Cross De Lena received his sister, Claudia, and Skippy Deere in the executive penthouse suite of the Xanadu Hotel. Deere was always impressed by the difference between the two siblings. Claudia, not quite pretty and yet so likable, and Cross, so conventionally handsome with a slim but athletic body. Claudia, so naturally amiable, and Cross, so rigidly affable and distant. There was a difference between amiable and affable, Deere thought. One was in the genes, the other, learned.

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?"

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?"

Deere said, "Throw somebody out."

Cross laughed, "They've always been full."

"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."

"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."

Claudia said, "I'm his sister and I never got one of the Villas. Stop fucking around, Skippy, and lay out the money problem."

"Who's your security agency?" Cross asked.

"Why are you talking to me?" Cross asked.

"I don't really see the problem," Cross said.

"Pacific Ocean Security," Deere said.

Cross said to his sister, "Claudia, what made you think I could help?"

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."

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."

"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…"

"Because your sister said you could help," Deere said. "It wasn't my idea."

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.

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.

They entered Athena's house from the sidewalk parallel to the beach. It had its own additional security controlled by Athena's secretary, who buzzed them in from a small guest house nearby.

But the Pacific Ocean Security men around Athena's house were another matter. They were uniformed, armed, and looked to be in very tough physical condition.

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 checklist. Residents had special car stickers that were changed every week. Cross recognized this as a "nuisance" security barrier, not a serious one.

A tiny South American maid let them in and led them through a huge kitchen into a living room that seemed to be filled with the ocean filtered through the huge windows. A room with bamboo furniture, glass tables, and deep-sea-green sofas. The maid led them through this room to a glass door that opened onto a terrace overlooking the ocean, a wide, long terrace that had chairs and tables and an exercise bike that glittered like silver. Beyond all of this was the ocean itself, blue-green, slanting to the sky.

There were two more men with Pacific Ocean uniforms, and another at the door of the house. Passing the guest house, they walked through a long garden filled with flowers and lemon trees, which scented the salty air. They finally arrived at the main house which looked out over the Pacific Ocean itself.

She greeted Skippy Deere with the customary kiss on the cheek, embraced Claudia with a warm hug, and shook hands with Cross. Her eyes reflected the ocean waters behind her. "Claudia always talks about you," she said to Cross. "Her handsome, mysterious brother who can make the earth stop when he wants to." She laughed, a completely natural laugh, not the laugh of a woman frightened.

But it was the look of intelligence on her face, the focusing of attention, that impressed him most.

Cross De Lena, when he saw Athena on that terrace, felt a shock of fear. She was far more exquisite than on film, which was very rare. Film could not capture her coloring, the depth of her eyes or their shade of green. Her body moved as a great athlete's moved, with a physical grace that seemed effortless. Her hair, cut into a rough, golden crop that would have been ugly on any other woman, crowned her beauty. She was wearing a powder-blue sweat suit that should have concealed the shape of her body but did not. Her legs were long in proportion to her torso, her feet were bare, there was no polish on her toenails.

Cross felt a wonderful delight, there was no other word. Her voice was throaty, pitched low, a bewitching musical instrument. The ocean framed her, the fine-planed cheekbones, the lips unadorned, generous and the color of red wine, the radiating intelligence. Flashing through Cross's mind was one of Gronevelt's short lectures. Money can make you safe in this world, from everything except a beautiful woman.

Cross had known many beautiful women in Vegas, as many as in Los Angeles and Hollywood. But in Vegas the beauty was beauty as of itself with only a slight degree of talent; many of those beauties had failed in Hollywood. In Hollywood, beauty was married to talent and, less often, artistic greatness. Both cities attracted beauty from all over the world. Then there were the actresses who became Bankable Stars.

These were the women who in addition to their charm and beauty had a certain childlike innocence and courage. A curiosity in their craft that could be raised to an art form, which gave them a certain dignity. Though beauty was commonplace in both cities, in Hollywood Goddesses arose and received the adoration of the world. Athena Aquitane was one of those rare Goddesses.

Skippy Deere said, "Never."

Claudia said, "Thena, you'd never think we were related, right?"

Cross said coolly to Athena, "Claudia told me you are the most beautiful woman in the world."

Athena said, "What did she say about my brain?"

Athena stopped her motions for a moment and said to Cross, "They tell me you can help. I don't see how."

