Swimming to Catalina

43

Stone parked on the quiet Beverly Hills street and switched off the engine. He had driven around the block twice, and there was no sign of unwanted company. He got out his pocket cell phone and dialed the number.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hi, it’s Stone.” He waited tensely for the reaction.

“Well, hello, stranger,” she said, and there was delight in her voice. “I was beginning to think I was never going to hear from you again.”

What did she mean by that? “You don’t get off that easily,” he replied.

“How are things in New York?”

“Lonely.”

“Me, too. I might be able to get away for a few days while Vance is between pictures; all I need is an invitation.”

“Let me work on that. You home alone?”

“Yes. Sad, isn’t it?”

“You going to be there for a while?”

“Nothing else to do. Vance hasn’t been in for days; I’m underworked.”

“A friend of mine is going to drop by with a present for you.”

“Who’s the friend?”

“An ex-cop.”

“What’s the present?”

“Wait and see.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

“Talk to you soon.” Stone broke the connection, got out of the car, walked to the front door, and rang the bell.

“Coming!” she called, her voice muffled. There were footsteps, and she opened the door.

“Good evening, Ms. Southard,” Stone said.

Her mouth dropped open, and just for a moment he knew she wasn’t glad to see him.

“May I come in?”

“Of course.” She stood back and let him in. “What are you doing back in L.A. so soon?”

“Fix me a gin and tonic, and I’ll tell you anything.”

She waved at the living room sofa. “Sit.” Then she went into the kitchen, came back with two drinks, and sat down beside him.

“I don’t think you’re really glad to see me,” he said.

She didn’t deny it. “You surprised me.”

“Not entirely a pleasant surprise, I take it.”

“I wish I could say it was. You’re back here to make trouble for Vance, aren’t you?”

“I never left town,” he said.

She looked at him, astonished. “You don’t know how dangerous that was.”

“And I couldn’t possibly make more trouble for Vance than he already has on his hands.”

“It was very dangerous, Stone.”

“More dangerous than you know Ippolito had two of his goons drop me in the Pacific with an anchor attached.”

Her eyes grew wide.

He held up a hand. “Don’t worry, I survived.”

She sank half her drink and set it down. “Oh, God,” she said. “It was my fault.”

“How so?”

“I told Vance you were still here, and he must have told Ippolito.”

“That’s accurate, I think.”

“What are you going to do about it?” she asked apprehensively.

“Well, I don’t have to find the two goons. They were dredged up by a trawler this morning in a similar condition to what they intended me to be.”

She shook her head. “Swell. What have I gotten myself involved in?”

“Kidnapping, murder, probably a number of other major crimes.”

“You don’t think I had anything to do with…what they did to you?”

“No; not intentionally, anyway.”

“Well, thank God for that much, at least. Please tell me what is going on, Stone.”

“I think you’re in a better position to tell me.”

“I’ve already explained myself on that point.”

“You’ve got to help Vance.”

“That’s right.”

“Well, right now, Vance is well on his way to getting his wife killed and destroying himself. Are you going to help him do that?”

“I don’t really know all that much,” she said, picking up her drink and finishing it off.

“You know more than I do,” Stone said. “If you’ll tell me what you know, maybe it will be enough to help me get Vance out of this.”

She stared off into the middle distance.

“Start at the beginning,” he said.

“I’ve always done what Vance wanted,” she said. “How do I know that what you want me to do is the right thing?”

“You’ll have to take my word for it.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.”

“The alternative is for me to involve the police and the FBI and for the gossip mills to get hold of it.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” she said.

“Wouldn’t I? Unless you help me, I won’t have a choice. My nose is pressed against a brick wall, and I have nowhere to go. If I don’t do something, Vance is going to get Arrington killed, and I can’t allow that to happen. I hope you understand my position.”

“If I tell you what I know, will you promise not to go to the police, the FBI, or the press?”

“No. I’ll do whatever I think is the best thing for Arrington. You might consider that that might be the best thing for Vance, too.”

“If there’s a way to help her without making this public, will you do that?”

“Yes. But I’ll be the judge of how to proceed.”

“Vance is a very brave man, you know. You might not know him well enough to know that.”

“He may well be a brave man,” Stone said, “but he’s also a very foolish one.”

“All that stuff I spouted about movie stars and how they behave-it’s true, of course, but not of Vance.”

“Isn’t it? Isn’t he jeopardizing Arrington’s life in order to protect his career?”

“I honestly don’t think he is.”

“Then what is he trying to do?”

“I think he thinks he can beat them at their own game.”

“Oh, Jesus,” Stone moaned. “Not that.”

She nodded. “He figures this is between him and them, and he doesn’t really want any outside help.”

“Then why did he ask me to come out here?”

“He panicked, for just a moment. By the time you got here he had gotten hold of himself again.”

“Exactly what is he trying to do?”

“Save Arrington, save Lou Regenstein, save Centurion Studios. For a start.”

“What else?”

“I think he would very much like to kill Onofrio Ippolito.”

“That makes two of us,” Stone muttered.

“You’re too smart to do something like that, Stone, but Vance isn’t. Vance would kill him in a minute, if e could figure out how to do it without harming Arrington.”

“That’s about all that’s kept me from killing him,” Stone said.

“I hope you can help Vance. He’s a fine man, and I’d hate to see him pulled down by his own anger.”

“Betty, if I’m going to help him, you’re going to have to help me.”

A long pause. “All right,” she said at last.

“Start at the beginning,” he said.

And she did.