Read Online Designed for Death by Jean Harrington - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jean Harrington
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her face inches from mine, she gripped me in an eye lock I didn’t even try to break out of. “I’m sick of pretending. Dick’s at it again.” Slick with Coppertone, she sat up straight, back rigid, every flawless curve telegraphing defiance. “But this time he’s gone too far.”
“Dick’s at what?”
“He’s been cheating on me. Again.”
“No, Dick wouldn’t do that,” I said, hoping I sounded convincing.
“Believe me. It’s true.”
“He likes to flirt, but he’s just a big teddy bear. He doesn’t mean—”
The spark in her eyes turned to flame. “Teddy bear? Ha! He’s a snake.”
“So who is he—”
“Don’t ask. You won’t like the answer.” Marilyn lay back on the lounge, closed her eyes and raised her puffy face to the sun.
“But—”
“He was married before, you know. No wonder she dumped him. I’d leave him, too, but everything’s in his name. Even Surfside. He never wanted me to work so I don’t have any skills. At least none I can sell… Or do I?” She sat up straight again and peered at me through swollen lids. “You know, Deva, that’s exactly what I’ll do. Sell what I do best. Teach him a lesson.”
Uneasy about where this was going, I asked, “What kind of lesson?”
Marilyn set her jaw. “Never mind. But thanks for giving me a good idea.”
What idea?
“Yeah, I’ll teach him a lesson, all right.” She slapped the lounge seat with the flat of her palm and struck the edge of the Kleenex box. Like it was a bomb ready to explode, she snatched it up and flung it away. A soaring bird, it rode the air for a second before dropping like a rock, right into the pool.
Oh boy. A challenge for the filter system.
Stabbing her sunglasses onto her face, she turned her head away, refusing any more of our “girl talk.” Why, oh why, had I even started this conversation? But I figured she’d spewed out only empty bravado. As sure as I sat there with my chin slack, I knew Marilyn wouldn’t act on her anger. Looking at her stretched out on the lounge, a golden-blonde Barbie, an already perfect tan on her perfect size-two body, I wondered why Dick had strayed. More than once, she’d said.
So he took off his tool belt occasionally. Part of it, anyway.
Without making a sound, I stood and headed for the patio table and my sketching supplies. But my mind wasn’t on spinning the color wheel.
If Jack had cheated on me, I probably would have killed somebody. Most likely the other woman.
Halfway across the pool apron, I stopped dead in my tracks. Had Dick been having an affair with Treasure? She hadn’t hinted at it, though she’d enjoyed boasting about her love life. I collapsed on a metal chair in a patch of shade cast by the table umbrella. Even if Treasure had messed with Dick, no way could Marilyn have strangled her. Even maddened by jealousy, she wouldn’t have had the strength.
But what if she had an accomplice? Ashamed of my thoughts, I rested my elbows on the table, all desire to sketch a plan for Simon up in the air with the birds.
Should I go to Rossi with yet another betrayal of a friend and neighbor? Chances were he would consider my news little more than gossip. I could just hear his derisive tone… On the other hand, he’d said if I heard anything to let him know. I blew out a breath, moved my legs out of the sun before they fried, and did what I usually did in times of stress—took out my number two pencil, picked up the sketch pad and began drawing. As it often did, the work took me over, and the sketch soon crowded everything else out of my mind for a blessed little while…
The chocolate sofa against a light turquoise backdrop might do for Simon after all. I’d repeat those colors and add a little white to some pillows…install white louvers on the glass wall leading out to the lanai. They’d be a strong foil to all that big brown furniture, keep it from being so insistent.
Pleased with the concept, I folded a protective tissue over the
“Dick’s at what?”
“He’s been cheating on me. Again.”
“No, Dick wouldn’t do that,” I said, hoping I sounded convincing.
“Believe me. It’s true.”
“He likes to flirt, but he’s just a big teddy bear. He doesn’t mean—”
The spark in her eyes turned to flame. “Teddy bear? Ha! He’s a snake.”
“So who is he—”
“Don’t ask. You won’t like the answer.” Marilyn lay back on the lounge, closed her eyes and raised her puffy face to the sun.
“But—”
“He was married before, you know. No wonder she dumped him. I’d leave him, too, but everything’s in his name. Even Surfside. He never wanted me to work so I don’t have any skills. At least none I can sell… Or do I?” She sat up straight again and peered at me through swollen lids. “You know, Deva, that’s exactly what I’ll do. Sell what I do best. Teach him a lesson.”
Uneasy about where this was going, I asked, “What kind of lesson?”
Marilyn set her jaw. “Never mind. But thanks for giving me a good idea.”
What idea?
“Yeah, I’ll teach him a lesson, all right.” She slapped the lounge seat with the flat of her palm and struck the edge of the Kleenex box. Like it was a bomb ready to explode, she snatched it up and flung it away. A soaring bird, it rode the air for a second before dropping like a rock, right into the pool.
Oh boy. A challenge for the filter system.
Stabbing her sunglasses onto her face, she turned her head away, refusing any more of our “girl talk.” Why, oh why, had I even started this conversation? But I figured she’d spewed out only empty bravado. As sure as I sat there with my chin slack, I knew Marilyn wouldn’t act on her anger. Looking at her stretched out on the lounge, a golden-blonde Barbie, an already perfect tan on her perfect size-two body, I wondered why Dick had strayed. More than once, she’d said.
So he took off his tool belt occasionally. Part of it, anyway.
Without making a sound, I stood and headed for the patio table and my sketching supplies. But my mind wasn’t on spinning the color wheel.
If Jack had cheated on me, I probably would have killed somebody. Most likely the other woman.
Halfway across the pool apron, I stopped dead in my tracks. Had Dick been having an affair with Treasure? She hadn’t hinted at it, though she’d enjoyed boasting about her love life. I collapsed on a metal chair in a patch of shade cast by the table umbrella. Even if Treasure had messed with Dick, no way could Marilyn have strangled her. Even maddened by jealousy, she wouldn’t have had the strength.
But what if she had an accomplice? Ashamed of my thoughts, I rested my elbows on the table, all desire to sketch a plan for Simon up in the air with the birds.
Should I go to Rossi with yet another betrayal of a friend and neighbor? Chances were he would consider my news little more than gossip. I could just hear his derisive tone… On the other hand, he’d said if I heard anything to let him know. I blew out a breath, moved my legs out of the sun before they fried, and did what I usually did in times of stress—took out my number two pencil, picked up the sketch pad and began drawing. As it often did, the work took me over, and the sketch soon crowded everything else out of my mind for a blessed little while…
The chocolate sofa against a light turquoise backdrop might do for Simon after all. I’d repeat those colors and add a little white to some pillows…install white louvers on the glass wall leading out to the lanai. They’d be a strong foil to all that big brown furniture, keep it from being so insistent.
Pleased with the concept, I folded a protective tissue over the
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