Really Dead by J.E. Forman

Author:J.E. Forman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2013-08-15T16:00:00+00:00

“… I’m telling you, dude, it was a straight out of a Law and Order episode, season four, episode fifteen or sixteen, I can’t remember exactly which one,” the sound man from Rob’s crew said. “They found a woman murdered and her foot was missing.”

“Episode sixteen, ‘Tortured.’” Bear added more detail. “I remember, because they made a technical goof. The medical examiner says something about the nine metacarpal bones in the wrist. She should have said there were eight carpal bones. The metacarpals are in the palm, not the wrist, and there are only five of them.”

“You’re both wrong,” Esther, the girl from Rob’s crew, had sat down beside Bear. “Law and Order, season seven, episode fifteen, part of the ‘Risky Business’ trilogy — the head of a major studio is found with her head, hands, and feet cut off. There’s the television tie in.”

“Yeah, but our victim was only missing a foot.” Rob took one of the two empty chairs.

Pam took the other one.

I hid behind a potted palm.

“Kate isn’t our victim! She isn’t anybody’s victim. She left because she couldn’t hack Dan, and can you blame her?” I couldn’t see who’d spoken and I didn’t recognize the voice.

“Face it, the foot was a fake, one of Dan’s stunts. I’m out of here. I’ve got an early call.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Chairs scraped against the flagstones. A chorus of Walton-esque goodnights went round the table.

The party was breaking up. I watched several people going through the doors to the hotel lobby, but I didn’t see Rob, Bear, Esther, or Pam leave. What I didn’t expect to see (and wasn’t pleased to see) was Mandy coming back onto the pool deck. Even worse, she saw me.

“There you are!” she so loudly that Rob and his friends couldn’t have missed it. “I need to ask you a huge favour!”

I wanted her to do me a favour, too — go away. “What?” I walked out from behind the potted palm as nonchalantly as I could.

“Can you pick up Albert for me tomorrow? All you’d have to do is meet him at the airport, drive him to the marina, and then leave his bag at our place. That’s it. Will you do it? Please? Jamie won’t let me ask anyone else to do it.”

“Does he know you’re asking me?”

“Well … no, but you’re family. Why would he mind you doing it?”

I could think of many reasons why James wouldn’t want me to do it — the primary one being that he knew how nosey I was, especially when it came to my family. Unwittingly, because she didn’t have many wits, Mandy had done me a huge favour — she’d given me the perfect opportunity to find out what Albert was bringing to James. “Okay.”

“Really?”

Why did she have to squeal like that? “Really. When should I…?”

“They’re scrambling to reschedule tomorrow because of Chris’ screwed up arrival scene. The call time hasn’t been set yet, so I’m not sure when Malvin and the boat will be ready to go.

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