Read Online Let's Play Dead by Sheila Connolly - Free Book Online

So help me, they had a stick up their you-know-whats, one and all. We visited for holidays when Melissa was young, but after a while even she didn’t want to come. They retired to Florida several years ago, and I don’t see much of them these days, at least since Melissa left home. Doesn’t exactly break my heart.” Shelby helped herself to another cookie.
    “Did you need me for something?” I prompted her, before she ate all my goodies.
    “Oh—yes. I’ve got someone I’d like you to talk to about your assistant position.”
    “That was fast. Does Melanie approve?”
    “Sure does. I gave her his résumé this morning.”
    “His?”
    Shelby arched one eyebrow at me. “You’re not going to go all sexist about this?”
    “Of course not. If he can do the job, I’ll be happy to talk to him. When can he come in?”
    “Would this afternoon work for you? He’s temping at the moment, but he’s between jobs.”
    “Bring him on in—I’ll make time for him.”
    “OK, I’ll give him a call.” She stood up. “I’ll let you go back to work now—if you’ll bribe me with one more cookie.”
    “Done.” Regretfully I handed her one, refusing to count how many—or how few—remained. “Now shoo.”

CHAPTER 6
    Fortified by the cookies, I decided to work through the lunch hour. Unfortunately, fifteen minutes later Front Desk Bob called up to say that there was a Caitlin Treacy to see me. “Send her up,” I told Bob. “I’ll meet her at the elevator.”
    I’d only seen Caitlin as she had rushed to Jason’s side the day before, and I wouldn’t have recognized the slender young woman who emerged from the elevator. She was taller than Arabella, and I wondered briefly what her father had looked like, since she bore little resemblance to her smaller, rounder mother. “Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Ms. Pratt.”
    “Nell, please,” I said absently. “No problem. As your mother may have told you, I know a bit about the situation you’re in, and I’m happy to help. How’s Jason?” I asked as I led her down the hall to my office.
    “He’s good, or so the doctors say. They wouldn’t let me stay overnight at the hospital, so I spent the night at Mother’s.”
    We walked in silence until reaching my office, where I gestured her toward a chair. “She mentioned that. So you and Jason live in Camden?”
    Caitlin was studying my office, taking in the details—or avoiding my eyes? “Yes. We live together. He’s a graduate student so he doesn’t have a lot of money, and rents are cheap there compared to here. I could live with my mother, but I’d rather live with Jason.”
    Well, that was direct, at least. “Does he remember much about what happened?”
    “No.” She didn’t elaborate.
    It seemed to me that I was doing a lot of the work to keep this conversation going, which was annoying because she was the one who wanted something from me. “What can I do for you? Do you have questions?”
    “Mother thought I should talk to you. Look, my job is exhibits management, not public relations, so I don’t really know what to do. Mother said you had something awful happen here, so she thought you could help me with what to say. Or not say. If the press comes around.”
    Based on her awkwardness, I could see why Caitlin wasn’t up to handling public relations. I wondered if she was capable of talking to people at all. She was an attractive young woman but definitely short on charm.
    “There’s no one else at your place who handles the press?” I hoped there was someone who could bail her out.
    “Nope, the person who usually would is out on maternity leave. Bad timing, with the exhibit happening just now.” She said abruptly, “You know it takes years to put together an exhibit, right?”
    “Yes,” I said. I’d been involved in raising money for more than one at the Society, although luckily we had nothing in the works at the moment.
    “And now it’s just a couple of weeks before