"Okay, now tell me your story," he said.
"It's a strange one," she said. "I'm from Meriwether County, Georgia, near a little town called Delano."
"That's where Betty Southard, Vance's secretary, is from."
"True, but she was older than I, so we didn't really know each other. Anyway, I was pretty much a country girl, and I had this boyfriend who murdered a girl, in Greenville, the county seat. The court appointed a lawyer named Will Lee to defend my boyfriend."
"Wait a minute, is this the Senator from Georgia? The presidential candidate?"
"Yes, but not at that time. Old Senator Carr, who Will worked for, had a stroke, and Will ran for his seat, but the judge wouldn't let him out of defending Larry, my boyfriend, even though it was during the campaign. As you might imagine, the trial attracted a lot of press coverage."
"I think I remember this vaguely," Stone said, "but not the outcome."
"Larry was convicted and sentenced to death. A tabloid paid me for my story, and all of a sudden, Hollywood was sniffing around. Next thing I knew I was out here, with a part in a movie. Then there was another part and another, and the rest is pulp fiction."
"Amazing. Was the boyfriend executed?"
She shook her head. "I went to see the governor of Georgia and personally, ah, interceded on his behalf. His sentence was commuted to life without parole. We still correspond."
"Was he guilty?"
"Oh, yes."
"That's the damndest story I ever heard."
"There's more.
"Tell me."
"Will Lee and I had a little one-time encounter that became a side issue in the presidential race."
"That was you?"
"I'm afraid so. When I'm old and washed up, somebody's going to make a really bad TV movie about all this, and then I'm going to write my memoirs."
"I'm sure it will be a hot seller."
"You better believe it, Sugar."
After dinner, he drove her back to her car at Centurion, and they said good night.
"One thing," he said to her.
"What's that, Baby?" she asked, putting her arms around his neck.
"Dolce has taken this whole business hard. After tonights events, I think you should be careful."
"You mean, watch my back?"
"Yes, that's what I mean."
She kissed him. "Sugar," she said, "Dolce doesn't want to mess with me."
"I hope you're right."
She kissed him again. "Should I go armed?"
"Do you own a gun?"