Snow Blind - Lori G. Armstrong [132]
Or not.
469
Buzz and I ate lunch at Southside McDonalds. The Kinsey Millhone hangover special for me. Four double-cheeseburgers and a yogurt parfait for him. A few blocks down Mt. Rushmore Road I smoked the tail end of my cigarette and studied the travel agency, nestled in a remodeled 1940s ranch house. Why people didn’t buy airline tickets, cruises, and getaway specials online boggled my mind.
“What’re we doin’ here?” Buzz asked.
I’d called ahead to make sure Amery was working. “Kim is getting married in Vegas in a few weeks. I need to check on ticket prices for me and Martinez.”
“Bossman know about this trip?”
“Ah. It’s a surprise.”
“He don’t like surprises.”
“Well, I wouldn’t just spring it on him, which is 470
why I want to look at all the options before I bring it up. The different hotels. Suite sizes. Entertainment packages. You know what I mean.” I shouldered my purse and paused. “You coming in to help me?”
The pained look on his mug told me how much
the option appealed to him.
“No? That’s okay. I promise I won’t be more than five minutes.”
“Julie—”
“Listen. I’m not gonna ditch you. I’ll be in and out.” I pointed at the office drones working in front of the big windows. “You can even see me. I’ll stay in sight.”
“Five minutes or I’m comin’ in.”
Heeding his warning, I scooted inside and plopped right down in front of Amery’s terminal.
She blinked and glanced around. “Julie. This is a surprise.”
“Not as much of a surprise as it is for me to see you still playing the part of a working girl.”
“Excuse me?”
“God knows I wouldn’t be shilling cut-rate senior bus tours to Branson, Missouri, if I stood to inherit five million smackers. And that’s not counting the multimillion-dollar lawsuit you have brewing on the side.”
Her expression changed not one iota. “What do you mean?”
I leaned forward. “Cut the shit. The grieving granddaughter routine only goes so far, and you’ve 471
stretched it to the limits of believability with me.”
“I really—”
“—didn’t think we’d find out how much old Vern was worth? For Christsake, Amery, we are professional investigators.”
She bit her lip, but I didn’t buy her pitiful littlegirl act. “Does Kevin know you’re here?”
“No. Kevin and I don’t see eye to eye where you’re concerned. He sees you through a fog of lust. I see you taking advantage of his trust.”
She permitted a tiny simpering smile. “Maybe you should talk to your partner first before you try to intimidate me and ramble on when you don’t know the score. Because it sure didn’t seem like I was taking advantage of his trust when he was in my bed last night.”
Kevin, you randy dog. You literally did pump her. Not for info, but for revenge sex. I was impressed.
“Is that it? Came here to warn me off?”
“No, I’m here as a public service.” I leaned close.
“I’m onto you, doll. Every cold-blooded move you’ve made. Hiring Kevin to uncover the terrible things that could happen at your beloved Pop-Pop’s retirement home. Skipping off to his condo during a blizzard, right after you left your grandfather to fucking die alone like an unwanted dog. Then conveniently ‘forgetting’ your cell phone, so you’re out of touch. Jetting off to Vegas only to be called back to face the very tragedy you feared.”
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Amery cocked her head prettily, like a beribboned cocker spaniel.
“Then, horrors! Everything you fretted about came true. But you forgot two teeny things. One—
you shouldn’t have dumped Kevin so soon after your potential cash windfall. He’s a guy. He’s gonna take the piece of ass if you shake it in front of him. If sex is throw-off-your-inhibitions-in-the-middle-of-the-workday-and-screw-on-the-conference-table fantastic then he’s gonna expect more of it.
“So, when you suddenly yank the hot sex away, not even attempting to replace it with the old standby of preferring cuddling time, he’ll get suspicious. Like you were . . . using him for something besides sex. And being the snoopy sort, he’ll start digging for answers.
“And because I’m the