Read Online Prince of the Playhouse by Tara Lain - Free Book Online Page A

into the dressing stalls.
    Shaz sidled over and said softly, “How did the day go, dear?”
    Ru glanced at his feet.
    “Tell Shazzy Wazzy.”
    He pitched his voice low too. “Gray wants to give me a team of Hollywood seamstresses to help with my collection.”
    “Shitfire, darling, have you been doing blowjobs in the costume department?”
    Ru flashed him a grimace. “You’re only half kidding, I know. But apparently I helped him understand Hamlet, and he wants me to coach him on his performance.”
    “Uhh, Ru Maitland, boy drama instructor?”
    “I know. I told him I’m not qualified. Anyway, he’s delivering the seamstresses tomorrow, and I agreed to help him.”
    “When?”
    “Uh, tonight.”
    “You sure this isn’t just a ruse to get you alone?”
    “I can only wish.”
    Shaz snorted as Edie emerged in her next outfit. He put a hand on Ru’s arm. “Just be careful, darling. Men that famous have too much to lose to be reliable.”
    The phone in Ru’s pocket buzzed. He stepped away and answered while Shaz worked with Edie. “Maitland.”
    “Mr. Maitland, this is Officer Cantrell at the Laguna Beach police department. I’m calling for Chief of Police Kincaid. She’s wondering if you could come in this afternoon and answer a few more questions about the robbery you were involved in?”
    “Uh, well, I was the victim, so I’m not sure ‘involved’ is quite the right word.”
    The young officer sounded embarrassed. “Sorry, that’s what I meant. The robbery in which you were a victim.”
    Ru frowned. “Can you tell me what it’s about? I’m pretty busy.”
    “No, sir. She didn’t say. Just asked if you could come in?”
    His stomach flipped. “Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
    “Thank you. Same place you came last time.”
    “I assumed.” He hung up.
    “Everything okay, darling?” Shaz stood adjusting a shawl on Edie.
    “Uh, yes. Fine. I was, uh, witness to a crime, and the police want me to come in and answer some questions.”
    Edie said, “Oooh, that’s exciting. What kind of crime?”
    “Robbery.”
    “Hey, now you’re talkin’ my kind of folks.”
    Shaz frowned. “You never told me.”
    “In all the excitement about the play, I guess I forgot.”
    “Gray Anson could make me forget my own mother.” Edie bellowed her laugh.
    Ru pointed toward the door. “Okay if I leave for a while?”
    “Darling, how often must I say I’m not your boss? Of course, it’s fine.”
    He kissed Edie good-bye and left the coziness of Shazam for an uncomfortable walk to the police department three blocks away. What the hell could they want with him?
    It didn’t take nearly enough time to get there. He stepped up to the desk in the lobby, where a young female police officer was tapping on a computer. “Excuse me. I’m Ru Maitland.”
    “Oh, hi. I’m the person who called you. Apologies for the bad choice of words.” She smiled, which brightened her plain face. “Come with me.”
    She led him back to a room that might have been a conference room—or maybe something a tad more sinister like an interrogation room. The last time, he’d simply sat in front of Officer Johns’s desk. Hmm. Escalation. “She’ll be right with you.”
    A few minutes of fidgeting later, Kincaid walked in. He’d met her briefly during his questioning on his previous cop trip—stocky, forties, sandy-brown hair, and a pleasant but not-messing-around manner. “Thanks for coming in on such short notice, Mr. Maitland.”
    “Certainly. What’s going on?”
    She sat opposite him at the table. “The man you said tried to rob you—Gary Fogarty—has been let out on bail.”
    Ru’s eyebrows tried to cover his eyes. “You do know he attempted armed robbery, right? What’s to keep him from doing it again?”
    “He was released into the custody of his lawyer.” She looked up from the papers in front of her. “We had insufficient evidence to establish armed robbery. We couldn’t hold him.”
    “You have