“I am not. I work for nobody but me, and for the moment, you. I know who Barnett is, but I’ve never so much as shaken his hand.”
“No?” Dax tried not to look surprised.
“No. What has Barnett got against you?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Well, I’m not a complication,” Teddy said. “I’m just a working stiff here to do the best job I can and to make a living.”
“And you’re doing a very good job, Ted.”
“Then why this Russian guy?”
“He’s somebody I call on—on rare occasions—when I need somebody to watch my back.”
“I’m not at your back, Dax.”
Dax regarded him calmly. “Then you’re going to have to go on proving that to me.”
“For how long?”
“Until we’re done.”
“We wrap tomorrow night,” Teddy said. “I’m not involved in post-production.”
“Would you like to be?” Dax asked.
“Doing what?”
“I can think of half a dozen jobs you could handle back in L.A.”
“I don’t want to work in L.A. I want to stay in Santa Fe.”
“Everybody wants to work in L.A., Ted,” Dax replied.
“I appreciate the offer. If you’ve got anything for me here, I’d sure consider that.”
“Let me see what I can do. By the way, the wrap party is at my new house tomorrow night. I hope you can come.”
“Sure, I’d be delighted. How’re we dressing?”
Dax handed him a printed invitation. “Here’s the address. Dress however you’d like.”
“Is this Russian guy going to be there?”
“No. I’ll make a call.”
“Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
They shook hands, and Teddy left. Dan Waters drove up, and Teddy flagged him down.
“Did you see Dax?” Dan asked.
“Yeah, and I think we cleared the air.”
“That doesn’t sound like Dax,” he said.
“He even invited me to the wrap party tomorrow night.”
“You were on the list to get an invitation, anyway. What are you going to do about the Russian?”
“Dax says he’ll call him off.”
“He admitted hiring him?”
“He did.”
“I don’t know if you ought to go to the party, Ted.”
“I don’t want to be unsociable, and I especially don’t want to seem afraid to be there.”
“Maybe you should be.”
“Don’t worry about it, Dan. Have you sent somebody for my truck?”
“Not yet.”
“Then just give me back the keys. I’ll get a ride into town with Sally.”
Dan produced the keys. “Why don’t you take my gun with you?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Teddy replied. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He took back his Stetson and gave Dan his baseball cap.
Dan waved and drove off. Teddy went to Sally’s office.
“Hey, there,” she said. “I was just closing up shop for the day.”
“Can you give me a lift to my truck?”
She smiled. “I’ll give you a lift to my place,” she said.
17
THEY PASSED SOME SHOPS near her house. “Drop me here,” Teddy said. “I’ve got some shopping to do. I’ll be with you in half an hour.”
“Anything I can help with?” she asked.
“Nope.” Teddy got out of the car and walked to a shop that advertised guns, knives, and outdoor equipment.
“Yes, sir?” a clerk said.
“Knives,” Teddy replied.
“Hunting? Utility?”
“Self-defense,” Teddy said. “Concealable.”
“You’re on shaky ground here, my friend,” the man said. “I can’t know about it if you plan to use a weapon.”
“Far from it. I want to avoid such a situation.”
“Over here,” the man said, leading the way. “My advice would be to get something with a blade under six inches.”
“Good advice,” Teddy said, looking over the goods. “How about the switchblade there, second from the left.”
“We call that an automatic opening knife,” the man said, handing him the weapon. Teddy flicked it open and examined the blade. “Needs sharpening.”
“I’ve got something used, here, that somebody has already honed.” He presented another knife with a black handle and a stained blade, but Teddy felt he could shave with it. “That’ll do,” he said.
“That’s eighty dollars. You want a scabbard?” the clerk asked.
“I’d settle for a thick rubber band,” Teddy replied, reaching for his cash, while the man rummaged in a drawer and came up with a rubber band. “This do?”
“Ideal,” Teddy said. He paid the man and pocketed the knife and band.
? ? ?
“DAX OFFERED ME a job in L.A.,” Teddy said to Sally over dinner.
“Are you going to take it?”
“No, I already have a job. The day after Dax’s wrap party, I need to drive back to L.A.”
“Oh.” She looked disappointed.
“And I’d like you to come with me.”
“Wait a minute, here,” Sally said. “What’s this all about?”
“It’s about two people who’re fond of each other spending some time together.”
“How much time are we talking about?”
“I don’t want to pile too much on you all at once,” he said. “How about a year, to start, then we’ll figure out the future.”
“You mean, just pack up and go?”
“You don’t even have to pack. I’ll take you shopping when we get there. If there’s something you can’t do without, and we can’t get it in my car, then we’ll ship it.”
“And what would I do with my time in L.A.?”
“Whatever you like. I’ve got a very nice house on Malibu Beach. You can lie on the deck all day and get fat, if you like.”
“I don’t like. I’m accustomed to being busy.”
“Then I’ll hire you as an associate producer at Centurion.”
“In the Barrington group?”
“If you like—in another group, if you don’t. Peter’s partner, Ben Bacchetti, is now head of production, and we’re close. You have a good background, so it won’t be a problem. Or, I expect, you could go to work for Dax.”
“No, thank you!” she said. “By tomorrow night, I’ll have had all I want of Dax.”
“Same here. So, what’s it going to be? Will you take a chance with Billy Barnett?”
“I’ll have to get used to calling you that.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Does it bother you that we’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks? And that you’re coming off a great personal loss?”
“About that—there’s a cold hard place in the middle of me that I’d almost forgotten about. It comes to the fore when I’ve been damaged. It doesn’t make me a better human being, but it helps me survive as one. I’ve closed a door, and you’ve opened a new one for me.”
“I’m going to have to digest this,” she said. “My idea was to make you happy enough to keep you in Santa Fe for a while.”
“That’s a good plan, and one I like, but I have a life and a career at Centurion that’s important to me. I’d hate to leave Peter—he’s done a lot for me.”
“So I couldn’t have persuaded you to stay?”
“No. It would have hurt a lot to leave you, though.”
“Well, that’s honest.”
“I could never be anything but honest with you,” Teddy said. “Except for the part about lying about who I am and why I’m here. Oh, and my past, which I haven’t lied about to you, but I probably will, just to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?”
“My life, my mistakes. Oh, I’m clean. I’m not a criminal.”
Sally grabbed his arm. “If anybody comes at you, he’s going to have to deal with me first.”
“Well, if you’re going to watch my back, you’ll have to do it in Malibu and L.A.”
“Yes,” she said, “I will do that.”
18
ED EAGLE AND HIS WIFE, Susannah, were having an after-work drink.
“We got a hand-delivered invitation this afternoon,” she said, handing it to him.
Ed read it. “Let me get this straight,” he said, “you despise Dax Baxter. Is that right?”
“That is absolutely right,” she replied.
“Then why do you want to go to his wrap party?”
“I don’t want to go to his wrap party,” Susannah said.
“Then what are we talking about?”
“I want to see his house.”
“You don’t want to see Baxter, but you want to see his house?”
“That is correct.”
“I’m baffled here.”
“He bought that barn of a place on a hilltop out at the very end of Tano Road, and I hear the production designer on his film has done it up in a remarkable way.”