Swimming to Catalina

the only way he could have gotten you out here.”
    “Yes, he did.”
    “Don’t you have any questions about that?” she asked.
    “I think I’ll just let you tell me what you want to.”
    She smiled. “That’s like you, Stone; you were always a good listener.”
    “Thank you.”
    “You didn’t give away much, but you did listen.”
    Stone said nothing.
    “I am pregnant. I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to figure out who the father is, but my periods have been irregular for months, and I honestly don’t know; it could be either of you.”
    “I see,” Stone said, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say.
    “So here’s what I’m going to do about it,” she said. “I’m going back to Virginia to be with my family and to have my baby. Vance has agreed to submit to a blood test, and I want one from you, too.”
    “All right,” Stone said. “I want to know as much as you do.”
    “If the baby is Vance’s, I’ll come back to California and be the best wife and mother I can. I know I don’t love Vance as deeply as I’ve loved you, but I think wecan still make a good marriage of it, and a home for the child.”
    “And if the baby isn’t Vance’s?”
    She placed a hand on his cheek and kissed him lightly. “I love you, Stone, I really do. But I don’t know what you’re feeling, and…”
    “I’ll tell you…”
    “Don’t,” she said. “It wouldn’t do me much good to know right now. If the baby is yours, I’ll tell you, and we’ll talk about it. Certainly, you can be a part of his life. Or hers. But you and I have some things to work out, and we have to face the fact that we may not be able to work them out. I can’t let myself think too much about that until the baby is born; I have to protect myself emotionally. It’s no good for me to make a commitment to you and then find out the baby is Vance’s. Surely you can see how hard that would be for me.”
    Stone nodded.
    There was a knock on the door.
    Arrington kissed him again, and then got up and opened the door. Betty Southard was waiting there.
    “Good morning, Arrington,” she said. “I’m glad to see you back. They’re flying the Centurion jet from Van Nuys into Santa Monica; they should already have landed and refueled by the time we get there.”
    “I’m ready,” Arrington said. She closed her suitcase and handed it to Betty. “Bye,” she said to Stone. “I’ll call you, but it may not be for a while.”
    “I’ll look forward to it,” Stone said, past the lump in his throat.

55
    Vance came back to the suite after Arrington had gone. He called room service for more coffee, and after it had come, he sat down on the terrace with Stone. “First of all, I’d like you to represent me as my attorney in this matter. Will you do that?”
    “I’m not licensed to practice in California,” Stone said, “and if you should somehow become involved in a trial, you’ll have to get a California attorney. But for the moment, at least, I will advise you, and you may consider anything you say to me to be privileged, as communication between a lawyer and his client.”
    “All right,” Vance said, “what do you want to know?”
    “Everything,” Stone said. “And don’t leave anything out.”
    “It started with stock,” Vance said. “Centurion stock. The company isn’t publicly owned, it’s very closely held, only a dozen or so shareholders of any size, and a couple of dozen smaller ones, mostly valuedstudio employees. Somebody began contacting shareholders, offering to buy their stock, obviously trying to find a way to gain control of the company.”
    “Who?”
    “No one knew at first; it was being done through a third party. Lou Regenstein got wind of it, but it was his strong impression that people were being intimidated into selling or, at least, keeping their mouths shut about having been approached. It was very bizarre, very ominous.”
    “When did they approach you?”
    “Wait, there are other things I have to tell you that will make this make more sense.”
    “All right, go ahead.”
    “David Sturmack and I have been good friends for a long time; I guess he and Lou have been my closest friends. It was David who introduced me to Oney Ippolito. I was involved in a real estate development project—a shopping mall—and our financing fell through. I was faced with either coming up with a very large amount of cash—thirty million dollars—or losing the five million I had already