Lara sat there, thinking. “We can handle it. Sell whatever properties we have to to keep up our mortgage payments.”
“The bright side of it,” Keller said, “is that we have a cash flow from Reno that’s bringing us in close to fifty million a year.”
Lara said nothing.
On Friday the seventeenth Lara left for Reno. Philip rode with her to the airport. Terry Hill was waiting at the plane.
“When will you be back?” Philip said.
“Probably tomorrow. This shouldn’t take long.”
“I’ll miss you,” Philip said.
“I’ll miss you, too, darling.”
He stood there watching the plane taking off. I am going to miss her, Philip thought. She’s the most fantastic woman in the world.
In the offices of the Nevada Gaming Commission, Lara was facing the same group of men she had met with during the application for a casino license. This time, however, they were not as friendly.
Lara was sworn in, and a court reporter took down her testimony.
The chairman said, “Miss Cameron, some rather disturbing allegations have been made concerning the licensing of your casino.”
“What kind of allegations?” Terry Hill demanded.
“We’ll come to those in due course.” The chairman turned his attention back to Lara. “We understood that this was your first experience in acquiring a gambling casino.”
“That’s right. I told you that at the first hearing.”
“How did you arrive at the bid you put in? I mean…how did you come to that precise figure?”
Terry Hill interrupted. “I’d like to know the reason for the question.”
“In a moment, Mr. Hill. Will you permit your client to answer the question?”
Terry Hill looked at Lara and nodded.
Lara said, “I had my comptroller and accountants give me an estimate on how much we could afford to bid, and we figured in a small profit we could add to that, and that became my bid.”
The chairman scanned the paper in front of him. “Your bid was five million dollars more than the next highest bid.”
“Was it?”
“You weren’t aware of that at the time you made your bid?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Miss Cameron, are you acquainted with Paul Martin?”
Terry Hill interrupted. “I don’t see the relevance of this line of questioning.”
“We’ll come to that in a moment. Meanwhile, I’d like Miss Cameron to answer the question.”
“I have no objection,” Lara said. “Yes. I know Paul Martin.”
“Have you ever had any business dealings with him?”
Lara hesitated. “No. He’s just a friend.”
“Miss Cameron, are you aware that Paul Martin is reputed to be involved with the Mafia, that…”
“Objection. It’s hearsay, and it has no place in this record.”
“Very well, Mr. Hill. I’ll withdraw that. Miss Cameron, when was the last time you saw or talked to Paul Martin?”
Lara hesitated. “I’m not sure, exactly. To be perfectly candid, since I got married, I’ve seen very little of Mr. Martin. We run into each other at parties occasionally, that’s all.”
“But it wasn’t your habit to speak regularly with him on the telephone?”
“Not after my marriage, no.”
“Did you ever have any discussions with Paul Martin regarding this casino?”
Lara looked over at Terry Hill. He nodded. “Yes, I believe that after I won the bid for it, he called to congratulate me. And then once again after I got the license to operate the casino.”
“But you did not talk to him at any other time?”
“No.”
“I’ll remind you that you’re under oath, Miss Cameron.”
“Yes.”
“You’re aware of the penalty for perjury?”
“Yes.”
He held up a sheet of paper. “I have here a list of fifteen telephone calls between you and Paul Martin, made during the time sealed bids were being submitted for the casino.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
Most soloists are dwarfed by the huge twenty-eight-hundred-seat space at Carnegie Hall. There are not many musicians who can fill the prestigious hall, but on Friday night it was packed. Philip Adler walked out onto the vast stage to the thunderous applause of the audience. He sat down at the piano, paused a moment, then began to play. The program consisted of Beethoven sonatas. Over the years he had disciplined himself to concentrate only on the music. But on this night Philip’s thoughts drifted away to Lara and their problems, and for a split second his fingers started to fumble, and he broke out in a cold sweat. It happened so swiftly that the audience did not notice.