“I’ve already asked Bill Eggers to extend your line of credit for another hundred million.”

“That’s a breathtaking amount of money,” she said. “How will I ever pay it back?”

“When the market goes up again, and it will, you’ll sell other stocks and repay the loan. Hardly anything in your portfolio would be a better investment than Centurion.”

“I’ll do whatever you recommend,” she said. “You know I trust you.”

“Then I recommend that you buy the twenty thousand shares from Long and Baird.”

“And that will give us control?”

“With Rick voting his hundred thousand shares and Charlene Joiner voting her fifty thousand, yes.”

“What about Jennifer Harris’s shares?”

“We don’t know yet if her estate will sell them to us, but we don’t need them, because we have Long’s and Baird’s shares.”

“Sounds good to me,” Arrington said. “By the way, I’ve arranged for dinner here tonight and invited Mike Freeman, too. I hope that will be all right with you and Dino.”

“Of course. Why don’t we invite Rick and Glenna and Charlene Joiner, too? We can call it a celebration of both your new airplane and our achieving voting control of Centurion.”

“Sounds wonderful. Will you call the Barrons and Ms. Joiner?”

“Of course.” Stone got on the phone and issued the invitations.

“They’ll be here at six-thirty for drinks,” he told Arrington.

“Good. Now go away before you and I get started again. I have to do my hair and makeup.”

“You overestimate me,” Stone said, retreating.

“No, I don’t,” she replied.

Stone fled. He went back to the guesthouse, got Bill Eggers’s voice mail at Woodman amp; Weld, and left him a description of the sales documents for the purchase of both Long’s and Baird’s shares, and instructions to fax Long’s to Harvey Stein and Baird’s to himself. Now he wouldn’t have to rise at six o’clock the next morning to get that done.

Dino woke up from a nap, and Stone told him of the dinner arrangements.

“Good excuse for a party,” Dino said.

“Two good excuses,” Stone replied. “Don’t forget Arrington’s new airplane.”

25

Stone walked out to the pool a little before six-thirty and found half a dozen bottles of ten-year-old Krug champagne in a copper tub of ice. Arrington appeared from the main house in a gossamer white dress, looking ravishing.

“Why don’t you pop one of those corks?” she suggested.

Stone popped the cork and found a pair of her Baccarat champagne flutes. “To the movie business and fast airplanes,” he said, and they drank. “Yeasty,” he offered.

“Crisp,” she said. “Wonderful stuff. It’s been in the cellar for years.”

Dino appeared and accepted a flute. “Arrington,” he said, “you’ve never looked more beautiful.”

She kissed him lightly on the lips. “Dino, you’ve just paid the rent on a permanent lease of my guesthouse.”

“A bargain,” Dino said. “Hey, what is this champagne? It’s different from what they sell at Elaine’s.”

“Elaine sells Dom Perignon; this is Krug Brut, the good stuff.”

Tags: Stuart Woods Stone Barrington Mystery
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