If I Had You by Heather Hiestand Read Free Book Online

board.
    â€œBad-tempered, more like. The entire hotel has a hangover.”
    â€œAnd no surprise. But the staff cleaned up so well you’d never know the place was covered with bunting and confetti and wine bottles last night.”
    â€œIt’s amazing that such a high-caliber staff could be recruited, given the hotel’s reputation,” Ivan commented.
    â€œUnemployment. People will take anything,” Norman Johnson said, joining them. “Most of the younger staff probably didn’t know about the murders and the ghosties when they applied for a position.”
    Ivan snorted. “I’ve never spoken to anyone who has seen these supposed ghosties.”
    Swankle smiled. “You don’t spend any time chatting with the chambermaids. I’ve only worked here a day and I’ve heard two stories.”
    â€œAttempting to scare the new hire,” Ivan said dismissively.
    â€œA very effective attempt. I won’t be wandering around in the ballroom at night with the lights out, I’ll tell you that.”
    â€œThey say the actresses were killed in a demonic ritual,” Johnson said with a leer.
    Swankle shuddered. “You Russians are a superstitious lot, right? You think that sort of thing is for real?”
    Ivan shrugged. “I’ve never seen a ghost.”
    * * *
    Sybil dabbed scent on her wrists. “Help me with my Chanel, will you, darling?”
    Sybil lifted her arms over her head, and Alecia climbed on a chair with the heavy, beaded dress and helped Sybil shimmy into it. Her maid had the day off.
    â€œDo you think I should still reveal so much skin at my age?” Sybil said, after looking at herself critically in the mirror.
    â€œI would never have believed you were thirty-nine if I hadn’t seen your papers,” Alecia said. This wasn’t entirely untrue. Certain aspects of Sybil’s figure had become a bit middle-aged, but not her arms, legs, or face.
    â€œThank you. My grandmother always looked very young. Cucumbers. That’s what she believed in. Like the Russians.”
    â€œRussians believe in cucumbers?”
    â€œThey adore them, darling, simply adore them.” Sybil sat in front of her dressing table and applied her lipstick. “We’re going to dinner with the No, No, Nanette people tonight. Let’s hope it turns into a job for me.”
    â€œYes, ma’am.”
    â€œPray Binnie Hale breaks her nose or something,” Sybil said. “That’s the break we need.”
    â€œOh, I can’t pray for that. I’m a vicar’s granddaughter, you know. How about a bad case of bunions?” Alecia said, only half joking.
    Sybil whistled in response. “Then you really aren’t going to like what I have to say next. This needs to stay strictly confidential, but you’re a good girl and I think we’ll be able to keep you employed for a long time.”
    Alecia put her hands to her temples. She knew that tone. It was a threatening kind of tone. She remembered it well from her less than successful attempt to study nursing. Sybil was about to say something that could cost her this job, her room in the Grand Russe, and her view of the entrancing but infuriating Ivan Salter.
    â€œWhat do you mean, Sybil?”
    Sybil sang a few notes.
    The words “lover’s oasis” caught Alecia’s ear and gave her a clue as to what was coming. “What is that from?”
    â€œ ‘Tea for Two.’ From No, No, Nanette , you see. I’m practicing so I can break out in song for this evening.”
    â€œIt’s a nice lyric.”
    â€œAnd appropriate for the Grand Russe. So many handsome men here. It does turn a girl’s head.”
    â€œIt’s the uniforms. They make all the men look so broad-shouldered and fit,” Alecia said.
    Sybil raised an eyebrow in the mirror. “Uniforms? Oh no, darling, the man I have in mind was in white tie and tails.”
    Alecia met