Cross tried not to stare at her, tried not to look at the flaming-sun gold of her hair set against the green behind her. He said, "I'm good at persuading people. If it's true that the only thing keeping you from going back to work is your husband, maybe I can talk him into a deal."

Claudia said, "Now you know why I love her."

She leaned over the balcony of the deck and stuck one leg in back of her in some sort of exercise. What would be an affectation in another woman seemed perfectly natural with her. And indeed throughout the meeting she continued doing exercises, bending her body forward and backward, stretching a leg over the railing, her arms pantomiming some of her words.

But Athena looked at them and said, "You both look very much alike," and Cross could see she was serious.

Deere said in what was for him a subdued voice, "Athena you really have nothing to worry about. I promise you." But for some reason he was unconvincing even to himself. He watched them all carefully. He knew how Athena overwhelmed men, actresses were the most charming people in the world when they wanted to be. But Deere detected no change in Cross.

"I don't believe in Boz keeping his deals," Athena said. "The Studio has already talked a deal."

"And not to you?" Deere said angrily.

"Skippy just won't accept that I can leave movies," Athena said. "It's so important to him."

"I can make an agreement with your husband," Cross said. "And I can guarantee that he'll abide by it."

Athena gave a long, cool look. "It was once. But I know Boz. I have to disappear, I have to start a new life." She gave them a mischievous smile. "I can get along anywhere."

Deere said confidently, "Athena, in the movie business, there are hundreds of cases like this, harassment of stars by crazies. We have foolproof procedures. There really is no danger."

Athena continued her exercises. One leg flew improbably above her head. "You don't know Boz," she said. "I do."

"Yes," Athena said. "He'll track me forever. You can protect me until I finish the picture but then what?"

Cross said. "I've never failed to make a deal. I'll give him whatever he wants."

Cross said, "I'm sorry I wasted your time."

Athena stopped her exercises. For the first time, she looked Cross directly in the eye. "I'll never believe in any deal Boz makes," she said. She turned away in dismissal.

"Is Boz the only reason you won't go back to work?" Cross asked.

Her face was grave, but her eyes were dancing. She was showing off her power to Claudia and Skippy. She obviously expected Cross to say yes, if merely out of gallantry.

"I didn't waste my time," Athena said cheerfully. "I did my exercises." Then she looked directly into his eyes. "I do appreciate your trying. It's just that I'm trying to look fearless like in one of my movies. Really, I'm scared to death." Then she quickly regained her composure and said, "Claudia and Skippy are always talking about your famous Villas. If I come to Vegas, would you give me one to hide out in?"

Cross smiled at her. "The Villas are usually taken," he said. He paused for a moment then said, with an utmost seriousness that startled the others, "But if you come to Vegas, I can guarantee no one will harm you."

Claudia spoke out impatiently, "But why?"

Athena spoke to him directly. "Nobody can stop Boz. He doesn't care if he gets caught. Whatever he does he'll do in public so everybody can see."

At this moment the meeting was interrupted by the South American maid, who was leading a man onto the terrace.

The man was tall, handsome, and formally dressed with a touch-all-bases style: an Armani suit, Turnbull & Asser shirt, Gucci tie, and Bally shoes. He immediately murmured his apologies. "She didn't tell me you were busy, Miss Aquitane," he said. "I guess she got scared by my shield." He showed her the badge. "I just came to get some information on that incident the other night. I can wait. Or come back."

Athena said laughingly, "Because he loved me once. And because my life turned out better than his." She looked at them all a moment. "Isn't it a shame," she said, "that two people in love can grow to hate each other?"

The detective offered his hand to Claudia and Cross and said, "Jim Losey."

They knew who he was. The most famous detective in Los Angeles, whose exploits had even been the basis of a mini-series. He also had appeared in very minor roles in films, and he was on Deere's Christmas gift and card lists. So Deere was emboldened to say, "Jim, give me a call later and I'll arrange a meeting with Miss Aquitane properly."

Skippy Deere looked angry. "You can't talk to her without a PR and legal person around," he said. "You know better than that, Jim."

But Athena said, "I may not be here much longer. Why not ask me now? I don't mind."

His words were polite but his look was bold. He glanced at the other two men and said, "Hello, Skippy."

Losey would have been suave except for that constant wariness in his eyes, an alertness of his body that many years of crime work had planted in him.

Losey smiled at him amiably and said, "Sure, Skippy."

