Read Online The Fan Letter by Nancy Temple Rodrigue - Free Book Online Page B

business. “These profiles can take time.” After mentally doubling it, he wrote down a figure on a piece of paper. “This is my daily fee.”
    She didn't even look at it. “Fine. I'll want weekly reports while I'm gone. Marty will give you the phone numbers and addresses.”
    “When do you want me to start, Mrs. Beck?”
    “Why, immediately, of course. I want to know everything about this woman before I leave. If she gets anywhere near an airplane, I want to know and I want the proper authorities alerted. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Fields?” Sarah demanded quietly, her blue eyes flashing. “I don't want her near my house!”
    Wayne regarded her coolly. “Oh, I understand you perfectly.” His eyes strayed to a photo near her head. It was a shot of Phillip and Sarah apparently on some vacation years ago. They looked relaxed and happy. “Say, Mrs. Beck? Are you sure there isn't anything else you'd like watched while you're gone?”
    His question confused her. She followed his eyes to the picture on the wall. Her tone was icy. “You read too many tabloids.”
    Wayne returned her look. “I don't read them, lady. I write them.”
    “Well, you're out of line, Mr. Fields. I trust my husband implicitly. How else would I be able to go off and leave him for weeks at a time?”
    “Fine. You trust him. I'll turn in my reports. All right? I'll keep these copies with me. I assume the originals are in their proper place?” At her curt nod, he stood to go. “I also assume you know not to report our little conversation to Mr. Beck. Have a pleasant trip.”
    “Same to you, Mr. Fields. Enjoy Amherst,” she said from her desk with a cutting laugh, viciously tearing his retainer check out of her private account book.
    “One last question, Mrs. Beck. Where the heck is Amherst?”
    T hat evening, two men sat together in a posh nightclub having a drink.
    “Man, Marty, you should have seen the look in those blue eyes of hers when she talked about the Evil One of Amherst!” Wayne was snickering.
    Marty finished his bourbon and signaled for another. “I did. Last week. Gave me the willies,” he shuddered. “It came out of the blue, too. This Leslie chick sent her story to Beck, I don't know, eight, nine months ago. Now, all of a sudden, boom!, Sarah is calling out the artillery,” he gestured with his empty glass.
    Wayne thought a moment. “How do you figure Phillip in all of this?”
    Marty chuckled dryly. “The old man? He's probably flattered. He's forty and still a nobody. I doubt he's noticed anything different with Sarah. His mind is pretty one-tracked. I do wish Sarah would give in and leave the brat home, though.”
    “How do you stand being around them all the time? You didn't like women like that when we were in college.”
    Marty took a sip from his new drink and shook his head. “No, no. Women like that didn't like me when we were in college,” he corrected. “Now, make them a famous millionaire, plaster their face over everything, and they're friends for life. It's a dirty job but someone has to do it,” he sighed and then grinned, raising his drink to Fields in a mock salute.
    Wayne made circles on the table with his glass. “Say, Marty, why are you going to Japan? Sarah's pretty sharp on her own. I've never heard of an agent tagging along. A posse, maybe, but not an agent.”
    The look on Marty's face was pure innocence. “Gosh, Wayne, you first have to convince them they can't do a thing without you. Then you sit back and enjoy the fringe benefits.”
    “Hmph,” Wayne groused. “Fringe benefits. You get to go to Japan with one the most beautiful women in the world and I'm heading for Amherst to check out some plain, brown-haired store clerk.”
    “Where exactly is Amherst? Do you know?”
    “Within driving distance of Rancho Blanco.”
    “Well, Wayne, that really clears it up. Thanks. Probably some one-horse town out in the sticks.”
    The investigator thought back to the letters he had read.