They nursed their beers for a few more minutes, then suddenly the rear door of the Rolls opened and Carolyn got out, adjusting her clothing and hair. She called to the driver, who was standing nearby, and he went back to the car, got in, and drove away. Carolyn resumed wandering among the shops.
“I’ll be back in a minute or two,” Stone said. He got up and walked to where she was gazing into a shop window. “Good afternoon,” he said.
She turned, looking surprised. “Oh, hello, Stone. What brings you out here?”
“Lunch and some down time,” he replied.
“All ready for the stockholders’ meeting Tuesday morning?”
“I don’t really have any preparations to make,” Stone said. “I’ve just been enjoying my time in L.A.”
“What have you been doing?”
“Lying around, mostly. Had dinner last night with some friends from Santa Fe who are in town.” He caught just a tiny flicker of concern in her face. “Nice town, Santa Fe. Have you spent any time there?”
“Once, half a dozen years ago; a weekend with somebody I shouldn’t have gone there with.”
Stone laughed. “Yes, we’ve all had weekends like that, haven’t we?”
“Have you talked to Mrs. Calder about the offer on the Bel-Air property?”
“No, I haven’t received a revised offer that meets her requirements,” he said.
“Is this still about Centurion?”
“Yes.”
“Well, we’ll have that out of the way on Tuesday, one way or another.”
“One way or another,” Stone said. “If the Bel-Air deal should go through, would you be involved?”
“I would head up the project for Terry,” she said. “I think it would be a lot of fun, designing and building a new, top-of-the-line hotel.”
“I expect it would,” Stone said. “It would be a disappointment for you, wouldn’t it, if Terry got his hands onto the Centurion property.”
“Not necessarily,” she said. “Terry can be very persuasive.”
“I’m afraid his charms are lost on me,” Stone said. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve left Dino over there somewhere with a beer.”
“See you Tuesday,” she said.
Stone went back to the bar and sat down. “Something’s wrong,” he said.
“What do you mean, wrong?”
“She’s been nervous as a cat the last couple of times I’ve talked with her, and she constantly talked about how wired Terry Prince was, but now, suddenly, she’s perfectly calm, and apparently looking forward to the Centurion stockholders’ meeting on Tuesday.”
“Maybe,” Dino said, “having sex in the backseat of a Rolls-Royce has a calming effect.”
Stone sat, sipping his tepid beer, trying to think of something to do.
43
When Stone and Dino got back to the house there was an envelope on the poolside table addressed to Stone and marked, “By Messenger.” The return address was Terry Prince’s office.
Stone sat down and opened it. “Looks like a new offer on the Bel-Air property,” he said.
“The guy doesn’t give up easily, does he?”