Killer Deal Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Kyle will get
over it,” Tricia assured me. “He’s being protective and just needs some time to get used to the notion.” We were at 5757, in the Four Seasons, waiting for Cassady to slip away from her science seminar and join us. I have a fondness for hotel bars; they tend to be quieter and people mind their own business because they’re concentrating on business negotiations, vacation plans, or illicit affairs. This grand place, with its cozy tables in an airy space, was perfect for the kind of furrowed-brow discussion we were having.
    “Kyle’s just assuming I’m going to dig too deep and get into a mess.”
    Tricia framed the base of her cocktail glass between her delicate hands. “Now, he does have a certain amount of past experience on which to base that. So you really can’t blame him.”
    And I couldn’t disagree with her either, which painted me into a corner. “I’m learning from my mistakes as I go.”
    “Which we all applaud.”
    “And how better to see what I’ve learned than to test myself?”
    “Are you rehearsing on me?”
    “Depends. How convincing am I?”
    “I’m always won over by simple earnestness. You’re going to have to put something extra in the mix to sway Kyle.”
    “I should concentrate on persuading him I won’t get into trouble this time.”
    “Excellent plan. And when you’re done, you can persuade my mother I’ll be married by Thanksgiving.”
    One of Tricia’s great advantages in life is that she can completely snark you out and it takes a moment for you to realize that’s what she’s done. Even when it sinks in, you look at that porcelain goddess face and those huge Bambi eyes and think: Did I hear her right?
    I thumped my hand over my heart. “ Et tu, Tricia?”
    “Molly,” she continued smoothly, “if you’re going to turn this interview with Gwen Lincoln into your investigative breakthrough, which I’ve been assuming all day is your intention,
you need to commit to it. No matter what anyone else thinks, does, or says. And I speak these words with great sweetness in case any of them need to be eaten at a later date.” She toasted me with her tequila mockingbird, then sipped it in punctuation.
    I mustered an appreciative smile. “You’re absolutely right.”
    “Thank you.”
    “He’s just being protective.”
    “Probably.”
    “He’ll come around once I get to work.”
    “Possibly.”
    “You’re supposed to be fanning the flames, not dampening them.”
    “No, that I’ll leave to her.” She tipped her glass ever so slightly in the direction of the door, where Cassady was gliding in. An odd expression danced around Cassady’s face, as though she were trying not to smile and not quite sure why she’d want to, all at the same time.
    “You didn’t wait for me,” she sighed as she sat down.
    “Comment or complaint?” I asked.
    “Observation. An empirical one, at that.”
    I nudged Tricia. “She’s been with scientists, learning new words.”
    “She’s picked up worse things in the course of an evening,” Tricia said.
    “How many rounds behind am I? I’m surprised. It’s usually a man who’ll get started without you.” Cassady looked past us, searching for the cocktail waitress and pretending not to see Tricia’s grin.
    “How hideous was it?” I asked.
    “Actually, not so much. Interesting, even. I got into a pretty intense discussion with one of them afterward.”
    The waitress swept by and paused expectantly. Cassady has that kind of timing. It had taken us twenty minutes to order our drinks, but now, Cassady’d barely had time to decide where to set down her bag and she was ordering a metropolitan.
The waitress left and Cassady leaned forward on the table, chin in her hands. The odd look was still on her face and I couldn’t quite decipher it.
    “Were you discussing science or how a pocket protector ruins the lines of a good jacket?” Tricia joked.
    “Physics.”
    Tricia and I exchanged a look. “Physics,” I