Ace Is Wild by Penny McCall

Author:Penny McCall [McCall, Penny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780425222980
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Published: 2008-08-04T23:00:00+00:00

“His personal papers, bills and things, are in the bottom dresser drawer,” Daniel said, “but there’s nothing incriminating there. Except maybe his tax return. Rudy doesn’t strike me as a guy who’d be a hundred percent honest on his 1040.”

Rudy struck her as a guy who’d lie about everything from his bank balance to the size of his package. Rudy was a big talker. “Can we go now?” Vivi asked, feeling like she’d spent way too much time in Rudy’s bedroom.

She headed for the door, but when she passed a fifty-gallon aquarium housing an orange, red, and white snake, she got an icky feeling—and it wasn’t the run-of-the-mill snake phobia, either. She ignored the heebie-jeebies, stopping in front of the aquarium. More ick, still no specifics. It didn’t feel lethal, so it probably wasn’t aimed at Daniel, but she felt a need to tell him anyway, if only to see what he’d do.

“There’s something hidden in the snake tank,” she said.

Daniel went still, just his eyes cutting to the aquarium. “I don’t see anything,” he said after a long, tense moment.

“Trust me, Ace, there’s something under the wood chips.”

“So dig around in the wood chips and let me know what you find.”

Vivi turned around, hands on hips, grinning. “You faced down armed hit men—and God knows what else when you were an agent—and you’re afraid of a snake?”

“I wouldn’t call it fear, exactly. More like caution.”

“All you have to do is dig around in the wood chips,” she parroted, “see if you find something.”

“Easy for you to say,” Daniel shot back. But he lifted the screen top off the aquarium and, holding her gaze the entire time, stuck his hand in and rooted around in the wood chips. The snake came and curled around his wrist, probably liking the warmth. He ignored it. Vivi was watching and he had an image to maintain. And something interesting to find, as it turned out.

He shook the snake off and looked inside the envelope he pulled out of its tank. “Pictures of naked women,” he said. “Taken without their knowledge, judging by the quality and angle.” He tossed the envelope and its contents on the bed. “We’re not finding anything tangible. What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Do your thing, Karnack.”

“Funny,” Vivi said, but she closed her eyes and shut everything out, the dog, the birds, the snake. Daniel. She wasn’t getting anything, though. “Rudy’s all talk,” she said. “That’s my professional opinion.”

“That was my impression, too, and not only because we didn’t find anything incriminating. Unless Rudy is a damn good actor, I can’t believe he’s involved with the mob, except for the family connection. Just doesn’t feel right.”

“Doesn’t feel right,” Vivi repeated.

“You got a problem with that?”

“No, Ace, but I thought you did.”

Daniel chose not to follow that line of thought, the lawyer in him, Vivi figured. Instead, he went into the closet directly across from the bed, banged around inside for a minute or two, then came back out.

“What was all that about?”

“His camera suffered a puzzling accident.

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