B004183M70 EBOK (22 page)

"Jeff? Jeff, dear," said an
attractive woman with pretty gray hair and fine features. A man accompanied
her, one I recognized from the church service. The Wexfords.

Jeff turned at the sound of her voice and
enveloped her in his arms. "Mom, Dad, I did everything I could, and I
failed."

I walked slowly away. I didn't want them to
know who I was, lest they start in about Bradley. Jeff had never asked my name
either. Good. He frightened me, with his ham-sized hands, his anger, his sobs,
and his delusions. Did he really believe that Scott Roberts "rented a
room" to Suzie?

Obviously, until the day Suzie died, Jeff
was convinced that he would marry her. He even called her parents
"Mom" and "Dad." Was it possible that Suzie had accepted
Pierre's marriage proposal? That she told Jeff she was marrying someone else? I
could imagine her leading him along, saying that it was for her career, and
that her heart belonged to him.

But what if he didn't like the scheme? What
if Jeff went to her apartment that night—she would have let him in—and he found
her—I squeezed my eyes shut for a second—in whatever state she was in that told
him she'd been with a ... a lover?

Yes, I could easily picture him losing all
control and strangling her.

"Bebe?"

"Oh, Gloria. I'm sorry; I was lost in
thought and didn't see you." I glanced around and noted the ballroom was
at capacity.

"That's okay," she said coldly.
"I saw you talkin' to Jeff. He's a dope," she proclaimed.
"Believed every lie Suzie fed him. Have you seen Pierre?"

"No, not yet. What does Jeff do for a
living?"

Gloria didn't meet my gaze. She had a plate
of food in her hands, and popped a salmon roll in her mouth. Speaking around
it, she said, "Teaches teenagers how to box down in the Bowery."

"He looks like he's taken a few hits
to the face," I said.

"Bet on it. One of Suzie's secrets,
finally out in the open after Jeffs performance at the memorial."

"Didn't you tell me that the morning
you did Suzie's makeup for the Mustang display, she bragged that she'd refused
Pierre's marriage proposal?"

"What she told me," Gloria
answered, her gaze finally meeting mine.

"I see. I'm glad you came to the
memorial, Gloria."

She shrugged. "Business. Lots of
Suzie's clients were there. Now they're here, so I've got to hang loose with
the execs. I'll see ya."

"Wait! Gloria, have you seen Dirk
Snellings, the old boss at Ryan? Is he here?"

"Yeah, I saw him a few minutes
ago." She craned her neck. "You can't miss him. Very tall, dark hair,
kinda a classic American look—there he is. He's the one with the red rose in
his lapel over by the steak tartare."

Gloria edged away before I could say thank
you. It seemed she didn't want to talk to me except for a brief chat now and
then.

Why?

I couldn't think about it now. I needed to
question Snellings. The steak tartare was at the end of a long buffet table,
before the desserts.

Boldly, I walked back to the bar and
ordered like a female James Bond. "I'll have a martini, shaken, not
stirred."

The bartender looked at me and snorted.
"I guess you're of age. Nobody at this function is underage."

The nerve! I accepted my drink and looked
down my nose at him before walking away. Immediately some of the liquid spilled
over the edge onto the gold carpet. I held the martini glass slightly away from
me, then bent and took a gulp. Wow! That was some wicked drink, burning its way
down my throat and making my eyes water. I guess I shouldn't have taken such a
big swallow.

I elbowed and squeezed my way through
people, more of the martini sloshing over the top of the glass, until I reached
Dirk Snellings. Mr. Snellings, husband, cheater, and liar, was good-looking in
a choirboy way. How ironic.

"Mr. Snellings?"

He turned and looked me over. "Hey,
chickie, do I know you?"

I took a quick peek at his left hand and
noticed he wasn't wearing his wedding ring, but an indentation on the
appropriate finger gave his game away. Jerk!

I smiled. "We haven't been introduced.
You might say I know you by reputation."

