The Osterman weekend by Ludlum Robert

Author:Ludlum, Robert [Ludlum, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New York : Dell Pub
Published: 1972-07-05T05:00:00+00:00

From inside the house, Tanner looked at them both: Bernie, in an expensively cut Palm Beach jacket and light-blue slacks; Leila, in a white suit with a gold chain around her waist, the skirt well above her knees, and a wide-brimmed soft hat covering the left side of her face. They were the picture of California success. Yet somehow there was a trace of artifice with Bernie and Leila; they had moved into the real money barely nine years ago.

Or was their success itself a facade, wondered Tanner as he watched the couple bending down to embrace his daughter. Had they, instead, for years and years been inhabitants of a world where scripts and shooting schedules were only secondary—good covers, as Fassett might say?

Tanner looked at his watch. It was two minutes past five. The Ostermans were early—according to their original schedule. Perhaps it was their first mistake. Or perhaps they didn't expect him to be there. He always left the Woodward studio early when the Ostermans came, but not always in time to be home before five-thirty. Leila's letter had said plainly their flight from Los Angeles was due at Kennedy around five. A plane being late was understandable, normal. A flight that got in ahead of schedule was improbable.

They'd have to have an explanation. Would they bother?

"Johnny! For heaven's sake! I thought I heard the pup barking. It's Bernie and Lella. What are you standing there for?" Ali had come out of the kitchen.

"Oh, sorry. ... I just wanted to let Janet have her moment with them."

"Go on out, silly. I'll just set the timer." His wife walked back towards the kitchen as Tanner approached the front door. He stared at the brass knob and felt as he thought an actor might feel before making his first entrance in a difficult part Unsure—totally unsure—of his reception.

He wet his lips and drew the back of his hand across his forehead. Deliberately he twisted the knob and pulled the door back swiftly. With his other hand he unlatched the aluminum screened panel and stepped outside.

The Ostennan weekend had begun.

"Welcome, Schreibers!" he shouted with a wide grin. It was his usual greeting; Bernie considered it the most honorific.

"Johnny!"

"Hi, darling!"

Thirty yards away, they shouted back and smiled broad smiles. Yet even thirty yards away John Tanner could see their unsmiling eyes. Their eyes searched his—briefly, but unmistakably. For a split second Bernie even stopped smiling, stopped any motion whatsoever.

It was over in a moment. And there seemed to be a tacit agreement between them not to pursue the unspoken thoughts.

"Johnny, it's so awfully good to see you!" Leila ran across the lawn.

John Tanner accepted Leila's embrace and found himself responding with more overt affection than he thought he could muster. He knew why. He had passed the first test, the opening seconds of the Ostennan weekend. He began to realize that Laurence Fassett could be right, after all. Perhaps he could carry it off.

Do as you'd normally do; behave as you'd normally behave.

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