five million.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Stone said, rising.
She got up, too, and suddenly emitted a loud sneeze. She groped in her bag for a tissue and blew her nose noisily. “Sorry about that; it seems to be getting worse.”
Stone held out a wastebasket for her tissue. “I hope you feel better,” he said.
Manolo led her toward the front door.
Dino had sat quietly throughout the conversation. “I guess you’re going to want an evidence bag,” he said, digging into a pocket.
“Yes, please,” Stone said, reaching for the wastebasket.
57
Stone put a note to Ed Eagle in the FedEx box, along with the used tissue, and handed it to Manolo. “Please call for pickup, and mark it for early delivery.”
“Yes, Mr. Stone,” Manolo said.
Dino spoke up. “Are you going to sell the property to Mrs. Grosvenor?” he asked. “Knowing what you know about her?”
“Knowing what I know about her,” Stone said, “it would be safer to sell it to her than not. People who cross Barbara Eagle Keeler Grosvenor don’t seem to do well. Look at Terry Prince.”
“I’ll give you odds Prince gets bail,” Dino said. “It’ll be expensive, but he’ll be out.”
“Didn’t you just hear Carolyn say that he’s broke?”
“No, I heard her say he doesn’t have two hundred twenty-five million dollars to close the sale. That’s a far cry from not having a few million for bail.”
“Good point.”
“Now,” Dino said, “you should give some thought to what he’s going to do if he’s back on the street.”
“I’ve been doing just that,” Stone said.
“My guess is, you’re going to screw him out of his twenty-five million dollars.”
“No, I’m just going to let him screw himself out of it. All I have to do is wait until noon on Friday, and if he can’t close-and I don’t see how he can-I’ll keep his money, or rather, Arrington will. I take some satisfaction in knowing that a nonrefundable deposit was his idea, not mine.”
“Well, I don’t think that will make him any less pissed off, do you?”
“No, I don’t.”
“And Stone, you do remember the things he tried to do to you when he wasn’t pissed off, don’t you?”
“I’m trying not to,” Stone replied uncomfortably.
“Mind if I make a suggestion?” Dino asked.
“Not at all.”
“Why don’t we just get into your airplane tomorrow morning and get the hell out of here and back to New York? I mean, you don’t have to be here to let Prince screw himself out of his deposit, and the relevant authorities will come get Ms. Blaine as soon as they match the DNA samples.”
“You have a point, Dino, as always, but that wouldn’t be any fun. I want to watch, don’t you?”
“From a distance,” Dino said.
“Listen, if you’re really worried, or if you really have to get back to the precinct, then I’ll drive you to LAX, and you can get the red-eye.”
“Me, fly the airlines? Don’t hold your breath.”
“I’ve spoiled you, haven’t I?”
“You sure have,” Dino replied.
“Well, Arrington can take you as far as Virginia, and Mike, all the way to New York. You can have your choice of jet travel.”
“And if I do that, who’s going to watch your back?”
“There is that,” Stone replied.
Arrington finished her nap in time for cocktails, and Mike Freeman joined them at her invitation.
Manolo took orders and served the drinks, along with canapes.
Mike spoke up. “Rick Barron called me a few minutes ago and asked me to join the board of Centurion,” he said.
“I hope you accepted,” Arrington said.
“I did. Who could resist? Are you on the board?”
“No, I didn’t want that, but I’ve asked Rick to appoint Stone instead. He can represent my interests on the board, and eventually, Peter’s.”