One of Those Malibu Nights Read Online Free PDF Page B

is
all
you get.”
    And then Allie Ray, movie star supreme, curled up in Mac’s tattered black leather La-Z-Boy and, to his horror, burst into floods of tears. She pounded the chair with her fists, howling and sobbing.
    Pirate hauled himself to his feet and ran to her. That dog hated a scene, he’d probably had had too much of it in his previous life, before Mac became his father. He sniffed Allie anxiously, whining and pawing at her. And to Mac’s astonishment the movie star leaned over and scooped him onto her knee. “Sweet doggie,” she whispered as Pirate began to lick away her tears.
    “So now you see why I envy you, Mr. Reilly,” she said between hiccups. “I don’t even have a Pirate. I just have the
right
dog, the one we’re all supposed to have this year.”
    “Not a Chihuahua!”
    She shook her head, scattering tears all over Pirate, who shook his head too, to get rid of them. “A miniature Maltese. By the name of Fussy. And believe me, she is.”
    Mac offered her a box of Kleenex. He thought regretfully that he would miss his flight to Rome, but knew he had no choice. Allie Ray needed his help.
    “Tell you what,” he said, “why don’t we go for that walk along the beach? Now I know you better you can tell me why you need me. And why you are so desperate.”

C HAPTER 7
    Pirate loped along the shoreline while Mac and Allie followed at a more leisurely pace. After all, they were not there for the exercise.
    Allie took off her sneakers and brushed the drops of mist from her hair. Digging her toes into the wet sand she said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t come here to cry on your shoulder. I came to ask for your professional help. I’m a rich woman, Mr. Reilly. I’m willing to pay lavishly for your exclusive time.”
    Mac raised his brows, surprised by the offer. It was surely coming at a handy moment, when his TV income might be suddenly cut off.
    “Anything I can do,” he said.
    She stopped, then turned to face him. “For the past week, I’ve been followed. It’s a black Sebring convertiblewith dark windows so I can’t see the driver. There’s no license plate at the front, and since he’s always in the back of me I never get to see it. But lately it’s always there, on my tail. I don’t know whether it’s my husband having me watched to see if he can get any dirt on me. Or if it’s the same crazy stalker who’s been after me for the last few months. He sends me letters—love letters he calls them, though it’s all just filth. Of course I don’t look at them anymore, I just burn them without opening them. Anyhow, it’s scary.”
    Mac didn’t like the sound of those letters, nor the black Sebring. He thought it strange that both Perrin and his wife believed they were being followed. He wondered if they were tailing each other, but when he asked her Allie denied it.
    “Then why not go to the police?”
    “Because I’m Allie Ray,” she said simply. “You can only imagine what would happen. I’m terrified though. I feel eyes on me, as though I’m being watched wherever I go. I don’t know what to do.”
    Mac made a quick decision. It wasn’t only the offer of good money that attracted him. Allie Ray was vulnerable, and she was hurting, and it was more than just a scary stalker and a husband who no longer appreciated her. He got the feeling Allie was a desperately lonely woman who needed not only his help but also his support.
    “So why don’t I find out who it is, and if it’s your husband or not.”
    She threw him a grateful smile then turning away she walked along the edge of the shore where the waves hit the sand, uncaring that she was getting wet. Picking up a stick, she threw it for Pirate who galloped joyfully after it. Wagging his butt, he dropped it at her feet making her laugh and she picked it up and threw it again.
    “That’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh,” Mac said.
    She shot him a mischievous glance. “Except in the movies, you mean. Then I laugh all