He popped some of that raw steak into his
mouth. I was so grossed out, I took another sip of my martini.

"By reputation, you say. Now, how's
that?" he asked, taking a sip of his amber-colored drink.

"I'm Bebe Bennett, the new secretary
at Ryan."

Again the once-over, then, "You
looking to be a model? Because, chickie, I think I could set you up."

"No, she's not looking to be a model;
are you, Miss Bennett?" Bradley said, nearly making me fall into Dirk
Snellings's arms when he bumped my back before strolling to my side.

I gave Bradley a blinding smile. "Of
course not, Mr. Williams. You know I enjoy my job as your executive
secretary."

"And you were just bringing me this
martini," he said, taking the glass—complete with pink-lip-gloss
stain—right out of my hand, darn him.

"Exactly! Listen, you two should know
each other," I said cheerfully. "Mr. Williams, this is Mr. Snellings,
the former head of Ryan."

The men shook hands.

If I had judged Snellings correctly, nature
would take its course. Bradley had unknowingly handed me an opportunity, and
what was about to happen was for his own good.

Right on cue, Mr. Snellings broke into a
laugh. He said to Bradley, "Funny we should meet here, Williams. How'd
you like Suzie chickie? She was the best lay—"

Mr. Snellings stopped and looked at me.
"I'm not offending you, am I, Bebe?"

"Me? Not in the least, Dirk," I
said, taking the liberty of using his first name. "I've been around the
block." I smiled at Bradley and snatched the martini glass back.
"Just a sip," I told him in my best Marilyn Monroe voice.

Bradley pretended to drop his napkin. On
his way down to retrieve it, he muttered for my ears, "Only blocks you've
been around, kid, are wooden with the ABCs printed on them."

I kinda kicked him. Discreetly. He took the
martini back.

I moved closer to Dirk. "What a lovely
red rose you're wearing."

Dirk gave a hearty laugh. "I wore it
in honor of our Suzie. Always demanded red roses the whole two years she was
mine. She do that to you, Williams?"

Oh, how this needed to be done, even though
Bradley might experience pain. Maybe the scales would drop from his eyes and
he'd get over Suzie once and for all. I shifted my gaze to him.

Bradley looked at Dirk intently. "Yes,
she always asked for red roses."

Dirk gobbled another bit of steak tartare
from his plate, and laughed around it. "I knew it. Suzie never changed.
Slept with whoever could advance her career. Lived life to the limit. Hell,
I'm still paying off Tiffany's!"

Bradley drank my martini in one shot. He
appeared to be his normal, cool self, but I could see his full lips tighten,
indicating anger. I hoped he was angry at Suzie, not Dirk.

"So, Dirk, did she drop you like a hot
potato when Mr. Williams took over the agency?" I asked, flipping one side
of my hair back and giving Dirk a big grin, Darlene style.

"She sure did, Bebe. I never saw her
again once it was announced that you were the new man, Williams."

"Is that so?" Bradley said in a
neutral tone.

"Yeah, but, hey, no hard feelings.
I'll bet she got to know you real well the very first day you were on the job.
But, buddy, I had her for two years. True, I had to share her with Scott, then
Pierre, but hell, I didn't mind." He leaned closer to Bradley and me.
"I've been married the whole time, and I've got a cute chickie at my new
job in advertising. Christ, it's not like Suzie ever said she loved me."

Dirk straightened and glanced around. Bored
with the conversation and looking for greener pastures, I thought.

Quickly, I said, "Lola is here."

Dirk pointed at Bradley with a cracker.
"Lola was wild in the sack, but when Suzie came along, I only saw Lola
every once in a while. Hey, buddy, tell it like it is, or was. Suzie didn't say she loved you, did she?
Kinda hurt a guy's pride if she did."

"No, she didn't," Bradley said in
that same calm tone.