Athena's body was no longer in motion, and she had erased all her charm when she said quietly, "I trust them far more than I do the police."

He said, "In front of them?"

Deere said, "Jim, give me a call later."

"Oh, no," Athena said scornfully. "He just threw water in my face in front of a billion people and yelled "acid." The next day he was out on bail."

This raised an alarm bell in Cross. He looked thoughtfully at Deere, avoided looking at Losey. And Losey avoided looking at him.

"OK, OK," Losey said, and held up his arms in a placating gesture. "I just thought I could help."

Losey took that in stride. It was familiar. "I just wanted to ask you why you dropped the charges against your husband. Did he threaten you in any way?"

Losey said, "I will." He saw Athena's handbag on one of the chairs and picked it up. "I saw this on Rodeo Drive," he said. "Two thousand dollars." He looked directly at Athena and said with a contemptuous politeness, "Maybe you can explain it to me, why anyone would pay that kind of money for something like this?"

Athena's face was like stone, she moved out of the frame of the ocean. She said, "That's an insulting question. Get out of here."

Losey bowed to her and left. He was grinning. He had made the impression he wanted.

"I wasn't mad," Athena said. "I was sending him a message."

"So you're human after all," Claudia said. She put her arm around Athena's shoulders. "Why did you get so mad?"

"I always knew that," Claudia said. "What I don't get is why she got so mad at that detective."

After the three visitors left, they drove from Malibu to Nate and Al's in Beverly Hills. Deere insisted to Cross that it was the only place west of the Rockies where you could get edible pastrami, corned beef, and Coney Island-style hot dogs.

As they ate Deere said reflectively, "Athena won't get back to work."

"No," Cross said.

Deere laughed and said to Cross, "Did you get it?"

Deere said, "One of the great legends of Hollywood is how anybody can get to fuck the stars. Now, male stars it's true, that's why you see the girls hanging around locations and the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Female stars, not so much… a guy works on their house, a carpenter, a gardener, can get lucky, maybe she gets horny, it happened to me. Stunt men score good and other guys on the crew can get lucky. But that's fucking below the line and hurts female stars in their careers. Unless, of course, they are Superstars. Us old guys who run the show don't like that. Hell, doesn't money and power mean anything?" He grinned at them. "Now, you take Jim Losey. He's a big, handsome guy. He really kills tough guys, he's glamorous to people who live in a make-believe world. He knows that. He uses it. So he doesn't beg a star, he intimidates her. That's why he made that crack. In fact that's why he came out. It was his excuse to meet Athena and he figured he could take a shot. That insulting question was a declaration he wanted to fuck her. And Athena froze him out."

"She would never do anything like that," Claudia said. "She's absolutely straight."

Cross said abruptly, "You think she's scamming the Studio, trying to get more money?"

"So she's the Virgin Mary?" Cross said.

"She got any grudges she's paying off?" Cross asked.

"Too bad you couldn't help," Claudia said to Cross. But he didn't answer her.

"You don't understand the business," Deere said. "First thing, the Studio would let her scam them. Stars always do that. Second, if she has a grudge, it's right out in the open. She's just weird." He paused for a moment. "She hates Bobby Bantz and she's not crazy about me. We've both been after her ass for years but never a tumble."

"For a movie star," Deere said.

All during the trip from Malibu, Cross had been thinking hard. That this was the opportunity he was looking for. It would be dangerous, but if it worked he could finally make a break from the Clericuzio.

"Skippy," Cross said, "I have a proposition I want to make to you and the Studio. I'll buy your picture right now. I'll give the fifty million you've invested, put up the money to complete it, and let the Studio distribute it."

"I know people who have it," Cross said.

"You've got a hundred million?" Skippy Deere and Claudia both asked in astonishment.

"I said I'm a great persuader," Cross said. "Can you get me a meeting with Eli Marrion?"

"You can't get Athena back. And without Athena, there's no picture," Deere said.

"Sure," Deere said, "but only if I stay on as producer of the picture."

The meeting was not so easy to arrange. LoddStone Studios, that is to say, Eli Marrion and Bobby Bantz, had to be convinced that Cross De Lena was not just another big-mouth hustler, that he had the money and the credentials. Certainly he owned part of the Xanadu Hotel in Vegas, but he had no personal recorded financial worth that indicated he could swing the deal he proposed. Deere would vouch for him, but the clincher was when Cross showed a fifty-million-dollar letter of credit.

