Duplicity Read Online Free PDF Page B

stiletto. She was the essence of elegance. She knew she looked good and thrived on the admiring glances from every man in the room, and some of the women.
     
    She had one eye on her drink, probably to ensure no-one came close enough to spike it (Georgios’ wasn’t in the most desirable part of town), and one on the door looking for me, so she spied me as soon as I walked into the joint.
     
    Her heels clicked on the tile floor as she made her way over to me, flinging her arms around my neck and giving me a peck on the cheek. I reciprocated in order not to offend her, or perhaps it was because I wanted to, but I would have never have admitted that to myself fully.
     
    “I thought you’d never call.” She said smiling at me, more with her eyes than her lips, but her lips were mesmerizing nonetheless.
     
    “The other night seems like a lifetime ago.” There it was again; the mention of the night I cannot recall. I was either losing my mind, or this was all some massive plot to make me think I was. Either way it was not good. My paranoia was growing out of control.
     
    At that point we were interrupted by the restaurant concierge.
     
    “May I show you to your table?” He asked. I gave him a nod and a smile, following him through the restaurant to a table next to the window, strategically planning my next comment that would shed light on the situation without making me sound like a mad man. I didn’t need to. Julia opened the conversation without any prompt from me.
     
    “How is your leg?” she asked, showing genuine concern in her eyes and her tone. This was my opening to find out exactly how that happened.
     
    “A little sore. I guess the alcohol that night must have helped.” I was making an educated guess there was alcohol involved that night as Sam mentioned that I had asked him to take us to a club.
     
    “Without a doubt, it helps with most things right?” her laugh was infectious and I found myself laughing along with her despite the sinister nature of my investigations.
     
    “Who was that, the guy you were chasing when you bumped into me?” Now we were getting somewhere, although she clearly did not know who Johnny was.
     
    “Johnny Maxwell. He is the perpetrator in one of my cases.” I responded, I wasn’t going to lie to her, but I would only tell her as much as I felt appropriate.
     
    “I saw the scuffle, what were you fighting over? It’s a shame he got away but after he cut your leg you had no chance of catching him.” Johnny seems to have sent me to Julia on a wild goose chase; she only knows what he’d already told me. I found myself disappointed but decided just to enjoy her company in the meantime.
     
    “Oh, I guess I got my work and personal life tangled up. I’d had a drink and I was angry at him for what he had done to my client. He’s in prison now, so it’s fine. He has paid one way or another.” At least I now knew what happened to my leg, but why had I been fighting with Johnny in the first place? None of it made any sense.
     
    “It’s nice to see you during the day.” She beamed. “I only ever usually see you at night. You look even better in the daylight.” I was flattered, but confused all over again.
     
    “Maybe since we have been seeing each other for a while now, we could maybe think about going away for a weekend.” Her face took on the emotions of a child begging for sweets.
     
    “Sure.” I said, gulping, not wanting to offend her. I was beginning to become extremely worried about this memory issue. I apparently was in a relationship, which had reached the serious stage of going on a mini break, and I was not even aware of it.
     
    I decided I would just forget about my problems for the rest of the day. The fact that I had a murderer sending me body parts and that I had a real problem with memory loss was concerning, but I would drive myself crazy if I continued to obsess over it. So I gave myself the night off from playing ‘detective’ and