Read Online The Next Victim by Jonnie Jacobs - Free Book Online
Authors: Jonnie Jacobs
Tags: Fiction, General, Suspense, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Suspense fiction, Crime, Murder, Pornography, Sex-Oriented Businesses
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stepping into an oven. Reluctantly, she joined Sabrina on the sectional in the living room.
"I told you it was too hot out there," Sabrina said, then added wistfully, "John was talking about having a misting system installed. We have one at home and it really helps."
Although it shouldn't have come as a surprise, Kali felt a pinch of envy that her siblings were closer to each other than to her. Sure, she talked to Sabrina every month or so, but she didn't really know much about the day-to-day activities of her sister's life. And her rare conversations with John were stiff and awkward. John and Sabrina were connected; she had been the odd one out.
"Did you and John see a lot of each other?" Kali asked.
Sabrina made a fluttering, so-so motion with her free hand. "Sometimes I'd drive down and we'd go to lunch. More often, he'd come for dinner or hang out and spend time with the kids."
Uncle John
. Kali had never considered her brother in that light. She was struck once again by how out of touch she'd been.
"They adored him," Sabrina added. "Probably because he spoiled them rotten."
Her sister's three boys ranged in age from twelve to seventeen. Kali sent presents on birthdays and Christmas, and greeting cards on special holidays, but she saw them at most a couple of times a year.
"How are they doing?" Kali asked.
Sabrina brushed away tears. "I haven't told them yet. They'll be devastated."
Would they have felt the same if something had happened to her? Kali wondered. Maybe John wasn't as selfish as she'd imagined. "What did you and John talk about?"
Sabrina gave her a puzzled look. "Whatever came up. It's not like we sat around and debated theories of evolution or anything, if that's what you mean."
Kali wasn't sure what she'd meant except that she and John seemed never to have anything to say to one another. "What about the woman he's accused of murdering? You said he knew her. Did he ever talk to you about her?"
"Sloane? She's Reed Logan's sister."
"Oh, my God. I didn't know." Reed Logan had been John's friend at USC. Although Kali hadn't seen him in fifteen years, she'd seen a lot of him when she was in law school at Berkeley, and Reed and John were working together at a management consulting firm in San Francisco. "That's awful. Poor Reed."
Sabrina nodded. "He's lost two people close to him now."
"Had you met her?" Kali asked.
"Years ago, in L.A." Sabrina stared into space for a moment; then she tucked her legs under her and turned to Kali. "They dated, you know. John and Sloane. More than dated, actually."
"When was that?" Kali wondered if a lovers' quarrel could have led to murder.
"In college and after. They broke up for a while, but they were together again right before Peter and I got married. They must have split up again because John brought some other woman to the wedding. Do you remember? The one who clung to him like Saran Wrap. Sloane was off traveling through Europe, he said."
"Vaguely." What Kali remembered was that John and her father had both had too much to drink. They'd argued and ended up pummeling each other in the fountain outside the hotel.
"John told me at one point that Sloane was married and living in L.A. No children, I think. She was apparently very involved in charitable work."
"Society stuff?"
"Maybe. But she was also, like, save the dolphins, stop global warming, help the needy. And not at all interested in the family business. I learned all this after she returned to Tucson last year and started agitating to get John fired. He was really pissed. I mean, it was John who helped Reed turn the business around when it wasn't doing well after the senior Mr. Logan's death."
"She wanted him fired?" Was this what the detective had meant by "conflicts at work"?
"I know," Sabrina said, misunderstanding the source of Kali's dismay. "It's so unfair. John said Sloane didn't understand the difference between a business and a charity. He wished she'd just go back to saving the spotted
"I told you it was too hot out there," Sabrina said, then added wistfully, "John was talking about having a misting system installed. We have one at home and it really helps."
Although it shouldn't have come as a surprise, Kali felt a pinch of envy that her siblings were closer to each other than to her. Sure, she talked to Sabrina every month or so, but she didn't really know much about the day-to-day activities of her sister's life. And her rare conversations with John were stiff and awkward. John and Sabrina were connected; she had been the odd one out.
"Did you and John see a lot of each other?" Kali asked.
Sabrina made a fluttering, so-so motion with her free hand. "Sometimes I'd drive down and we'd go to lunch. More often, he'd come for dinner or hang out and spend time with the kids."
Uncle John
. Kali had never considered her brother in that light. She was struck once again by how out of touch she'd been.
"They adored him," Sabrina added. "Probably because he spoiled them rotten."
Her sister's three boys ranged in age from twelve to seventeen. Kali sent presents on birthdays and Christmas, and greeting cards on special holidays, but she saw them at most a couple of times a year.
"How are they doing?" Kali asked.
Sabrina brushed away tears. "I haven't told them yet. They'll be devastated."
Would they have felt the same if something had happened to her? Kali wondered. Maybe John wasn't as selfish as she'd imagined. "What did you and John talk about?"
Sabrina gave her a puzzled look. "Whatever came up. It's not like we sat around and debated theories of evolution or anything, if that's what you mean."
Kali wasn't sure what she'd meant except that she and John seemed never to have anything to say to one another. "What about the woman he's accused of murdering? You said he knew her. Did he ever talk to you about her?"
"Sloane? She's Reed Logan's sister."
"Oh, my God. I didn't know." Reed Logan had been John's friend at USC. Although Kali hadn't seen him in fifteen years, she'd seen a lot of him when she was in law school at Berkeley, and Reed and John were working together at a management consulting firm in San Francisco. "That's awful. Poor Reed."
Sabrina nodded. "He's lost two people close to him now."
"Had you met her?" Kali asked.
"Years ago, in L.A." Sabrina stared into space for a moment; then she tucked her legs under her and turned to Kali. "They dated, you know. John and Sloane. More than dated, actually."
"When was that?" Kali wondered if a lovers' quarrel could have led to murder.
"In college and after. They broke up for a while, but they were together again right before Peter and I got married. They must have split up again because John brought some other woman to the wedding. Do you remember? The one who clung to him like Saran Wrap. Sloane was off traveling through Europe, he said."
"Vaguely." What Kali remembered was that John and her father had both had too much to drink. They'd argued and ended up pummeling each other in the fountain outside the hotel.
"John told me at one point that Sloane was married and living in L.A. No children, I think. She was apparently very involved in charitable work."
"Society stuff?"
"Maybe. But she was also, like, save the dolphins, stop global warming, help the needy. And not at all interested in the family business. I learned all this after she returned to Tucson last year and started agitating to get John fired. He was really pissed. I mean, it was John who helped Reed turn the business around when it wasn't doing well after the senior Mr. Logan's death."
"She wanted him fired?" Was this what the detective had meant by "conflicts at work"?
"I know," Sabrina said, misunderstanding the source of Kali's dismay. "It's so unfair. John said Sloane didn't understand the difference between a business and a charity. He wished she'd just go back to saving the spotted
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