On the advice of his sister, Cross De Lena hired Molly Flanders as his lawyer for the deal.

Molly Flanders received Cross in her cave of an office. Cross was very alert, he knew certain things about her. In the world he had lived all his life, he had never met a woman who wielded power in any way, and Claudia had told him that Molly Flanders was one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. Studio chiefs took her calls, monster agents like Melo Stuart sought her help on the biggest deals. Stars like Athena Aquitane used her in their quarrels with studios. Flanders had once stopped production of the top miniseries on TV when her star client's check had been delayed in the mail.

She was much better looking than Cross had expected. She was large but well-proportioned and dressed beautifully. But on that body was the face of an elfin blond witch, the aquiline nose, the generous mouth and fierce brown eyes that seemed to squint with intense, intelligent combativeness. Her hair was braided into snakes around her head. She was forbidding until she smiled.

Molly Flanders, for all her toughness, was susceptible to handsome men and liked Cross as soon as she saw him. She was surprised because she had expected Claudia's brother to be homely. More than the handsomeness, she saw a force that Claudia did not have. He had a look of awareness that the world held no surprises. All this, however, did not convince her that she wanted to take Cross on as a client. She had heard rumors about certain connections, she didn't like the world of Vegas, and she was dubious as to the extent of his determination to take such a horrendous gamble.

"Mr. De Lena," she said, "let me make one thing clear. I represent Athena Aquitane as a lawyer not an agent. I've explained the consequences she must bear if she persists in her course of action. I'm convinced she will persist in it. Now, if you make your deal with the Studio and Athena still doesn't go back to work, I will represent her if you pursue legal action against her."

Cross looked at her intently. He had no way he could read a woman like this. He had to put most of his cards on the table. "I'll sign a waiver that I won't sue Miss Aquitane if I do buy the picture," he said. "And I have a check for two hundred thousand dollars here if you take me on. That's just for openers. You can bill me for more."

Cross could be charming when he wanted to be. But he sensed that charm would not help with this woman. "I understand that with the foreign money, video, and TV sales, the picture can't lose money even if it's a flop," he said. "The only real problem is getting Miss Aquitane back to work. And maybe you can help on that."

"Let's see if I understand this," Molly said. "You pay the Studio the fifty million they invested. Right now. You put up the money to complete the picture, minimum another fifty million. So you're going to gamble a hundred million that Athena goes back to work. Plus you're gambling that the picture will be a hit. It could be a flop. That's an awful risk."

"No, I can't," Molly said. "I don't want to mislead you. I've tried and failed. Everybody tried and failed. And Eli Marrion doesn't ever bullshit. He'll close down the picture and take the loss, then he'll try to ruin Athena. But I won't let him."

"Marrion has to get along with me," she said. "He's a smart man. I'll fight him in the courts, I'll make his Studio miserable on every deal. Athena won't be able to work again but I won't let them take her to the cleaners."

"If you represent me, you can save your client's career," Cross said. From the inside of his jacket he took an envelope and handed it to her. She opened it, studied it, then picked up the phone and made some calls that established the check was good.

Cross said, "And I've heard about you. I remember years ago when you were a criminal defense lawyer, you got some kid off a murder rap. He killed his girlfriend and you got an insanity plea. He was walking the streets less than a year later." He paused for a moment, deliberately letting his irritation show. "You didn't worry about his reputation."

Cross was intrigued. "How will you do that?"

She smiled at Cross and said, "I'm not insulting you, I do this with the biggest movie producers in town."

"Because you didn't have me representing you," Molly said. "Now before I agree, you have to tell me how you can get Athena back to work." She paused. "I've heard some rumors about you."

"Like Skippy Deere?" Cross said, laughing. "I invested in six of his pictures, four of them were hits and still I haven't made money."

Cross decided that a lie should carry a little charm. "Molly," he said. "May I call you Molly?" She nodded her head. Cross went on. "You know I run a hotel in Vegas. I've learned this. Money is magic, you can overcome any kind of fear with money, so I'm going to offer Athena fifty percent of any money I make from the movie. If you structure the deal right and we're lucky, that means thirty million for her." He paused for a minute and said earnestly, "Come on, Molly, would you take a chance for thirty million?"

Molly shook her head. "Athena doesn't really care about money."

"The only thing that puzzles me is why the Studio doesn't give her the same deal," Cross said.

