Dark Delicacies II: Fear (Jerry eBooks) by Del Howison & Jeff Gelb

Author:Del Howison & Jeff Gelb [Howison, Del & Gelb, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jerry eBooks
Published: 2013-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

FIRST BORN

JOHN FARRIS

“HELLO, MIRIAM?”

“No, this isn’t Miriam, Gregory. No doubt you’re surprised to hear my voice again. Eye expected you to forget. But today is the very day Eye told you that Eye’d be giving you a call. Doesn’t time fly when you’re conquering the world? Exactly twenty years have flown by. Two great decades. Has any of this rung a bell with you, Greg?”

“Fella, I have no idea who you are or what—”

“What Eye’m talking about? Ah well. Eye’ll pause now to let the hurt sink in.”

“This is a private number! How—? Only my wife and my—oh, no. Oh Jesusss! Has something hap—”

“You sound a little out of breath. You must’ve just finished your morning fifty in the pool.”

“—happened to Miriam? Is that why you’re calling me on this—”

“Breathe easy, Greg. No cause for alarm. Miriam’s fine. It’s Friday. She’s having, as usual, the works at her spa. Big doin’s tomorrow night at the Dorothy Chandler. Congratulations on your Humanitarian Award. Wish Eye could be there, but it’s a tough ticket for nobodies like me.”

“Is this about one of my kids? Who are you, goddamn it! Better give me a name or—”

“If you hyperventilate you’ll pass out and crack your head on the pool apron. You might even scar that immensely valuable face. Now calm down and listen. No harm has come to the wife and kids. Your adorable Livy is at a call-back for the new Bruckheimer show, which Eye believe is to be a mid-season replacement on Fox after the pro football season. Now this is confidential. Livy is going to get the part! Isn’t that exciting news? But we both know how talented she is.”

“J—Josh—”

“Joshua, by my reckoning, has just finished up his physics lab at the Harvard School. Bright boy. Like his father. Eye’m curious, Greg. How could you not have recognized my voice? No one can say it’s a voice that is easily forgotten. Once you’ve placed the voice, of course, the face is easy. And, of course, the circumstances of our one and only meeting.”

“All right, fella. So where are you going with this? You seem to know so much about—so what have you been doing, stalking my—”

“Good grief. Eye’m not a crazy person. Nor am Eye a shakedown artist. So what if Livy has done a little sniffy from time to time. It doesn’t concern me. Matter of peer pressure. She’ll soon outgrow the desire to experiment. Thankfully, she is not an addictive personality. Now, last but by no means least, to put your mind completely at rest: Eye don’t do kidnappings.”

“That’s it. I’m hanging—”

“ ‘Hanging up?’ Quaint. Those were the good old days. Incredible, isn’t it, what technology has wrought in a mere twenty years? Cell phones. But it would not be wise to end our conversation prematurely, Greg. There are no ‘call-backs’ in my profession.”

“Your?”

“Profession.”

“Which is?”

“Eye befriend people in desperate need. Does that joggle your memory? Bet it does. Take a couple of deep breaths, Greg. Should you need to put the phone down and finish toweling off, Eye’ll gladly wait.

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