Read Online The Dark of Day by Barbara Parker - Free Book Online Page B

rich as you?”
    â€œMore. I’m still fighting with Uncle Sam.”
    â€œNoreen wants her son to be president.”
    â€œHe could get there,” Billy said.
    â€œYes, why not? He has money, connections, good hair and teeth, a lovely wife and two sons, and a mother who keeps a copy of Machiavelli’s The Prince under her pillow.”
    â€œWhat have you got against Paul Shelby?”
    â€œI have nothing against Paul Shelby, particularly.” C.J. sipped her cola, which had all the flavor of water. “I just want to know what we’re dealing with. You could be drawn into this case, and I’d like to prevent it if I can.”
    â€œMe? I’ve done my duty. I talked to the police. I told them I didn’t see the girl here. I gave them a list of guests, those I could remember. They said thank you and went away.”
    â€œIf they can’t find her, they may be back.”
    â€œFine. They’ll get the same answers as before. I don’t know dick.”
    â€œWhat about Richard Slater?”
    â€œWho? Oh, Shelby’s driver. Your new client.”
    â€œMaybe—if he lets me represent him. Did you see him that night?”
    â€œChrist, C.J., I don’t remember. There were tons of people here. Yasmina was here. She sang. I hired a band for her. Everyone had a good time. You should have come.”
    â€œI was in the weeds with the Robinson trial.”
    â€œWait a minute. Now that I think of it, I have met Slater. He was driving when Paul Shelby and his wife took me home from a cocktail party at Milo Cahill’s place a couple of weeks ago.”
    â€œWhat’s he like?”
    Billy let out a puff of air. “What’s he like? He speaks in monosyllables. He’s about five-ten, big through the chest. Thick neck. Shaved head, a mustache-and-beard combo. He stares right through you.”
    â€œOh, wonderful. I can’t wait.”
    â€œYou prefer clients as handsome as me,” Billy said.
    â€œThere aren’t any.” She wound a strand of his silver hair through her fingers, thick and soft as animal pelt. “When did Shelby leave the party?”
    â€œAre we talking business tonight?”

    â€œFor now,” she said.
    â€œHe left a little before midnight, I think.”
    â€œBut his driver stuck around. I wonder why.”
    â€œDrinking my liquor and ogling the models, probably.”
    â€œI’m surprised your security people didn’t ask him to leave.”
    â€œThey don’t, unless they notice somebody causing a problem.”
    â€œI wonder what he was doing with Alana Martin.”
    â€œCan’t help you there,” Billy said.
    â€œDo you know Alana?”
    â€œUntil about three months ago she worked for my magazine. She sold advertising. I don’t go in more than once a week, you know, just making sure it’s still there, but I expect to see people at their desks, not hanging all over the VIPs and celebrities who drop by. I told personnel to get rid of her. She’s a fame-fucker.”
    â€œFor God’s sake, Billy, don’t say that to a reporter.”
    â€œIt’s true.”
    â€œListen to me,” C.J. said. “This is serious. A very pretty twenty-year-old girl was here, then she wasn’t. If this turns into a major media event, you’re going to see satellite trucks lined up on the street.”
    â€œThey won’t get past the guard at the entrance.”
    â€œIt’s a public street,” she said.
    â€œTechnically, yes, but the residents of Star Island have an excellent relationship with the chief of police. There’s the microwave. Dinner is served.”
    He brought the food over, a bottle of red wine, and one glass. They ate in silence for a while. Then he told her about a restaurant on Aruba. He and a couple of his business partners had gone to Aruba to look into investing in a hotel. C.J. assumed nothing had come of it, but, then, he