For the first time in their meeting, Molly smiled at him. "You don't know movie studios," she said. "They worry that all the stars will pull the same stunt if they set such a precedent. But let's go on. The Studio will take your deal, I think, because they will make a great deal of money just distributing the film. They will insist on that. Also, they will want a percentage of the profits. But I'm telling you again, Athena will not take your offer." She paused, then said with a teasing smile, "I thought you Vegas owners never gambled."

Molly looked at him coldly. "You have not answered my question."

Cross was impressed. "That was fast," he said.

"I see," Molly said. "So this is not just a passing fancy."

Cross smiled back at her. "Everybody gambles. I do when the percentages are right. And besides I plan to sell the Hotel and make a living in the movie business." He paused for a minute, letting her look into him to see the desire to be part of that world. "I think it's more interesting."

She picked up the phone. She spoke into it. Then she hung up and said to Cross, "We have our meeting with their Business Affairs people to set out the rules before then. And you have three days to reconsider."

Molly was amused by this. "I'll represent you," she said. "But as for us doing business further on, let's see first if you lose that hundred million."

"A foot in the door," Cross said. "Once I do that, I'll need your help further on."

"Them, not me," Molly said. "It's costing them a fortune to tread water on this picture."

"I don't have to say this, I know," Cross said. "But the offer I plan to make Miss Aquitane is confidential, between you and me."

They shook hands, and after Cross left, Molly remembered something. Why had Cross De Lena mentioned that long-ago case when she had gotten that kid off, that famous victory of hers. Why that particular case? She had gotten plenty of murderers off.

Three days later Cross De Lena and Molly Flanders met in her office before going to LoddStone Studios so that she could check over the financial papers that Cross was bringing to the meeting. Then Molly drove both of them to the Studio in her Mercedes SL 300.

"No, you didn't have to say it," Molly said.

When they had been cleared through the gate, Molly said to Cross, "Check the lot. I'll give you a dollar for any American car you see."

LoddStone Studios was a huge area on which were scattered small buildings housing independent production companies. The main building was only ten floors and looked like a movie set piece. The Studio had kept the flavor of the 1920s when it had started up, with only the necessary repairs being done. Cross was reminded of the Enclave in the Bronx.

They passed a sea of sleek cars of all colors, Mercedeses, Aston Martins, BMWs, Rolls-Royces. Cross saw one Cadillac and pointed it out. Molly said cheerily, "Some poor slob of a writer from New York."

Waiting for them were Eli Marrion, Bobby Bantz, Skippy Deere, the chief counsel of the Studio, and two other lawyers. Molly handed the chief counsel the financial papers, and the three opposing lawyers sat down to read them through. The bartender brought them drinks of their choice, then disappeared. Skippy Deere made the introductions.

The offices in the Studio Administration Building were small and crowded except for the tenth floor, where Eli Marrion and Bobby Bantz had their executive suites. Between the two suites was a huge conference room with a bar and bartender far off to one side and a small kitchen adjoining the bar. The seats around the conference table were plush armchairs of dark red. Framed posters of LoddStone movies hung on the wall.

Eli Marrion, as always, insisted that Cross call him by his first name. Then told them one of his favorite stories, which he often used to disarm opponents in a negotiation. His grandfather, Eli Marrion said, had started the company in the early 1920s. He had wanted to call the firm Lode Stone Studios, but he still had a severe German accent that confused the lawyers. It was only a ten-thousand-dollar company then and when the mistake was discovered, it didn't seem worth the trouble to change it. And here now it was a seven-billion-dollar company with a name that didn't make sense. But, as Marrion pointed out -- he never told a joke that didn't make a serious point -- the printed word was not important. It was the visual image with the lodestone attracting light from every corner of the universe that made the company logo so powerful.

Cross was astonished by Molly's reply. For some reason he had assumed that negotiations would be much more civil than he had been used to in his Vegas world.

They all listened intently. Bobby Bantz said, "The percentage is ridiculous, we would have to have more. And how do we know that you people and Athena are not in a conspiracy? That this isn't a stickup?"

Then Molly presented the offer. Cross would pay the Studio the fifty million it had spent, would give the Studio distribution rights, keep Skippy Deere as producer. Cross would put up the money to finish the picture. LoddStone Studios would also get 5 percent of the profits.

