Fair Game by B. W. Battin

Author:B. W. Battin [Battin, B. W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: suspense
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2016-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

“It’s a little embarrassing,” Kathleen said. “Here I am making my living writing private eye novels, and when I tried to investigate my own problems …” She waved her arms in a gesture of helplessness. “Melanie McCrossen may not let me write about her anymore.”

She and Mariana were sitting on the couch in Kathleen’s living room. The curtains were closed, shutting out the cheerful mid-morning sunshine, making the room dim and somehow sinister. But then you didn’t leave the curtains open when someone was threatening to shoot you. Yesterday afternoon a man from Magdalena Cablevision had hooked her TV set up to basic service, Showtime, and HBO. Suspicious of everyone, Kathleen had made him show her his company ID and driver’s license; then she’d called the company and verified that the man was who he said he was. He probably thought she was nuts. Or at least a little paranoiac.

Mariana said, “Has he learned anything yet, the private eye?”

“Not that I know of. But then I only hired him yesterday.”

“I think you did the right thing. I was worried about what might happen to you if you started trying to handle things by yourself.”

“As opposed to sitting here waiting for people to make attempts on my life.”

“But here you’ve got bars on the windows, alarms. You’re a lot safer than you would be out there trying to be an investigator.”

“It’s like being in prison,” Kathleen said. “I don’t even jog anymore.”

“But it’s temporary. The police or the private detective you hired are going to find these people, and then it will be over. You can have the bars removed if they still bother you.”

“Sorry if I’m being grouchy,” Kathleen said. “It’s just that I feel so damned put upon. I came here to get away from L.A., enjoy my success. Almost from the day I arrived, someone’s been trying to make a nervous wreck out of me. My house has been trashed. My life’s been threatened. And not a single person showed up from the welcome wagon.”

Mariana nodded. “I know it’s been hard, but hang in there. We’ll get this sorted out, and then you’ll find out what a nice place Magdalena can be.”

“Weren’t you the person who wanted me to sell the house and run?”

“That was when I thought you were going to be your own investigator. I was afraid you’d … that something awful would happen to you.” She pushed her fingers through her thick auburn hair. “I didn’t want to lose a friend.”

Kathleen hesitated, then said, “Mariana, you act as though I’m the only one you’ve got. Someone like you, wealthy and beautiful, how could that be?”

For a moment, Kathleen thought Mariana wasn’t going to answer, but then she said, “I have acquaintances, lots of them, people I know, say hi to, work on charities and civic projects with, but … well, none of them are sit-down-and-talk-to friends, let-your-hair-down-and-tell-intimate-things-to friends.”

“There are parts of yourself you don’t share with me either,” Kathleen said, and instantly wished she hadn’t.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.