Nasty Breaks by Charlotte Elkins & Aaron J. Elkins

Author:Charlotte Elkins & Aaron J. Elkins [Elkins, Charlotte & Elkins, Aaron J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
ISBN: 9780892965960
Publisher: Westlake Press
Published: 1990-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

***

Of the public rooms at the Mooncussers Inn, the Dory Room was the plainest, the most purely functional. No busy Victorian wallpaper, no gauzy curtains, no lushly padded chairs with curved arms of dark, polished wood, no ornate lamps hanging from the ceiling. And despite its name, no nautical embellishments. Just a no-frills conference room with an acoustic-tile ceiling, lit by a bank of neon lights and furnished with stackable plastic chairs surrounding a pressed-board, wood-grained, Formica-topped conference table taking up the center of the room.

Down one side of the table were Peg, Lee, and Frank Wishniak. Opposite them were Ginny Briggs and Jackie Piper. The chair next to Ginny was vacant. At the head, looking very much at one with the workaday setting, was Malcolm Labrecque. He had changed from his golf clothes to a snuff- colored suit and a tie, but his jacket was draped over the back of his chair and the cuffs of his white shirt folded manfully over his scrawny forearms. In front of him was a meticulously arranged sheaf of printed material. For a good five minutes now, he had been steadily pressing and releasing the push button on his ballpoint pen, ge-click, ge-cluck, ge-click, ge-cluck, either oblivious to or unconcerned with the upward-rolling eyeballs, grinding teeth, and meaning-laden glances that increased in number and emphasis with each ge-cluck.

“Now I know what Chinese water torture is like,” Frank grumbled to Lee.

The leisurely entrance of Bert Balboni on his cloud of aftershave and breath freshener brought the clicking to a merciful end. A soft sigh of relief rose from the group.

“According to my watch,” Malcolm said pointedly, “it’s now eleven minutes after two.”

Bert glanced at his own wrist. “Nope, you’re off by a minute, Mal. It’s two-ten.”

“This meeting was scheduled for two o’clock.”

Bert sauntered to the one free chair beside Ginny, eased his heavy body comfortably into it, and took his time before replying. “Since when does an SRS meeting scheduled for two start at two? I figure I’m five minutes early.”

A ligament at the back of Malcolm’s jaw, just in front of his ear, made an audible snapping noise. “Since I took charge.”

“Oh, hey, wow, are you in charge? I guess I didn’t realize you were running the whole company.”’ His speech was just a little overcareful, just a little slurred. He’d been drinking, or maybe he was always a little drunk, He touched his hand to his forehead and breast. His gold-link chain necklaces clinked. “Felicitations, esteemed leader. You have but to speak, and I obey.”

Ginny threw him a black look. “Grow up, will you?” The words, uttered in a disgusted whisper, emerged by chance into a moment of otherwise perfect silence and could be clearly heard around the table.

Bert flushed darkly and turned on Ginny. “You wanna talk about being grown-up? You wanna talk about mature, responsible behavior? You—”

“Knock it off, Bert,” Frank said. “This isn’t the place.”

Bert glared at him, then shrugged. “Screw you. Hey, esteemed leader, where’s the coffee? Don’t tell me you forgot to get us any coffee!’

“Yikes,” Peg said under her breath.

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