Read Online Fair Play (All's Fair Book 2) by Josh Lanyon - Free Book Online

not like it was forty years ago. I have no idea where Rollie would go. I can tell you right now, wherever he would have headed back in the day wouldn’t exist now. There is no
underground
anymore, not the way you mean it.”
    Pauline was in Elliot’s periphery. She swallowed. Her hands were locked together in a nervous knot.
    Elliot regarded Tom intently. “The fire that took out Dad’s house was not electrical or accidental. The police are investigating it as arson. He received a note a few months ago warning him not to publish his memoirs.”
    Tom didn’t move a muscle, so either he already knew this or he was good at hiding his feelings. As a lawyer, he probably
was
good at hiding his feelings, but Pauline hadn’t flinched that time either, so Elliot suspected this was information Tom already possessed.
    “I’ve already advised Roland not to publish that book,” Tom remarked.
    “Was that as his friend or lawyer?”
    “Both.”
    “Yesterday evening someone showed up on Goose Island and tried to take my father out.”
    Pauline gasped. “They tried to shoot him?”
    Tom glanced at her and said steadily, “I assume Roland is okay or this conversation would have started out on a completely different note. Given this new information, I think dropping out of sight for a while is probably a wise decision.”
    “Do you know a woman named Mischa Weinstein?”
    “No,” Tom said.
    Elliot laughed. “You don’t know my father’s first wife?”
    “
That
Mischa Weinstein,” Tom corrected calmly. “Yes. Why?”
    “Just establishing our baseline. Weinstein showed up at the cabin shortly before the shooting yesterday.”
    Tom said, “I hope you’re not drawing some specious connection there. You’d be way off base. As for the rest of it, I’m your father’s friend as well as his legal advisor. I’m not going to share any information with you that Roland has not specifically directed me to impart. Clearly, if he’d wanted you to know where he was going, he’d have told you. Since he did not, I’m not about to speculate, which is all it would be. You’re no longer an officer of the law, Elliot. As far as I’m concerned you’re simply an uninvited guest in my home.”
    “Tom!” Pauline protested.
    Baker ignored her. He picked up the Xbox remote control. “Now. Is there something else I can do for you?”
    “That ought to do it,” Elliot said wryly. He was unsure how much of what he’d just heard was the truth. The initial lie about Mischa had been stupid and not like Tom. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t stuck to the facts in all other areas. Not that there had been so many areas.
    Pointedly, Tom turned back to his game and clicked Play. The character of John Marston resumed shooting—with impressive accuracy. Pauline led the way back through the beautiful, sterile rooms.
    At the front door she said softly, “Mischa had dinner with Tom last night. He saw her to the airport. She flew out on the red-eye. She lives in New York, if you didn’t know that already.”
    Pauline was way too young to have been a part of this, whatever “this” was. But her relationship with Roland offered other avenues. “Do you know where my father is?” Elliot asked, matching her quiet tone with his own.
    She shook her head, raised her long dark lashes, and gave Elliot one of those apprehensive glances. “Talk to Nobby,” she said.
    * * *
    Elliot’s phone rang as he was climbing into his car.
    For maybe the first time in his life, he was disappointed to see Tucker’s name flash up.
    “Hey.”
    “Hey yourself. Where are you?” Tucker asked.
    “Bellevue.” Elliot stared out the windshield at the distant blue of Lake Washington beyond the rows of expensive homes. A very nice neighborhood with its lofty views and safe distance from downtown Bellevue. “Where are you?”
    “I’m here. Home. I’m on Goose Island.”
    “You’re early.”
    “And you’re...where? You’re not here. Your dad’s not here.