A Dark and Lonely Place by Edna Buchanan Read Free Book Online

which turned into an all-nighter with cocaine and kinky sex. Bondage, I think. Cheryl didn’t like it, said she didn’t know the invitation had strings attached. Neither did I.
    “I expected him to be a playboy,” she said, “but thought it would be more like a pajama party with Summer and the housekeeper as chaperones. I assumed there was safety in numbers. How naive.”
    “Welcome to Miami.”
    She nodded solemnly, then brightened. “But the energy level here is amazing. I’m crazy about the city, always wanted to see it.”
    “I was lucky,” John said. “We moved here when I was in third grade. What did you say that other guy looked like?”
    “Didn’t see him.” She shook her head. “He showed up late.”
    “So, exactly when did you see Summer last?”
    “John, what is all this about?” She waited for an answer.
    He leaned back, watching her. “That was Ron Jon Eagle’s boat that crashed ashore. That was him hanging off the hotel balcony. He’s dead.”
    She gasped, eyes wide. “That’s not true! It can’t be! He’s alive! He telephoned last night! The girls were to meet him at Sky and go to dinner. But Cheryl decided to leave town early and Summer asked me to come along instead. I was starved, hadn’t eaten solid food since I arrived. You know how the cameras add pounds.”
    He wondered what she was talking about. She looked as sleek as a racehorse.
    “But Eagle didn’t show up at Sky, he sent someone else. Summer knew him.” She paused. “She didn’t say as much, but I thought he must be the other man from the night before. He kept insisting she call Cheryl. Then his phone rang. He said it was Eagle who was running late and would meet us at the restaurant.”
    “By then Eagle had been dead for six hours,” John said. A stranger taking two beautiful girls to meet a dead man insists that a third girl come along. Did Laura’s skin crawl too?
    “I don’t believe it!” she said.
    He got to his feet. “Okay. We can go to the morgue now. You can take a good look at what’s left of him.”
    “Oh, my God. You are serious.” She shrank back in her chair, eyes flooding. “It’s true!”
    He nodded. “What happened after you left Sky?”
    “I said we’d follow him.” Her voice was thin. “But he insisted we go together and come back for the Lamborghini later. I didn’t like the way he looked at us. The man gave me chills. There was something about him . . .
    “Summer knew Cheryl went to the airport, but she simply told him the girl had other plans. He demanded to know where she was, and who she was with. When Summer said she didn’t know, he punched the steering wheel hard. I knew then that I didn’t belong there. I always follow my gut instinct.”
    “Attagirl.” Did she know how close she came to the fire? “How’d you get away?”
    “He drove a black Escalade, blew several red lights like he owned the road. When traffic finally forced him to stop, I just opened the door and stepped out. I could see Summer didn’t want to be alone with him and held the door for her. But she didn’t make a move, so I said, ‘See ya later,’ and walked away.
    “He jumped out after me, but the light changed and the horn-happy Miami drivers behind us, God bless ’em, made such a racket that he jumped back into the Caddy and drove. I’da kicked off my heels and run like a rabbit if he’d turned around. He creeped me out that much. I ran track in high school, I’m fast on my feet. I’da cut through those dark, narrow alleys.”
    “I’m glad you didn’t have to.”
    “Me too.” Their eyes locked. “Had no idea how to get back to Eagle’s for my things. But we country girls have a good sense of direction. I walked east to the Boulevard, turned south till I saw a taxi outside a restaurant. Had the driver take me past Sky. The Lamborghini was stillthere. Then he took me back to Eagle’s. It was spooky. Nobody home. Oh, God, he was already dead, wasn’t he?” She gazed up guiltily,