Read Online Point of Betrayal by Ann Roberts - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Ann Roberts
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could order drinks, the maître d’ approached with Sam, his parents and a man who looked almost exactly like Sam.
“You didn’t tell me he had a twin,” she whispered to Jane.
“I didn’t know.”
“Jane and Ari, I’d like you to meet my parents, Steve and Georgie, and my brother, Evan.”
They finished the customary introductions and a debate ensued over the seating arrangement. Judging from the disconcerted expression on Georgie’s face, Ari realized she and Jane had been given the best seats at the round table, the two facing the ocean. While Jane and Sam made small talk, Ari watched Evan and Steve cater to Georgie.
“Mom, why don’t you sit here?” Evan asked. He pulled out a chair at the place Ari guessed was the second-best location, the side facing the dining room.
“All right,” Georgie said with an accommodating smile. “Thank you, son.” She adjusted the silk scarf draped around her neck and politely scratched her nose with a finely manicured finger. She wore multiple bracelets on each wrist and a variety of colored stone rings on her fingers. The gray-blond hair that had been scooped up by the red bandanna earlier now formed a halo around her well-maintained face. Her shimmering cocktail dress, a reward for what Ari imagined was a vicious exercise regimen or a lot of plastic surgery, clung to her curves.
Steve sat next to her, leaving the cheap seats, the ones facing the restaurant with no ocean view, for Sam and Evan. They were as identical as twins could be, she thought. Both possessed strong features and dark brown eyes. Ari wondered if she would be able to tell them apart if they were dressed alike.
She glanced at Steve. Brown eyes seemed to be his only contribution to their gene pool. He was short and portly with a receding hairline, and his doughy facial features conveyed kindness, not charm, which probably played well to his cynical constituents.
“You’re going to love the food here,” Sam said.
“What do you recommend?” Jane asked everyone.
“I always enjoy the veal,” he replied.
“But the tri-tip is better,” Evan disagreed.
“No, no,” Steve interjected. “We all know the salmon is the best.”
All three engaged in a lighthearted sparring match until Georgie looked up from her menu and said, “Boys, boys.” She glanced at Jane and Ari. “Do you feel sorry for me yet? One woman surrounded by all this testosterone for over three decades.”
“You love it and you know it,” Evan said. “You’re the center of attention.”
Georgie harrumphed. “If that’s the case, then where’s my martini?”
Steve motioned for the waiter, who took the drink orders and departed. Once everyone had set aside their menus, Steve faced Jane and Ari. “Ladies, I appreciate your help with our little problem. Sam has told me one of you is a licensed investigator?”
“Actually that’s our friend,” Ari clarified for the second time that day. “She’s arriving on Tuesday. Jane and I are getting a head start doing some of the interviewing and laying the foundation.”
“Ari’s being modest,” Jane said. “She’s solved several cases herself even though she isn’t a PI.”
“Aren’t you a realtor?” Sam asked.
“I am.”
“But she used to be a police officer,” Jane inserted, “until she became a born-again capitalist.”
Everyone laughed and Georgie asked, “So how is it you solve murders?”
Ari didn’t have an easy answer. “It tends to happen by accident. I’m just in the right or wrong place, depending how you look at it.”
“All we ask is that you’re discreet,” Steve said seriously after the drinks arrived and the dinner order was placed. “So how can we help you?”
Ari pulled a small notebook and pen from her purse. “I hope you don’t mind if I take notes, but I’ll need to share this with the PI.”
“Of course,” Georgie said. “We’ll help however we can. What’s happened to Sam is such an injustice. Nina was a
“You didn’t tell me he had a twin,” she whispered to Jane.
“I didn’t know.”
“Jane and Ari, I’d like you to meet my parents, Steve and Georgie, and my brother, Evan.”
They finished the customary introductions and a debate ensued over the seating arrangement. Judging from the disconcerted expression on Georgie’s face, Ari realized she and Jane had been given the best seats at the round table, the two facing the ocean. While Jane and Sam made small talk, Ari watched Evan and Steve cater to Georgie.
“Mom, why don’t you sit here?” Evan asked. He pulled out a chair at the place Ari guessed was the second-best location, the side facing the dining room.
“All right,” Georgie said with an accommodating smile. “Thank you, son.” She adjusted the silk scarf draped around her neck and politely scratched her nose with a finely manicured finger. She wore multiple bracelets on each wrist and a variety of colored stone rings on her fingers. The gray-blond hair that had been scooped up by the red bandanna earlier now formed a halo around her well-maintained face. Her shimmering cocktail dress, a reward for what Ari imagined was a vicious exercise regimen or a lot of plastic surgery, clung to her curves.
Steve sat next to her, leaving the cheap seats, the ones facing the restaurant with no ocean view, for Sam and Evan. They were as identical as twins could be, she thought. Both possessed strong features and dark brown eyes. Ari wondered if she would be able to tell them apart if they were dressed alike.
She glanced at Steve. Brown eyes seemed to be his only contribution to their gene pool. He was short and portly with a receding hairline, and his doughy facial features conveyed kindness, not charm, which probably played well to his cynical constituents.
“You’re going to love the food here,” Sam said.
“What do you recommend?” Jane asked everyone.
“I always enjoy the veal,” he replied.
“But the tri-tip is better,” Evan disagreed.
“No, no,” Steve interjected. “We all know the salmon is the best.”
All three engaged in a lighthearted sparring match until Georgie looked up from her menu and said, “Boys, boys.” She glanced at Jane and Ari. “Do you feel sorry for me yet? One woman surrounded by all this testosterone for over three decades.”
“You love it and you know it,” Evan said. “You’re the center of attention.”
Georgie harrumphed. “If that’s the case, then where’s my martini?”
Steve motioned for the waiter, who took the drink orders and departed. Once everyone had set aside their menus, Steve faced Jane and Ari. “Ladies, I appreciate your help with our little problem. Sam has told me one of you is a licensed investigator?”
“Actually that’s our friend,” Ari clarified for the second time that day. “She’s arriving on Tuesday. Jane and I are getting a head start doing some of the interviewing and laying the foundation.”
“Ari’s being modest,” Jane said. “She’s solved several cases herself even though she isn’t a PI.”
“Aren’t you a realtor?” Sam asked.
“I am.”
“But she used to be a police officer,” Jane inserted, “until she became a born-again capitalist.”
Everyone laughed and Georgie asked, “So how is it you solve murders?”
Ari didn’t have an easy answer. “It tends to happen by accident. I’m just in the right or wrong place, depending how you look at it.”
“All we ask is that you’re discreet,” Steve said seriously after the drinks arrived and the dinner order was placed. “So how can we help you?”
Ari pulled a small notebook and pen from her purse. “I hope you don’t mind if I take notes, but I’ll need to share this with the PI.”
“Of course,” Georgie said. “We’ll help however we can. What’s happened to Sam is such an injustice. Nina was a
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