Part 22 (1/2)

”I propose we do it the other way around. You go down and look around, take measurements, make sketches, whatever it is you do, and then get back to me with some ideas. That'll be our starting point.” He picked up a walkie-talkie on his desk and punched a b.u.t.ton. ”Ken, could you please come up. I'd like you to show Ms. Hampton the service floor.” He clicked it off without waiting for a reply. ”I'm due down at the office. When I get there, I'll have them cut a check for five thousand dollars as a retainer and messenger it over to your shop.”

Is this going to work? he wondered. Maybe I should be pus.h.i.+ng harder. .

He examined Alexa Hampton one last time as he rose to leave. Yes, she's a rare woman. Wouldn't it be ironic if Karl actually could do something for her heart?

_Monday, April 6

10:49 A.M.

_

As Ally watched Winston Bartlett sweep from the room, she was still trying to take measure of the man. What troubled her was why Grant and Bartlett were both so anxious to get her and her mother out to the clinic. But give Bartlett his due. He could charm the birds off the trees.

She looked around the room, wondering what the old kitchen and staff quarters would be like. Certainly not like this. The library/bedroom had a rich, over-the-top feeling, with a beautifully molded plaster ceiling, a virtual bas-relief of fruits and birds and clouds all meticulously painted. It wasn't the Sistine Chapel but had some of that feeling. The paneling and wainscot were burnished mahogany, and the floor was a mix of hardwoods worked into an isometric design. She decided it was probably the most luxurious private residence she had ever seen.

Citis.p.a.ce was mainly known for its creative handling of lofts in the abandoned commercial buildings of SoHo and TriBeCa. These old mansions of the nineteenth-century moguls were an entirely different world. It was intimidating, but she was sure she could do something below stairs that would retain the period flavor of the building while creating the kind of semiprofessional s.p.a.ce he said he wanted. Still, it was different from anything else Citis.p.a.ce had ever done, so he had no way of knowing whether or not she could pull it off. Again that question: why on earth would he hand her this plum job?

And where was his wife? Although he liked to be photographed with blond starlets, the tabloids always reminded you that he had a wife someplace. The two doorbells were a tip-off that that someplace was here. Best guess: she probably had the top floors.

My G.o.d was Madame Bartlett going to get involved in the renovation? A lot of women with superrich husbands and too much time on their hands come to a.s.sume that that happenstance creates in them a natural gift for interior design. Big problem.

But whatever happened, this could be a sweetheart job. And maybe she'd get a crack at that museum he'd talked about. That was the kind of thing an architect-turned-interior- designer dreamed about.

She looked up to see the j.a.panese man--Bartlett had called him Ken-- stepping into the room. He was all business.

_Monday, April 6

11:08 A.M.

_Winston Bartlett was on the phone to Van de Vliet the moment he stepped into his limo to head downtown.

”She said she's thinking about bringing her mother out to the inst.i.tute, Karl. I believe she's ready to do it. Before she changes her mind, I want you to talk to her and schedule an appointment for tomorrow morning, if you can.”

”I'll put in a call to her office.”

”Karl, she's not there now. Try her cell. Grant has the number. We need to get moving on this. I've done about all I can at the moment.” He was watching the midmorning traffic that was clogging the avenue. He always felt claustrophobic in a limo, even a stretch. The only time he felt free was when he was in the McDonnell Douglas chopper. When he was flying the chopper, against all the laws of civil aviation.

”Don't you think that's a little pushy, W.B.? We shouldn't seem too anxious. Believe me, I've had a lot of experience with ambivalent patients.”

”All right. She should be back at her office sometime after lunch.”

”I'll wait awhile and put in a call there.” He paused. ”When was the last time you saw ... Beta One? The situation at Park Avenue?”

”I don't want to discuss it over a cell, Karl.” This conversation was definitely a bad idea. ”She comes and goes. I think it's getting worse.”

”I'll try to get over there late this afternoon and look in on her,”

Van de Vliet said. ”I want to see her every day.”