Last Fairytale, The Read Online Free PDF Page B

asked, then dropped her eyes to Bree and waited.
    “I’ll have the roasted red pepper and vegetable sandwich, please.”
    “An excellent choice,” Sarah replied.
    “One request,” Bree added, “please tell the chef to leave off the mushrooms. I’m not a fan.”
    Taylor Vonnegon dropped the crust he’d just bitten into and covered his mouth, then leaned away from the table as a massive coughing spell ensued.
    “I apologize,” he said when he could speak again. “Something went down the wrong way.”
    Gen ducked her head and smiled. This was the first time in the entire conversation she’d seen him less than completely self-assured.

Chapter Six
     
     
    At the end of the meal, Vonnegon promised to put in a call to the detectives first thing Monday morning. Gen gave him her business card and suggested he get in touch if his company needed help solving the burglary. They shook hands, exchanged polite thanks and goodbyes, and parted on the street.
    When Vonnegon turned downhill toward his car, Gen thought he left reluctantly. Unfinished business? She and Bree linked arms and strolled away in the opposite direction.
    “I do not trust that man any more now than I did before lunch,” Bree said.
    “Interesting, though.”
    “Which part?”
    “All of it, really. I admit I’m intrigued.”
    “Easy for you to say, you didn’t find the body. You didn’t get grilled by Inspector Clouseau. You didn’t get accosted by Vonnegon twice last night.”
    “You seemed surprised at the info he collected.”
    “Not really. I use search engines all the time to dig up stats about people, so I’ll have background for my magazine assignments.”
    Gen’s eyes slid to her. “So did you research Ducane?”
    “Some. Wasn’t much to find. He’s not a joiner, hasn’t been published in his field that I could see, no social networking other than the regulation Facebook account he never posts to. He’s an MIT grad, originally from the Midwest. That’s about all I got. I didn’t have a reason to dig too deep.”
    Gen and Bree parted almost on cue to skirt a jogger running up the sidewalk, then moved back together. “Most people would find it pretty unsettling, finding a dead employee in the office, but Vonnegon didn’t show much remorse.”
    “Yeah,” Bree replied. “The guy doesn’t break a sweat. I get the impression he doesn’t have a nerve in his body.”
    “You were quiet today. Not the Bree Marie who almost told the handsome detective to take a flying leap last night.”
    “Vonnegon throws me, I guess.”
    “How so?”
    “Oh, you know. I’ve never had your kind of confidence, the wild and crazy coed who used to dance on the cafeteria tables. I thought you were more ballsy than anyone I’d ever met.”
    “I’ve dialed it back the past couple years.”
    “Why?”
    Gen adjusted the strap on her bag and shoved her hands in her pockets, then blew out a long, slow breath. “The girl I used to be was a little too bourbon-infused and frantic. It evened out when I fell in love with Ryan. Then I opened my business and that showed me the troubled side of people, even more than being a lawyer had. It grounded me. Helped me appreciate what I have. I like the person I am now.”
    Gen squeezed Bree’s arm. “But I remember you as a pretty tough interrogator on the school paper. So I was surprised when the reporter in you didn’t pound the Elergene CEO with a million questions. You had good reason to.”
    “Yeah, I was a wimp today.” Bree sniffed. “Although I did have a few choice words for him last night outside my condo. I wasn’t intimidated when I was tired and cranky.”
    “Oh, come on. I didn’t know that was possible.”
    “What, that I get crabby, or that people can make me feel inferior?”
    “Everybody has their grouchy days. I mean the other.”
    “Look at it this way. My work requires that I listen, record information, take instructions. I play the part much better now than when I was a