Mario Puzo - The Last Don

Skippy Deere said, «We have to shut down the picture until we get Athena back to work. That will cost a hundred fifty grand a day. The situation is this. We've spent fifty million. We're halfway through, we can't write Athena out and we can't double her. So if she doesn't come back, we scrap the picture.»

«We can't scrap it,» Bantz said. «Insurance doesn't cover a star refusing to work. Drop her out of a plane, then insurance pays. Melo, it's your job to get her back. You're responsible.»

Melo Stuart said, «I'm her agent but I can only have so much influence on a woman like her. Let me tell you this. She is genuinely frightened. This is not one of your temperamental things. She's scared, but she's an intelligent woman, so she must have a reason. This is a very dangerous, a very delicate, situation.»

Bantz said, «If she torpedoes a hundred-million-dollar movie, she can never work again, did you tell her that?»

«She knows,» Stuart said.

Bantz asked, «Who's the best person to talk sense into her? Skippy, you tried and failed. Melo, you did. Dita, I know you did your best. I even tried.»

Tommey said to Bantz, «You don't count, Bobby. She detests you.»

Bantz said sharply, «Sure, some people don't like my style but they listen to me.»

Tommey said kindly, «Bobby, none of the Talent likes you, but Athena doesn't like you personally.»

«I gave her the role that made her a star,» Bantz said.

Melo Stuart said calmly, «She was born a star. You were lucky to get her.»

Bantz said, «Dita, you're her friend. It's your job to get her back to work.»

«Athena is not my friend,» Tommey said. «She is a colleague who respects me because after I tried to make her, I desisted gracefully when I failed. Not like you, Bobby. You kept trying for years.»

Bantz said amiably, «Dita, who the hell is she not to fuck us? Eli, you have to lay down the law.»

All attention was fixed on the old man, who seemed bored. Eli Marrion was so thin that one male star had joked he should wear an eraser on his skull, but this was more malicious than apt. Marrion had a comparatively huge head and the broad gorilla face of a much heavier man, a broad nose, thick mouth, yet his face was curiously benign, somewhat gentle, some even said handsome. But his eyes gave him away, they were cold gray and radiated intelligence and an absolute concentration that daunted most people. It was perhaps for this reason that he insisted that everyone call him by his first name.

Marrion spoke in an emotionless voice. «If Athena won't listen to you people, she won't listen to me. My position of authority won't impress her. Which makes it all the more puzzling that she is so frightened over such a senseless attack by such a foolish man. Can't we buy our way out of this?»

«We will try,» Bantz said. «But it makes no difference to Athena. She doesn't trust him.»

Skippy Deere, the producer, said, «And we tried muscle. I got some friends in the police department to lean on him, but he's tough. His family has money and political connections and he's crazy in the bargain.»

Stuart said, «Exactly how much does the Studio lose if it closes down the picture? I'll do my best to let you recoup on future packages.»

There was a problem about letting Melo Stuart know the extent of the damages; as Athena's agent, it would give him too much leverage. Marrion did not answer but nodded to Bobby Bantz.

Bantz was reluctant, but spoke. «Actual money spent, fifty million. Okay, we can eat fifty million. But we have to give back the foreign sales money, the video money, and there's no Locomotive for Christmas. That can cost us another …» He paused, not willing to give that figure, «and then if we add the profits that we lose … shit, two hundred million dollars. You'd have to give us a break on a lot of packages, Melo.»

Stuart smiled, thinking he would have to jack up his price for Athena. «But actually, in real cash put out, you only lose fifty,» he said.

When Marrion spoke his voice had lost its gentleness. «Melo,» he said, «How much will it cost us to get your client back to work?» They knew what had happened. Marrion had decided to act as if this was just a scam.

Stuart read the message. How much are you going to stick us up for on this little scheme? This was an attack on his integrity but he had no intention of getting on his high horse. Not with Marrion. If it had been Bantz, he would have been wrathfully indignant.

Stuart was a very powerful man in the movie world. He didn't have to kiss even Marrion's ass. He controlled a stable of five A directors, not strictly Bankable but very powerful indeed; two male Bankable Stars; and one female Bankable Star, Athena. Which meant he had three people who could assure a green light for any movie. But still it was not wise to anger Marrion. Stuart had become powerful by avoiding such dangers. Certainly this was a great situation for a stickup but not really. This was a rare time when straightforwardness could pay off.

Melo Stuart's greatest asset was his sincerity, he truly believed in what he sold, and he had believed in Athena's talent even ten years before, when she was an unknown. He believed in her now. But what if he could change her mind and bring her back before the cameras? Surely that was worth something, surely that option should not be closed off.

«This is not about money,» Stuart said with passion. He felt a rapture for his own sincerity. «You could offer Athena an extra million and she would not go back. You must solve the problem of this so-called long-absent husband.»

There was an ominous silence. Everybody paid attention. A sum of money had been mentioned. Was it an opening wedge?

Skippy Deere said, «She won't take money.»

Dita Tommey shrugged. She didn't believe Stuart for a moment. But it wouldn't be her money. Bantz simply glared at Stuart, who coolly kept looking at Marrion.

Marrion analyzed Stuart's remark correctly. Athena would not come back for money. Talent was never so cunning. He decided to wrap up the meeting.

He said, «Melo, explain very carefully to your client, if she does not come back in one month's time the Studio abandons the picture and takes the loss. Then we sue her for everything she owns. She must know she can't work again for a major American studio afterwards.» He smiled around the table. «What the hell, it's only fifty million.»

They all knew he was serious, that he had lost his patience. Dita Tommey panicked, the picture meant more to her than anyone. It was her baby. If it succeeded she would be among those directors who would be Bankable. Her OK could get a green light. Out of her panic, she said, «Get Claudia De Lena to talk to her. She's one of Athena's closest friends.»

Bobby Bantz said contemptuously, «I don't know what's worse, a star fucking somebody below the line or being friends with a writer.»

At this Marrion again lost his patience. «Bobby, don't bring irrelevancies into a business discussion. Have Claudia talk to her. But let's wrap this thing up one way or another. We have other pictures to make.»

But the next day a check for five million dollars arrived at LoddStone Studios. It was from Athena Aquitane. She had returned the advance money she had been paid to do Messalina.

Now it was in the hands of the lawyers.

In just fifteen years Andrew Pollard had built the Pacific Ocean Security Company into the most prestigious protection organization on the West Coast. Starting in a suite of hotel rooms, he now owned a four-story building in Santa Monica with over fifty permanent HQ staff, five hundred investigators and guards under freelance contracts, plus a floating reserve group who worked for him a good part of the year.

Pacific Ocean Security provided services for the very rich and very famous. It protected the homes of movie magnates with armed personnel and electronic devices. It provided bodyguards for stars and producers. It supplied uniformed men to control the crowds at great media events such as the Academy Awards. It did investigative work in delicate matters such as providing counterintelligence to ward off would-be blackmailers.