Read Online Kisser (2010) by Stuart - Stone Barrington 00 Woods - Free Book Online

walked home, had most of the women he knew been abused by men?

14
    AS HE ENTERED HIS HOUSE through the office door, Joan waved a message at him. “Carrie Cox called,” she said. “She wants you to call while she’s on her lunch break.”
    Stone went into his office, buzzed his housekeeper, Helene, in the kitchen, and asked for a sandwich. Then he sat down at his desk and returned Carrie’s call.
    “Hello?” she said, and by the sound of her voice she seemed to be eating something.
    “Hi, it’s Stone.”
    “Oh, hi.”
    “How are your rehearsals going?”
    “Just great!”
    “That sounds delicious.”
    “It’s something called a falafel,” she said. “Exotic New York food, not bad. Are we doing something this evening?”
    “I have to go to an opening for a painter,” Stone replied. “Would you like to come?”
    “No, I called to beg off whatever you had in mind; I have to learn the second act. Who’s the painter?”
    “Someone called Squire. I’ve never heard of him.”
    “I have,” she said. “He’s very good.”
    “That’s what the gallery owner says.”
    “Who is he?”
    “Philip Parsons.”
    “He’s very big,” she said.
    “How do you, being from Atlanta, know all this New York stuff?”
    “I am conversant with most of the arts,” she said. “And besides, I read magazines.”
    “Aha. Tell me, do you own a straight razor?”
    “Aha, yourself. You’ve been researching me.”
    “Do you?”
    “No, but Max does. We were having an argument in the bathroom once, while he was shaving, and I threw a bar of soap at him. He ducked, and in the process nearly cut his throat. I had to call the doctor.”
    “Oh.”
    “I suppose you’ve somehow heard Max’s version of that story, in which I attacked him with the razor and murderous intentions.”
    “Something like that.”
    “Well, believe me, it’s a lie.”
    “I believe you,” Stone said, and he meant it. “Things uttered in divorce court sometimes take on too much color.”
    “You’re very right,” she replied.
    “Call me tomorrow, when you get a break,” Stone said.
    “Wilco,” she replied, then hung up.
     
     
     
    STONE WALKED into the Parsons Gallery half an hour after the time on the invitation and joined the crowd walking up the stairs to the second floor. He lifted a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter and was surprised at how good it was.
    “We don’t serve the cheap stuff at openings,” said a female voice at his elbow.
    He turned to find Rita Gammage standing there. She was really lovely, he thought. Tall, slim without being skinny, with long, dark hair, and breasts that looked real in spite of her slimness. “You certainly do serve the good stuff,” he said. “What is it?”
    “Schramsberg. Philip feels it’s the best California stuff and the patriotic thing to serve.”
    “The man is truly a patriot,” Stone said. “Can I fetch you a glass?”
    “No, thanks; I’ve already had my single allowable glass at an opening. Come let me show you Squire’s work.”
    “What’s his first name?” Stone asked.
    “He doesn’t use one, just Squire.”
    “Easier to remember that way, I guess.” Stone walked slowly along a wall, taking in the work. “An American impressionist,” he said. “I like that.”
    “So does the market,” Rita said. “We sold half the stuff before tonight, and we’ve already sold half a dozen. There won’t be anything left at the end of the evening.”
    “It’s a big show,” Stone said, “and I’m glad to hear of an artist getting a big paycheck. What’s the price range?”
    “Thirty to eighty thousand,” Rita replied.
    “That makes for a very nice paycheck indeed, even after the gallery’s cut.”
    “A good paycheck for us, too, especially in this economy.”
    “A lot of people in this city don’t have to cut back when the economy goes sour and the market is down.”
    “I guess half of a hundred-million-dollar portfolio is still fifty million,”