“You have to tell me when you decide to go to Atlanta,” Stone said.
“I’ll do that,” she said.
“You didn’t do that,” he replied.
Her jaw dropped. “How did you find out?”
“Why, it was all over ‘Page Six’ in the Post,” Stone said. “ ‘Crazy Dancer/Actress to Visit Her Atlanta Ex-husband, Who Wants to Kill Her.’ Didn’t you see it?”
She laughed. “It was not.”
“Tell me,” Stone said, “what was the point of our pulling out all the stops to keep you safe if you’re going to go running into his arms at the first opportunity?”
“It’s not like that,” she said.
“What is it like?”
“A mutual friend has offered to mediate the settlement,” Carrie said.
“You told me you already had a settlement.”
“There are a few loose ends,” she said. “Dear Max has bounced back financially with the help of a Saudi prince, who has a house in Atlanta. I’m told he’s actually better off now than he was before.”
“I’m told that, too,” Stone said. “So you’re going to hold him up for more?”
“For more cash. He was strapped a year ago, so I took not very liquid assets.”
“There’s nothing like cash,” Stone said. “It makes a wonderful motive for murder. What makes you so sure Max won’t be meeting your flight and taking you for a little ride?”
“I know what would make you feel better about this,” Carrie said. “Come with me.”
Stone was brought up short. He had no desire to go to Atlanta, but having made a fuss about it, he could hardly say no. “All right,” he said.
“I’ll book you on the same flight,” she said. “And I’ve already booked a suite at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead.”
“Who else is going to be at this meeting?” Stone asked.
“Max’s lawyer and our mutual friend, a lawyer named Ed Garland.”
“I know Ed,” Stone said. “Had you planned to do this without an attorney of your own?”
“I was going to ask you,” she said, “and I would have last night, if you hadn’t marched me out of Derek Sharpe’s studio.”
“I’m sorry I had to do that,” Stone said.
“I’m sorry you had to do that, too,” she replied. “I apologize for my behavior.”
“No need to apologize.”
Dino spoke up. “Does anybody want to order dinner? Or do you two want to get a room?”
“Dinner now, room later,” Carrie said, shooting Stone a leer. “You owe me.” She picked up a menu.
“I do, and I’ll pay,” Stone promised.
24
STONE WAS AT HIS DESK the following morning when Bill Eggers called.