Read Online A Man for All Seasons by Diana Palmer - Free Book Online Page B

prettier than ever,” he added, brushing his hard mouth against her blemishless cheek.
    â€œAnd you always look like a male model, darling,” she purred. “What sort of investigative work?” she added coquettishly, hanging onto his arm with her free hand while she sipped a martini held in the other. “A murder.”
    She paused with her eyes on her glass. “Anyone we know? I hope not!”
    â€œDale Jennings.”
    There was a tiny tremor in the liquid of the crystal glass she was holding. She looked disconcerted. Probably, Brannon thought, her memories of Jennings were as uncomfortable as his own.
    She gazed up at him, then quickly composed herself. “Dale Jennings!” She put a hand on her low-cut bodice. “Jennings. That terrible man…! Bib!” she called to her husband, drawing his attention. “Someone has killed that Jennings man in prison!” she exclaimed, turning all eyes toward her.
    â€œNot in prison, Silvia,” Marc said easily.
    Her perfect eyebrows arched. “Excuse me?”
    â€œHe broke out. Or, someone broke him out,” he replied carelessly as Silvia let go of his arm and moved to sit on the arm of the chair Bib was occupying.
    â€œHe killed Henry,” Bib recalled with cold eyes. “I’m not sorry he’s dead!”
    â€œHow did he get out of prison?” Silvia persisted.
    â€œI have no idea.” Marc refused the offer of a drink and was introduced to the people Bib was entertaining. He didn’t know them, but he recognized the names. They were very wealthy people from Austin.
    â€œCan you spend the night?” Bib asked Marc.
    Marc shook his head. “I have to be in San Antonio tomorrow morning. I’m going to be working the Jennings case along with the detectives in San Antonio. Simon’s sending a liaison investigator from his office out to help.”
    â€œWhy?” Silvia asked suddenly, wide-eyed. “Jennings was a nobody! Why should the Texas Rangers and the attorney general be involved?”
    â€œHe wasn’t a nobody,” Bib reminded her quietly. “He killed Henry. And Henry Garner was a very prominent man.” He studied Marc. “There’s something else about this, isn’t there?”
    Brannon nodded. “There may be some mob involvement. Specifically, Jake Marsh.”
    â€œMarsh.” Bib ground his teeth together. “Well, that tears it. If he’s implicated, it will really make headlines all over again, right?” he asked his friend with a grimace of distaste.
    â€œIt’s already doing that,” Marc agreed, reading the undisguised worry in his friend’s handsome face. Beside him, Silvia looked as if she’d been frozen in place. He knew she hated bad publicity. “Don’t worry, Bib. It’ll be a nine-day wonder. Nothing more,” he assured his friend.
    â€œI hope so,” Bib said heavily. His eyes lowered and he toyed with a tiny piece of thread on a jacket button. “It brings back so many terrible memories.”
    â€œOh, that’s all behind us now,” Silvia said at once, and smiled, but not with her eyes. She got to her feet abruptly, and a little clumsily. “Marc, you have a good trip back to San Antonio. And, you will let us know how it goes?”
    â€œCertainly.” He was curious about why Silvia seemed so eager to get rid of him. “Bib, how about walking me out?”
    â€œI’ll come, too,” Silvia said at once, apologizing to their guests.
    That was one of many things about Silvia that Marc didn’t like: she hung on to Bib like ivy. The man couldn’t get out of her sight. It had been like that since she was sixteen and seduced Bib into marriage, so that she could escape the unbearable poverty of her childhood. She never talked about it. Her father had fallen down a well and died just after the unexpected accidental death of her younger brother. Neither death had