But Molly was almost screaming, her witchlike face blazing with fury. "Fuck you, Bobby," she said to Bantz. "You have the fucking balls to accuse us of a conspiracy. Your insurance doesn't cover you on this, you take this meeting to get off the hook and then insult us. If you don't apologize, I'll take Mr. De Lena right out of here and you can eat shit."

Skippy Deere broke in, "Molly, Bobby, come on. We're trying to save a picture here. Let's talk this through at least…"

Marrion had observed all this with a quiet smile but did not say anything. He would speak only to give a yes or no.

"I think it's a reasonable question," Bobby Bantz said. "What can this guy offer Athena to make her come back that we can't?"

Skippy Deere said, "They think Cross wouldn't be risking all that money unless he had a sure thing. That makes them a little suspicious."

Cross sat there smiling. Molly had told him to let her answer whenever possible.

She said, "Mr. De Lena obviously has something special to offer. Why should he tell you? If you offer him ten million to give you that information I'll confer with him. Ten million would be cheap."

"Skippy," Molly said, "I've seen you lay out a million for a novel that you never made into a picture. How is this different?"

Bobby Bantz broke in. "Because Skippy gets our studio to put up the million."

Even Bobby Bantz laughed at this.

They all laughed. Cross wondered about this meeting. He was losing patience. Also, he knew he must not look too eager, so it wouldn't hurt if he showed his irritation. He said in a low voice, "I'm going on a hunch. If it's too complicated, we can just forget the whole thing."

Bantz said angrily, "We are talking about a lot of money here. This picture could gross a half billion worldwide."

"We can wig her. Fucking actresses," Bantz said. Now he was glowering at Cross, trying to read him. He was pondering something. He said, "If Athena does not come back and you lose your fifty million and can't go on to finish the picture, who gets the footage already done?"

"That's OK with me," Skippy Deere said. "But my money deal with the Studio still stands."

"Aha," Bantz said. "Then you just release it the way it is. Maybe as soft porn."

"If you could get Athena back," Molly shot in quickly. "I can tell you I talked with her this morning. She already cut off all her hair to show she's serious."

"That's a possibility," Cross said.

"I do," Cross said.

Molly shook her head at Cross, warning him to keep quiet. "If you agree to this deal," she said to Bantz, "everything can be negotiated on foreign, video, TV, and profit participation. There's only one deal-breaker. The agreement must be secret. Mr. De Lena only wants credit as a coproducer."

For the first time Marrion spoke. "That's separate," he said, meaning no. "Cross, do you give your lawyer full discretion on negotiations?"

"Yes," Cross said.

"I want to go on record on this," Marrion said. "You must know we planned to scrap the picture and take the loss. We are convinced Athena will not come back. We do not represent to you that she may come back. If you make this deal and pay us fifty million, we are not liable. You would have to sue Athena and she doesn't have that kind of money."

"I would never sue her," Cross said. "I'd forgive and forget."

Cross shrugged.

Bantz said, "You don't have to answer to your money people?"

Marrion said, "That is a corruption. You can't let your personal attitude betray the money people who trust you. Just because they're rich."

Cross said, straight-faced, "I never think it's a good idea to get on the wrong side of rich people."

Bantz said in exasperation, "This is some kind of trick."

Masking his face with benign confidence, Cross said, "I've spent my whole life convincing people. In my Vegas hotel I have to convince very smart men to gamble their money against the odds. And I do that by making them happy. That means I give them what they really want. I'll do that with Miss Aquitane."

"I want to be in the movie business for the long haul," Cross said. "I want to work with LoddStone Studios. There's money enough for everyone."

Eli Marrion had been studying Cross all during the meeting, trying to come to an assessment. The man was very low key, not a bluffer or a bullshit artist. Pacific Ocean Security could not establish any real link with Athena, there was no likely conspiracy. A decision had to be made, but it was not really as difficult a decision as the people in this room were pretending. Marrion was so weary now he could feel the weight of his clothing on his skeletal frame. He wanted this to be over.

Skippy Deere said, "Maybe Athena is just nuts, maybe she's gone over the edge. Then we can bail out with the insurance."

Bantz disliked the whole idea. He was sure his studio was being screwed. He said bluntly, "If we find out Athena has already agreed to work with you, we will sue. We will not honor this agreement."

Molly Flanders said, "She's saner than anyone in this room. I can have all of you certified before you get her."

Bobby Bantz looked Cross directly in the face. "Will you sign papers that you have no agreement with Athena Aquitane at this point in time?"

