Read Online Mystery by Jonathan Kellerman - Free Book Online Page B

play, you pay.”
    “Anyway,” said Suki, “we made limoncello out of lemons when we started the business. Perfect name, don’t you think?”
    “Perfect,” said Milo. “So business is good.”
    “Business is great ,” said Rosalynn. “We incorporated just over a year ago and already have over ten thousand names in our data bank.”
    Suki said, “Actually, closer to twelve thousand at last count.” She clicked a keyboard. “Three thousand six hundred eighty-seven Daddies and seven thousand nine hundred fifty-two Sweeties. Not including any that signed up today.”
    I said, “Who runs the New York office? Sister Honey?”
    Both girls laughed.
    “No, that’s just a mail-drop,” said Rosalynn. “Our uncle Lou has a luggage store in the building and he picks up correspondence for us. We did it to look bicoastal. It means paying some New York taxes, but we thought it would be worth it and it has been.”
    “You incorporated in Panama.”
    “Sure did,” said Suki. “Our brother’s a tax lawyer and he said we need to be careful not to appear as if we’re evading taxes but there’d still be some advantages to an offshore registration.”
    “We’re going to pay a ton of taxes this year,” said Rosalynn. “A heckuva lot more than we ever considered a good income.”
    “God bless the Internet,” said Suki. “Our expenses are minimal, it’s just the two of us, the computers and the rent and whatever freelance consultations we use for technical stuff. The bad part is we don’t have much in the way of deductions, but the other side of the coin is our profit margin’s huge.”
    “We’ll pay the taxes, we’re not greedy,” said Rosalynn. “We’re well aware that our business model could be finite if other people catch on and competition grows fierce. The obvious end goal would be to sell to a bigger company but for the time being we’re happy with what we’ve got. And we’re totally glad we took it upscale.”
    “Fendi, not Loehmann’s,” said her sister. “For a school project, it’s sure worked out fantastic.”
    “School project,” said Milo. “Did you get a good grade?”
    “A.”
    “Where?”
    Rosalynn said, “We both went to Columbia for undergrad and when Suk got an M.B.A. from Wharton, she had to come up with a novel business model for her honors thesis. I’m no tech freak but I have done two years of grad school in neuroscience at the U., so I can handle the basic stuff.”
    “And your brother handles your legal affairs.”
    “Brother Brian. He’s the oldest. Brother Michael, he’s the youngest, is finishing up at Columbia with a B.A. in econ. He’s looking for real estate investments for us. For when it ends and we go passive-income.”
    Suki clicked another keyboard. “Three new Sweeties just came in, Rosie.”
    “Yes!”
    Milo said, “You weren’t surprised we showed up.”
    “My assumption,” said Suki, “is you came across us while doing some sort of prostitution cybercrawl. Since that psycho Craigslist killer in Boston, there’ve been clamp-downs on adult services. But we’re not adult in that sense. We do not buy, sell, or coordinate sexual contact. We’re simply a conduit for meetings of the mind.”
    “Or various body parts.”
    Rosalynn said, “Before we began, we vetted extensively. The courts have already considered the issue of multiple services and—”
    “We know,” said Milo. He leaned forward. “Sorry to disappoint you but your guess is wrong.”
    “About what?”
    He showed them his card.
    Suki’s eyes widened. “Homicide?”
    Rosalynn said, “Another Craigslist psychopath? Damn. But not on our database, I can assure you, no way. We screen carefully. By that I do not mean just some boilerplate records search like other sites do. We check every single criminal database that’s available to us. We even scan court records for civil suits.”
    Suki said, “Which is in our best interest, anyway. Who wants some litigious jerk making your