Read Online Two Cooks A-Killing by Joanne Pence - Free Book Online

though.”
    â€œBrittany Keegan,” Paavo said.
    â€œThat’s right!” Yosh exclaimed. “I was living upin Seattle at the time. My wife was terribly upset. I wasn’t working Homicide yet, but it seemed they went out of their way to keep information from the public. The death was ruled an accident, but my wife said she thought one of the other women on the show probably knocked her off.”
    â€œIt was all strangely hush-hush,” Rebecca added. “Not even the tabloids speculated about anything other than it being a sad accident. A riding accident on her Malibu estate, as I recall.”
    â€œI vaguely remember that,” Paavo said. “The newspapers made it sound like she was in L.A., but Angie swears she actually died in Napa County.”
    â€œWeird,” Yosh said.
    â€œMaybe I need to find out about the woman’s death,” Paavo murmured.
    â€œEver the cop.” Rebecca shook her head. “How does Angie feel about you wanting to check up on everybody she associates with?”
    He thought about Angie staying at a rich man’s house with his two bachelor sons. Maybe Rebecca had the right idea.
    Â 
    â€œGet me out of this, goddamn it!” Kyle O’Rourke yelled into his cell phone. He lounged on the redwood deck of his split-level Laguna Beach home and stared out at the Pacific. “How many times do I have to say it?”
    Once again, his agent gave him all the reasons he was not getting out of it and was going to St. Helena, which boiled down to three reasons that were bull, three that were shit, and one that was real: if he didn’t show up to play the elegant albeitshoved-around Adrian Roxbury, he’d be sued for breach of contract, and it could cost him somewhere between five and ten million dollars.
    He punched the “End” button on his Nokia, snapped it shut, and tossed it onto the small table at his side. He’d already known it was way too late to get out of the deal, but the closer the time came, the more he felt the need to yell at someone about it. His agent was the easiest target.
    Memories of Eagle Crest rushed at him. Bad memories, despite the way his career had benefited from the role. He had a good life in southern California now, a beautiful wife, two children, and a contract to star in a Ridley Scott film beginning next month.
    He wanted nothing more to do with the Adrian Roxbury role or the people he’d worked with. Not Bart or Rhonda. Not even Gwen. He smiled, remembering her. Since he and Gwen had played the rockily married Adrian and Leona when the cameras rolled, it made sense that when the cameras were off, they’d find time to kiss and make up.
    Gwen was cool. He believed she’d never tell his wife, and she didn’t.
    Still, there were always small-minded people around who used stars like him to find their way into the news. What was said in jest might have more than a little truth to it. He didn’t want to take the chance. He’d insisted that his wife stay home with the kids.
    Keeping his wife out of the loop was hard enough, but the real trick would be to keep the press out of it. There was too much dirt they coulddredge up. Ironically, his new film persona was based on Adrian Roxbury’s character, not on Kyle O’Rourke’s.
    Kyle would never forget the day it dawned on him how to act when fans came up to him with tears and sympathy, saying they thought he was wonderfully nice and sweet and shouldn’t have to be made to suffer so much because of his horrible brother, Cliff, and his cheating, shrewish wife, Leona.
    Instead of protesting that Adrian was simply a character he played on TV, he began to thank his fans for their concern, and say that somehow, he had the faith that this would all turn out well. The fans loved him for it. They would smile and hug him, pleased by his good nature, forgiveness, and God-loving charity toward others. Adrian Roxbury, candidate for