The Stars Shine Down

"Very much."

"Good. I'll work out the arrangements. By the way," Ellerbee said, "are you thinking of cutting back on your concerts?"

Philip was taken aback. "Cutting back? No. Why?"

"I had a talk with Lara, and she indicated that you might want to just tour the United States. Perhaps it would be best if you talked to her and..."

Philip said, "I will. Thank you."

Philip replaced the receiver and walked into Lara's office. She was dictating to Marian.

"Would you excuse us?" Philip asked.

Marian smiled. "Certainly." She left the room.

Philip turned to Lara. "I just had a call from William Ellerbee. Did you talk to him about my cutting down on foreign tours?"

"I might have mentioned something like that, Philip. I thought it might be better for both of us if..."

"Please, don't do that again," Philip said. "You know how much I love you. But apart from our lives together, you have a career and I have a career. Let's make a rule. I won't interfere in yours, and you won't interfere in mine. Is that fair enough?"

"Of course, it is," Lara said. "I'm sorry, Philip. It's just that I miss you so much when you're away." She went into his arms. "Forgive me?"

"It's forgiven and forgotten."

Howard Keller came to the penthouse to bring Lara contracts to sign. "How's everything going?"

"Beautifully," Lara said.

"The wandering minstrel is home?"

"Yes."

"So music is your life now, huh?"

"The musician is my life. You have no idea how wonderful he is, Howard."

"When are you coming into the office? We need you."

"I'll come in a few days."

Keller nodded. "Okay."

They began to examine the papers he had brought.

The following morning Terry Hill telephoned. "Lara, 1 just received a call from the Gaming Commission in Reno," the attorney said. "There's going to be a hearing on your casino license."

"Why?" Lara asked.

"There have been some allegations that the bidding was rigged. They want you to go there and testify on the seventeenth."

"How serious is this?" Lara asked.

The lawyer hesitated. "Are you aware of any irregularities in the bidding?"

"No, of course not."

"Then you have nothing to worry about. I'll fly to Reno with you."

"What happens if I don't go?"

"They'll subpoena you. It would look better if you went on your own."

"All right."

Lara telephoned Paul Martin's private number at the office. He picked up the phone immediately.

"Lara?"

"Yes, Paul."

"You haven't used this number in a long time."

"I know. I'm calling about Reno..."

"I heard."

"Is there a real problem?"

He laughed. "No. The losers are upset that you beat them to it."

"Are you sure it's all right, Paul?" She hesitated. "We did discuss the other bids."

"Believe me, it's done all the time. Anyway, they have no way of proving that. Don't worry about a thing."

"All right. I won't."

She replaced the receiver and sat there, worried.

At lunch Philip said, "By the way, they offered me a concert at Carnegie Hall. I'm going to do it."

"Wonderful." Lara smiled. "I'll buy a new dress. When is it?"

"The seventeenth."

Lara's smile faded. "Oh."

"What's the matter?"

"I'm afraid I won't be able to be there, darling. I have to be in Reno. I'm so sorry."

Philip put his hands over hers. "Our timing seems to be off, doesn't it? Oh, well. Don't worry. There will be plenty more recitals."

Lara was in her office at Cameron Center. Howard Keller had called her at home that morning.

"I think you'd better get down here," he had said. "We have a few problems."

"I'll be there in an hour."

They were in the middle of a meeting. "A couple of deals have gone sour," Keller told her. "The insurance company that was moving into our building in Houston has gone bankrupt. They were our only tenant."

"We'll find someone else," Lara said.

"It's not going to be that simple. The Tax Reform Act is hurting us. Hell, it's hurting everybody. Congress has wiped out corporate tax shelters and eliminated most deductions. I think we're heading for a goddamned recession. The savings and loan companies we're dealing with are in trouble. Drexel Burnham Lambert may go out of business. Junk bonds are turning into land mines. We're having problems with half a dozen of our buildings. Two of them are only half finished. Without financing, those costs are going to be eating us up."

Lara sat there, thinking. "We can handle it. Sell whatever properties we have to to keep up our mortgage payments."

"The bright side of it," Keller said, "is that we have a cash flow from Reno that's bringing us in close to fifty million a year."

Lara said nothing.

On Friday the seventeenth Lara left for Reno. Philip rode with her to the airport. Terry Hill was waiting at the plane.

"When will you be back?" Philip said.

"Probably tomorrow. This shouldn't take long."

"I'll miss you," Philip said.

"I'll miss you, too, darling."

He stood there watching the plane taking off. I am going to miss her, Philip thought. She's the most fantastic woman in the world.

In the offices of the Nevada Gaming Commission, Lara was facing the same group of men she had met with during the application for a casino license. This time, however, they were not as friendly.