Bel-Air Dead by Stuart Woods Read Free Book Online Page A

thirty-seven million. If he accepts it, I’ll hire Woodman & Weld, provided you supervise their work.”
    “Consider it done. In the meantime, don’t fire Howard Sharp, and don’t say anything to him that might make him think that you’re not going to sell Terrence Prince your shares.”
    “All right, but I haven’t changed my mind about selling Prince my shares. I still need the money to pay Rex for the farms.”
    “Here’s my first piece of advice as your new attorney: don’t sell a billion-dollar investment in order to raise thirty-seven million.”
    “Well, all right, but where am I going to get the money?”
    “Do you have a financial statement?”
    “Yes, current as of a couple of weeks ago. Howard Sharp helped me get it together.”
    “Fax it to me here, and give me your permission to share it with Woodman & Weld. We’ll find a way for you to have your cake and eat it, too.”
    “I like the sound of that,” she said.
    “And remember, not a word to Sharp about anything. Make him think nothing has changed. If he presses you for an answer on selling your Centurion shares, tell him you’re working on organizing things.”
    “Why do you think Howard Sharp is in Prince’s pocket?”
    “Because he’s the only one who could betray you, and Prince has apparently bought him. Sharp has probably given him your financial statement.”
    “The son of a bitch,” she said with some heat.
    “Keep cool, and don’t let on anything.”
    “I’ll fax you the financial statement first thing in the morning; I’m on the way out to a dinner party now.”
    “That’s fine,” Stone said. He hung up the phone.
    “You didn’t tell her that the last person to refuse to sell her Centurion shares to Prince was murdered,” Dino pointed out.
    “I didn’t want to panic her,” Stone said, “and she’s in no danger as long as Prince thinks she will sell.”
    “I hope you’re right about that,” Dino said.

11
    Stone found Carolyn Blaine’s house easily enough, on Camden Drive, off Sunset. From its generous size he reckoned that either she had family money or she had had a good divorce. No ordinary executive assistant could pay the property taxes out of her salary, he thought.
    Carolyn didn’t ask him in; she came to the door with her purse and a shawl in her hand. “Let’s have our first drink at the restaurant,” she said.
    Stone installed her in the Mercedes. “Where to?”
    “Is Spago Beverly Hills all right?”
    “One of my favorites,” Stone said.
    “I managed to get a table in the garden,” she said.
    Ten minutes later they were being seated among L.A.’s filmland glitterati, including a pair of movie stars and several faces familiar from television. Carolyn ordered a martini and Stone stuck with his usual Knob Creek.
    “What’s Knob Creek?” Carolyn asked.
    “My favorite bourbon.”
    “The brown stuff?”
    “American corn whiskey, this one aged for nine years. It’s the patriotic thing to drink, instead of all that foreign swill. Abraham Lincoln lived in a log cabin on Knob Creek, in Kentucky.”
    Their drinks arrived, and she tasted his bourbon. “Not bad,” she said. “I like it better than scotch.”
    “Smart woman,” Stone said. They clinked glasses and drank.
    “So, was our having dinner Terrence Prince’s idea?” he asked.
    “It was entirely mine,” she replied. “He doesn’t know about it.” She looked around. “Of course, he knows a lot of the people here, so it won’t be a secret for long.”
    “I don’t care if he knows,” Stone said. “It won’t affect the business we have to do.”
    “Why not?”
    “Aha, that’s what Mr. Prince would ask.”
    “I’m curious about this transaction, but purely on a personal basis,” she said.
    “Prince wants to buy most of the land owned by Centurion Studios, so that he can build a hotel and some office buildings and condos.”
    “Funny,” she said, “I haven’t seen the plans for that.”
    “How about a