Keeping Company Read Online Free PDF Page A

she didn’t have such a generous bosom. “I’m an attorney.”
    “And I’m Mickey Spillane.” He pulled a notebook from his breast pocket and wet the tip of his pencil with his tongue. “Name?”
    “She’s Princess Andora of the Zanatares,” Dylan said, completely unconcerned about the situation and more than a little amused by the black look Alaina shot his way. “Don’t you recognize her?”
    The deputy frowned at him. “Who are you?”
    Dylan grinned, pushing back the tails of his frock coat and tucking his hands into the pockets of his baggy pants. “Yes, I am.”
    “Yes, you are who?”
    “Absolutely.”
    Alaina quickly bent and snatched up her cigarettes and lighter. She shook one out of the pack and planted it between her lips. “Can we please dispense with the Abbott and Costello routine?” she said dryly as she lit up. “We’ve already done Who’s on First.”
    The deputy shook his pencil at Dylan. “Don’t get cute with me, bub. I’ll flatten you like yesterday’s roadkill. I’ll shake you so hard, your kids’ll come out dizzy.”
    Dylan’s brows lifted. He fought back a smile. This guy belonged on a sitcom. But then, this entire scene belonged on a sitcom. It was just the sort of situation that appealed to his sense of the absurd. “You’re new around here, aren’t you?”
    “Don’t think that’s gonna help you, pal. I’m not some green-as-grass rookie. I’ve been around the block. I know the score. I’ve seen the mean streets.”
    Taking a deep drag on her cigarette, Alaina just barely managed not to groan. She squinted at the deputy’s chest, trying to make out his name tag in the glare of two sets of headlights. “Look, Deputy Screwup—”
    “That’s Skrea-wupp,” he corrected her stiffly. “It’s Flemish.”
    Alaina bit her tongue, then pressed on with her usual aplomb, as if she hadn’t just made a monumental blunder. “How fascinating. Please allow me to explain what happened here. I was on my way to a friend’s party when my car broke down and this lunatic tried to attack me.”
    Dylan’s look was incredulous. “I did not try to attack you!”
    “So, you finally admit you’re a lunatic,” Alaina said, jumping on his careless omission. “Now we’re getting somewhere!”
    “Yeah,” Deputy Skreawupp drawled, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. “Now we’re getting in the squad car and going to the station. You’re both under arrest.”
    Alaina shot him her most imperious glare, knowing the effect was somewhat lost, what with her standing there dressed like a cheap thrill. Still, she had to make the effort. She had a reputation to protect. “You have got to be kidding.”
    “You’re making a big mistake,” Dylan chimed in.
    “You have the right to remain silent.”

Chapter
2

    The Anastasia jail was an unusually pleasant sort of place. Housed in an old stone building two blocks off the waterfront, the interior had been completely remodeled. The walls were painted white, and there was a mural done in pastels depicting a sailing scene and the annual migration of the gray whales behind the front desk. All in all, Alaina thought it looked more like the Chamber of Commerce office than a jail.
    They were greeted by a smiling, cherub-faced lady in her fifties who wore a surfing T-shirt and a button that encouraged everyone to HAVE A NICE DAY IN ANASTASIA . When she glanced up from herpaperwork, she beamed at the man handcuffed to Alaina’s left arm.
    “Why, hello, Dylan! What are you doing here?”
    Deputy Skreawupp peered over their shoulders. “Disturbing the peace, simple assault, and conspiracy to solicit.”
    “Goodness!” the woman said, chuckling, her blue eyes shining like sapphires. “You’ve been a busy boy tonight!”
    “This is all a simple misunderstanding, Jan,” Dylan said. His good humor had returned on the ride into town. The whole thing could be cleared up in no time, and he had to admit he had sort of enjoyed watching Ms. Career