"Now that you've mentioned Lola,
Bebe," Dirk said, "I think I'll go say hello. Nice meeting you both.
Here's my card, Bebe, if you ever want to get in touch."

He winked at me, then started to walk away.
I followed him a few paces, then reached out my right hand and grabbed him by
the sleeve. "Dirk, have you got any idea who might have killed
Suzie?"'

Suddenly I felt my left hand, holding
Dirk's card, being pulled so hard my arm stretched out.

Dirk glanced over his shoulder at me and
said, "Not a clue. Suzie not only had lots of lovers; she also had lots of
enemies."

I couldn't thank him, because he kept going
through the crowd, and finally the pain in my left arm caused me to surrender
to Bradley.

Tripping in my pumps, I managed to right
myself. He dropped my arm, taking Dirk's card from my hand. His well-manicured
fingers tore the card into tiny pieces and let them fall to the floor.

Bradley's fierce gaze burned holes in my
eyes. "Dammit, what kind of game are you playing, Miss Bennett? Because
you're in way over your head."

"I don't know what you mean," I
said, wishing that someone, anyone, would appear wanting a conversation.
Bradley's body was practically touching me, since we were near the hordes of
people waiting to get food.

Bradley cocked his head, his gaze never
faltering. "Yes, you do know what I mean. Don't you he to me too."

Oh, dear God. "How dare you suggest
that I would lie to you the way Suzie did!" I may have told him a fib here
and there, but that wasn't the same.

"Because that's what women do. Lie.
Which is why I now regret spending time with Suzie. Once with any woman is
quite enough for me."

"Don't you think that depends on the
woman?"

"I haven't met one yet who's been
different."

Was I included in that statement? My chin
trembled, and I felt that painful burning behind my eyes. I would not cry.

Bradley said, "Did you set me up for
that meeting with Snellings?"

"How could I do that? I was talking to
the man who was your predecessor, and you walked up to us." I had taken
full advantage of the situation, though, knowing it would hurt Bradley.

He looked furious. "That's because I
saw you with a martini in your hand, and I didn't want to have to carry you out
to a cab."

"You needn't worry about me!"

"No? Good. I suppose you know what
kind of impression you made with that ass. Is that what you want? To be the
type of woman Suzie was?"

I opened my mouth to deny it when Bradley
moved so close to me I could feel his breath on my face.

"If that's what you want, we can go
upstairs to a room right now, and I'll be sure word gets around
afterward," he said.

Tears threatened again at the idea of
Bradley doing that with me the way he suggested, as if I were another girl just
good for one night. I raised my hand to slap his face, but he saw it coming and
caught my fingers in a strong grip.

I forced myself not to cry. "You're
angry because you thought Suzie was special, and now you've found out she was
just another floozy! Don't take that anger out on me, Mr. Williams. I'm not
that kind of girl, and you damn well know it!"

My voice shook, but I managed to snatch my
hand out of his. I bolted through a gap in the buffet tables, and walked behind
them to Maria.

"Hi, Maria. I wanted to see how you
were doing," I said, my voice low and quavering.

She froze in the act of placing fancy
toothpicks into small squares of cheese. "Bebe, you look like you're going
to faint. You're trembling. Take a deep breath."

I did so, realizing I had been taking
shallow gasps of air. "Something upset me, that's all. I'll be okay in a
minute."

"It was him, wasn't it? You need some
ginger ale." She raised her hand and waved until she caught the glance of
one of the waiters at the soda table. Maria mouthed the words ginger ale to him
and he nodded.

"Hey, you've got some power in this
place," I said, as the young man hastened to do her bidding.

"Ah, he's another one who makes big
promises," she said under her breath. "Thank you, Carlos."

The young man grinned, then winked at
Maria.

She handed me the full glass. I drank it
down, feeling cooler, more calm. I began helping her with the toothpicks.
"Maria, do I look fast to you?"

She burst out laughing, causing people
around us to glance our way. "No, Bebe. You look like what you are, a beautiful
woman inside and out."