Bel-Air Dead (Stone Barrington 20)

“The meantime doesn’t exist,” Stone replied. “Either Prince is in or he’s out, and we won’t know that until noon Friday.”

“But surely, you and I can come to an arrangement pending that time.”

“No. I was going to call you today and tell you that. My client has a signed contract with Prince; if he can close, she’s bound by that agreement. If he can’t, then I can talk to other parties.”

“What do you mean, ‘other parties’?” she said, sounding worried.

“I mean other parties,” he replied, “you and Mrs. Grosvenor among them.”

“But that twenty-five million dollars you have in the bank is her money.”

“The check was from Prince’s personal account, with his signature on it, and that’s all I need to know. My deal is with Prince. If you have some other deal with him, that’s between the two of you, and nothing to do with me or my client.”

“Well, when Terry can’t raise the money, I’ll simply get him to assign the agreement to us.”

That was an alarming statement and something Stone had not anticipated. “There’s nothing in the agreement allowing him to assign it.”

“There’s nothing in the agreement preventing him from assigning it, either,” she said.

“I suggest we cross that chasm when we come to it,” Stone said.

“Well, if that’s going to be a problem, we can simply let Terry close with our money, then force him out of the deal later.”

“Carolyn, you’d better take a deep breath and consider your position. The way you’re talking now will guarantee you a lifetime of litigation, and quite apart from the courts, you should consider how Prince has chosen to solve his problems in the past.”

“I know how to deal with Terry,” she said. “I’ll see you at ten o’clock on Friday morning, as previously arranged.”

“Nothing was previously arranged,” Stone said, but she had already hung up. He put his phone away and sighed. “Shit,” he said.

Dino was grinning at him from across the table. “Things not going as smoothly as planned?”

“Stop enjoying this,” Stone said. “God, I wish I hadn’t taken that twenty-five million. I let my head be turned by all those zeros.”

“Don’t you think that’s what Prince intended?”

“I suppose you’re right,” Stone said. “Of course, he could still lose it all.”

“Do you have any reason to believe that Prince couldn’t find another two hundred twenty-five million if he had to?”

“I’m operating on what Carolyn knows about him,” Stone said.

“And Carolyn is an embezzler and murderer,” Dino pointed out.

“Oh, stop it!”

“I just love watching you break a sweat,” Dino said.

59

On Thursday things were deceptively quiet at the Calder house. Stone checked in with Joan, who was happy with her new health plan from Woodman amp; Weld and with the idea of his new partnership as a source of steady income.

“It’s going to be nice getting a check every month,” she said.

“Frankly, I’m tired of the feast-and-famine thing.”

“It hasn’t been as bad as that, has it?”

“You don’t have to worry about paying the bills,” she said. “I do.”