"OK," Bantz said, "rights in any prequel."

"Yes," Cross said. He let his dislike for Bantz show.

Marrion, observing this, felt satisfaction. At least this part of the meeting was going according to plan. Bantz was now established as the bad guy. It was amazing how people almost instinctively disliked him, and it really wasn't his fault. It was the role chosen for him to play, though admittedly it suited his personality.

"Prequel, sequel, bullshit," Molly said. "You can have them. But you get no more than ten percent of the profits. You'll make a fortune on distribution. And you have no risk. Take it or leave it."

"We want twenty percent of the profits of the picture," Bantz said. "We distribute it domestic and foreign. And we will be partners in any sequel."

Skippy Deere said in exasperation, "Bobby, they are all dead at the end of the picture, there can be no sequel."

Later, Eli Marrion and Bobby Bantz sat alone in the conference room. They were both silent. They had learned over the years that there were things that must not be said aloud. Finally Marrion said, "There's a moral question here."

Eli Marrion could endure no more. He rose, standing very straight, and spoke in a measured, serene voice. "Twelve percent," he said, "We have a deal."

He paused and then looking directly at Cross, he said, "It's not so much the money. But this could be a great picture and I don't want to scrap it. Also, I'm very curious to see what will happen." He turned to Molly. "Now, yes or no?"

Molly Flanders, without even looking at Cross for a sign, said, "Yes."

Bantz said, "We've signed to keep the agreement secret, Eli, but if you feel we must, I could make a call."

"Whatever he is, he doesn't dare touch LoddStone," Bantz said. "What I worry about is letting him get a foot in the door."

Marrion sighed. "Then we lose the film. This man Cross is our only hope. Plus if he found out the leak came from you there might be some danger."

Marrion sipped his drink, puffed his cigar. The thin, woody-smelling smoke made his body tingle.

Eli Marrion was really tired now. He was getting too old to worry about long-term future disasters. The great universal disaster was closer.

"Don't make the call," he said. "We have to keep the agreement. And besides, maybe I'm getting into my second childhood, but I'd love to see what the magician pulls out of his hat."

As for Cross De Lena, he returned to Las Vegas and in his penthouse suite pondered the new course of his life. Why had he taken the risk? Most important, the winnings could be huge: not only the money but a new way of life. But what he questioned was an underlying motive, the vision of Athena Aquitane framed by the sea-green water, her constantly moving body, the notion that one day she might come to know him and love him, not forever, but just for a moment of time. What had Gronevelt said? "Women are never more dangerous to men than when they have to be saved. Beware, beware," Gronevelt said, "of Beauty in Distress."

But he said this only after he had agreed to sign Jim Losey to play a small part in a new movie he was making about serial murders in Santa Monica.

Skippy Deere, after the meeting, went back to his house and made a call summoning Jim Losey to meet with him. At their meeting he swore Losey to secrecy and told him what had happened. "I think you should put a surveillance on Cross," he said. "You might find out something interesting."

If Athena Aquitane was such an angel, why then was she demanding, in effect if not in words, that the price for her returning to the picture was that someone kill her husband? Surely that had to be clear to anyone. The Studio's offer to protect her while she completed the picture was worth less because she would be working toward her own death. After the picture was done and she was alone, Skannet would come after her.

But he dismissed all this from his mind. Looking down on the Vegas Strip, the wall of colored light, the throngs moving through that light, ants carrying bales of money to bury in some great nest, he analyzed the whole problem for the first time in a coldly neutral way.

Eli Marrion, Bobby Bantz, Skippy Deere, they knew the problem and knew the answer. But no one would dare speak it aloud. For people like them, the risk was too great. They had risen so high, lived so well, that they had too much to lose. For them the gain did not equal the risk. They could accommodate the loss of the picture, for them it was only a minor defeat. They could not afford the great tumble from the highest level of society to the lowest. That risk was mortal.

Also, to give them their due, they had made an intelligent decision. They were not expert in this field of endeavor; they could make mistakes. Better to treat the fifty million dollars like a loss of points in their stock on Wall Street.

So now there were two main problems. The execution of Boz Skannet in a manner that would not injure the picture or Athena in any way. Problem number two, and far more important, was winning the approval of his father, Pippi De Lena, and the Clericuzio Family. For Cross knew the whole arrangement would not remain secret to them very long.