Unnatural Acts

24

The following morning they visited the building site again and talked more with the architect and construction foremen, then they drove back to Burbank Airport and boarded the G-550. They were back at Teterboro in time for Stone and Dino to make the opening of Marla’s new show.

AT THE final curtain Stone and Dino stood and beat their hands together and cheered, along with the rest of the audience. Marla and Rita took their bows, and finally, the curtain fell again.

They strolled through Shubert Alley over to Sardi’s and were seated at a large round table, which gradually began to fill up. Marla and Rita arrived looking freshly scrubbed and excited.

“It was wonderful,” Stone said.

“Do you really think so?”

“Everybody in the house thought so, and the critics will, too. You’re looking at a long run.”

Dino turned to Rita. “Am I ever going to see you again?”

“I get one night off every week,” she said.

The party continued past midnight, then somebody arrived with a stack of newspapers, and the producer stood on his chair and read the reviews aloud, to appreciative applause from the crowd.

Stone looked around the room and saw someone familiar. He turned to Dino. “Hey, remember our final dinner at Elaine’s, when a tall redhead clocked some not-so-innocent bystander?”

Dino looked tense. “Yeah. Why?”

“Because I just caught a glimpse of her over there somewhere,” Stone replied, pointing.

“Oh, shit,” Dino said.

“What’s wrong?”

“That’s Shelley.”

“Who’s Shelley?” Rita asked.

“Somebody Dino doesn’t want to meet,” Stone said.

“Why not?” she asked.

“There was some unpleasantness a while back.”

“What kind of unpleasantness?”

“Rita,” Dino said, “let it go. Please.”

“Well, I guess I know what you’ll be doing when it’s not my night off,” she said, digging him in the ribs.

“I will be bereft,” Dino said. “I promise.”

“Well, if it’s a promise, I guess ‘bereft’ is appropriate.”

Stone turned to Marla. “I hope you have more than one night a week off.”

“I’ll see the next couple of performances and give some notes, but then I’ll have to let go and just let it run. Then I’ll have plenty of nights off.”

“I’ll start thinking of ways to use them,” Stone said.

Dino excused himself and started across the room in the direction Stone had pointed.

“Uh-oh,” Rita said. “Is there going to be trouble?”

“I doubt it,” Stone replied. “Don’t worry, Dino can handle it.”

“He can always call in a SWAT team,” Rita said.

Dino made his way through the crowd while the reviews continued to be read. She was tall, so he kept his eyes riveted on the tops of heads. Then he spotted the red hair moving away from him. He pursued, but unless he used his elbows, the crowd kept him from gaining. The redhead pushed through a pair of swinging doors. Dino finally got there and found himself in the kitchen.

“Can I help you, sir?” a waiter asked in an unhelpful way.

“I’ll be out of your way in a minute,” Dino said. He walked slowly through the busy kitchen, dodging waiters and men with knives, but he didn’t see her. Finally he came to the rear door and stepped out into an alley, which contained only garbage cans, lit by the lights from West Forty-fourth Street. He walked all the way down to the street and looked both ways. He thought he saw red hair in the back of a taxi, but then it was gone.

Dino went into Sardi’s by the front door and made his way back to the table. The two women were headed toward the ladies’ room.

“Any luck?” Stone asked.

Dino shook his head. “She went through the kitchen and out into the alley, then she was gone.”

“You’re going to have to do something about this, you know.”

“I know,” Dino replied. “I just don’t know what.”

The women returned from the ladies’ room.

“It’s getting late,” Stone said to Marla. “Come home with me?”

“Oh, I’m exhausted,” Marla replied. “Just completely drained.”

“Dinner tomorrow?”

“Let me call you after I’ve seen the show again a couple of times.”

Stone sighed. “All right.”

She put her hand on his cheek and kissed him. “Just be patient for a little while.”