Shakeup (Stone Barrington #55) - Stuart Woods Page 0,19

faster, and pretty much illegible.”

“I’m relieved to hear it,” Stone said. They got into an Arrington Bentley and were approaching the gate when a guard flagged them down. He rapped on Stone’s window.

“Yes?” Stone asked, rolling it down.

“Delivery for you, Mr. Barrington,” he said.

“Thank you.” Stone ripped open the envelope and switched on the reading lamp. “It’s the contract,” he said, leafing through it. “He says he’s not only your agent, but your personal manager, and that you’re paying him fifteen percent for agenting and twenty-five percent for managing, which includes signing your checks and paying your bills.” He showed her the contract. “Is that your signature or your autograph?”

“It’s my autograph,” Lara replied. “I can show you other examples of it on my head shots that I send out with replies to fan mail.”

“You get fan mail?”

“I’m on TV. I don’t get a lot of mail, but enough to have the pictures printed with my autograph on them. The network sends them out; it saves me a lot of time.”

“What are you on, on TV?”

“A series called Trust Me, which is in the last of its four seasons. We shot the final two episodes last month, and they haven’t run yet.”

Stone called Joan. “Follow up to the fax,” he said.

Dear Mr. Baxter,

Your so-called contract bears Ms. Parks’s autograph, which is sent out to thousands of fans of her TV show by the network. This is not her legal signature and, as you know, her autograph is on a blank sheet of paper, which you have used to compose a fraudulent contract. This will be the first exhibit in her lawsuit against you, and I will see that the ethical standards committee of the bar association receives a copy of the contract, along with an autographed photograph.

“Thanks, Joan. Please get it out right away.”

“Will do.”

Stone hung up. “Lara, do you have an agent presently?”

“I did, but he retired a couple of weeks ago. I haven’t had time to look for a new one, and at the end of a series and before you get cast in something else is not the best time to look.”

They arrived at Peter’s house and were greeted by Peter, his wife, Ben, and Ben’s wife.

“Let me show you something,” Stone said, after they had sat down with a drink. He handed Baxter’s contract to Peter.

Peter scanned it. “This is awful,” he said. “I’m surprised any actor would sign such a thing.” He handed it to Ben.

“Lara didn’t sign it. She gave him her autograph—on a blank sheet of paper—and he hung the contract on it.”

“Terrible,” Ben agreed.

“I have a question for you both,” Stone said. “If you were an actress with an offer in hand for a film, who would you want as an agent?”

They looked at each other and, simultaneously, said, “Arlene Summers.”

“She’s a partner in a medium-sized agency called the Talent Stable.”

“I’d love to be with Arlene Summers,” Lara said.

“I’ll call her in the morning,” Peter said. “I think you two would get along.” He handed her the Baxter contract. “Show her this, and tell her how it came to be.”

“I’ll do that,” Lara said, tucking the contract into her handbag.

“I don’t see a lot of this sort of thing,” Ben said, “but I know it happens. Baxter is going to be looking for a payoff to let her out of this.”

“He won’t get it,” Stone said. “I’ve already told him we’re suing and reporting him to the bar association.”

“I’ll bet they already have a thick file on him,” Ben said. “I’ll look into that tomorrow.”

They were called to dinner, and the conversation changed.

17

The phone woke Stone at 6:30 AM. “What?”

“Stone, it’s Herb, good morning.”

“It’s three hours earlier out here.”

“Oh, dammit, I forgot. Anyway, Art Jacoby is out on bail—five hundred grand’s worth, courtesy of Joan.”

Stone groaned. “Don’t let him flee,” he said.

“I’ve read him the riot act on that possibility. He knows the score. And he knows he won’t be convicted, given his alibi, so he has no reason to flee.”

“Did they arrest his girlfriend?”

“No.”

“Then you might move her somewhere, in case they get ideas. I don’t want to have to shell out any more bail money. Are they any closer to a real arrest in the murder?”

“They wouldn’t say so if they were. It would be too embarrassing, after arresting Jacoby.”

“Right. Does Dino know he’s out?”

“I don’t know, but Dino always knows everything.”

“Call him anyway.”

“Okay.”

“And thanks, Herb, for taking this on. I’m tied down out here for a few more