The Last Don - Mario Puzo [91]
Claudia and Skippy Deere sat on the couch, Cross sat opposite them. Claudia explained about Boz Skannet and then leaned forward and said, “Cross, please listen to me. This isn’t only business. Athena is my dearest friend. And she is truly one of the best people I have ever known. She helped me when I needed help. And this is the most important favor I’ve ever asked you to do. Help Athena out of this fix and I’ll never ask you for anything again.” Then she turned to Skippy Deere. “You tell Cross the money part.”
Deere always took the offensive before he asked a favor. He said to Cross, “I’ve been coming to your hotel over ten years, how come you never give me one of the Villas?”
Cross laughed, “They’ve always been full.”
Deere said, “Throw somebody out.”
“Sure,” Cross said. “When I get a profit statement from one of your pictures and when I see you lay down a ten-grand bet at baccarat.”
Claudia said, “I’m his sister and I never got one of the Villas. Stop fucking around, Skippy, and lay out the money problem.”
When Deere finished, Cross, reading off a pad on which he had made notes, said, “Let me get this straight. You and the Studio lose fifty million in cash, plus the two hundred million in projected profit, if this Athena doesn’t go back to work. She won’t go back to work because she’s so afraid of an ex-husband called Boz Skannet. You can buy him off but she still won’t go back to work because she doesn’t believe he can be stopped. Is that the whole thing?”
“Yeah,” Deere said. “We promised her she’d be protected better than the president of the United States while she’s making this picture. We have surveillance on this guy Skannet even now. We have her guarded twenty-four hours. She still won’t come back to work.”
“I don’t really see the problem,” Cross said.
“This guy comes from a powerful political family in Texas,” Deere said. “And he’s a really tough guy, I tried to get our security people to lean on him . . .”
“Who’s your security agency?” Cross asked.
“Pacific Ocean Security,” Deere said.
“Why are you talking to me?” Cross asked.
“Because your sister said you could help,” Deere said. “It wasn’t my idea.”
Cross said to his sister, “Claudia, what made you think I could help?”
Claudia’s face twisted up in discomfort. “I’ve seen you solve problems in the past, Cross. You’re very persuasive, and you always seem to come up with a solution.” She smiled her innocent grin. “Besides you’re my older brother, I have faith in you.”
Cross sighed and said, “Same old bullshit,” but Deere noticed the easy affection between the two.
The three of them sat silently for a while, then Deere said, “Cross, we came here as a long shot. But if you’re looking for another investment, I have a project coming up that’s very, very good.”
Cross looked at Claudia, then at Deere, and said thoughtfully, “Skippy, I want to meet this Athena and after that maybe I can solve all your problems.”
“Great,” Claudia said, relieved. “We can all fly out tomorrow.” She hugged him.
“OK,” Deere said. He was already trying to figure out how he could get Cross to take some of his loss on the Messalina film.
The next day they flew into Los Angeles. Claudia had talked Athena into seeing them, then Deere had taken the phone. That conversation had convinced him that Athena would never return to the picture. He was infuriated by this, but he diverted himself on the plane by scheming how he would get Cross to give him one of his fucking Villas when he visited Vegas again.
The Malibu Colony, where Athena Aquitane lived, was a section of beach that was located about forty minutes north of Beverly Hills and Hollywood. The Colony held a little over a hundred dwellings, each one of which was worth from three to six million dollars but looked very ordinary and ramshackle from the outside. Each house was enclosed by fencing and sometimes ornate entry gates.
The Colony itself could only be entered through a private road guarded by security men in a large hut who controlled the swinging barriers. The security personnel screened all visitors by phone or