Death Wears a Beauty Mask and Other Stories Read Online Free PDF Page A

always been able to tell when she’s faking it. And I can tell you now that the last time I saw her in that airport three days ago I knew she was upset about having to do the retakes. She looked exhausted. If I’d had the brains to follow my hunch, I would have driven her home myself.”
    â€œWhere do you think she went?” Janice asked, her voice rising.
    â€œI thought she might have gone to a spa for a few days to get some rest and calm down. But that doesn’t explain why she hasn’t called anybody.”
    â€œBut why would she run out on anything that important?” Janice sighed.
    â€œBecause she never should have accepted that booking in the first place,” Larry snapped. “Fowler Cosmetics has a terrible reputation in the business. They offer big money, but they’re never satisfied with the results. Then they pick a fight with everyone—agency, talent, production company, PR firm—everybody who is associated with the campaign.
    â€œAlexandra was doing fine. She didn’t need this job. It was all about Grant Wilson’s ego and desire for big commissions. He strong-armed her into doing it. Because of the bad deal they agreed to, Grant Wilson and the ad agency will be paid only a fraction of the money they spent producing the commercials until they’re all okayed. Now he’s worried about losing his fees, to say nothing of the fact that Alexandra’s reputation will be badly damaged if they dump the campaign.
    â€œWe’ve been given an ultimatum. Either we reshoot the last commercial or we forget the whole damn deal . . . and what’s more, we have to do the shoot by next Monday. The one good thing is that we have enough background footage of Venice that we can finish it in New York.”
    â€œBut Alexandra must realize that,” Janice protested. “Don’t you know her well enough to believe she’d never walk away from that responsibility?”
    Larry stood up and looked at Alexandra’s portrait. A moody frown creased his forehead. “I turned your sister from a high school kid from small-town USA into a top model. The first day I met her, she knew all the dumb tricks in the book and thought she was so smart. She still thinks she learned to pose in front of a mirror.”
    Irritably he turned the dial on the air conditioner. “I recommended her to editors. I took her around, introduced her to people, got her on the right accounts, kept her away from the sleazes, and she was doing great until . . .”
    â€œUntil what?” Mike asked.
    â€œUntil she got involved with the biggest sleaze of all, Grant Wilson. Three years ago her agent retired and Wilson persuaded her to go with him.”
    Janice sprang up. Larry Thompson’s words seemed to be beating against the sides of her head. “We’d better go, Mike,” she said. “It’s obvious Mr. Thompson doesn’t know where Alexandra is. It’s equally obvious that although he’s worked with her for ten years, he doesn’t know that she’s incapable of letting anyone down. She’d die rather than have that happen. We’re just wasting our time here.”
    Larry Thompson reacted as though she had slapped him. “Perhaps, Janice,” he said defensively, “the reason I choose to believe that Alexandra is deliberately staying away is because I don’t want to face the alternative.”
    Janice’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
    â€œThat’s enough, Thompson,” Mike snapped.
    â€œIt would seem obvious that you’ve just put your finger on what I mean if we accept the premise that Alexandra would rather die than let her friends down.” Larry’s expression changed, became bleak. His voice was suddenly husky. “I keep asking myself if there was anyreason she was looking so exhausted, even unfocused, those last days in Venice. She looked terrible. A year ago