Kim Oh 3: Real Dangerous People (The Kim Oh Thrillers) by K. W. Jeter Read Free Book Online Page A

this line of work, with all the guns and every other piece of lethal equipment – if somebody didn’t like you, there were all sorts of accidents that could just happen. Sure, he might get chewed out afterward, maybe even fired the way it’d happened to me up in Albany – but I’d be dead.
     
    That was something I was trying to avoid.
     
    I got up from the table, went over, and lay down on the couch, without bothering to undress. Maybe if I’d gone into the kitchenette and stuck my head in the freezer, the stuff inside it would’ve let me go to sleep.
     
    I closed my eyes, but nothing happened. Which was too bad – I had the feeling there were going to be a lot of long days ahead of me.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    FIVE
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Curt probably wasn’t in any better mood the next morning.
     
    Not after a meeting like that one at the Diamondhead Lounge the night before. He’d probably been hoping that the other guys would welcome the latest crew member without one of them actually threatening to kill me.
     
    He was behind the wheel of the Chevy as it followed that gunboat Lincoln up the curving driveway of Falcon’s mansion. The black iron gates, with their security cameras mounted on top, swung shut behind him.
     
    Leaving the Chevy parked in the drive, Curt mounted the wide steps up to the front door. The rest of the crew, including me, had already piled out of the Lincoln and were waiting for him there. Another security camera, up by the fanlight windows, swiveled in his direction as he rang the bell, then stepped back and waited. After a moment, the door’s deadbolt lock clicked, and he pushed it open. We followed him in.
     
    “Earl –” Mrs. Falcon came down the sweeping central stairs as we stood right inside the foyer. He was the first one she recognized. “I’m so glad to see you.”
     
    “Good to see you, too, ma’am.”
     
    “It’s been too long.” She took his hand. “I mean that.”
     
    Actually, he and the rest of the crew had probably been out there just a couple of days before. But it wasn’t something worth correcting the boss’s wife about.
     
    “And Curt –” She used both hands to take his.
     
    “Hello, Mrs. Falcon.”
     
    “Please,” she said. “It’s Fal- cone -ee.” A smile and a shake of the head. “Honestly – I don’t know where he comes up with these things.”
     
    None of us said anything as we all glanced over at her husband. He was standing just a few yards away, over in the bowling alley-sized living room. He looked a little irritated, but didn’t say any more than we did. He turned and walked over to the wet bar and started fixing himself a drink.
     
    Mrs. Falcon’s smile disappeared as she held on to Curt’s hand. “I heard about Heinz. I’m so sorry.”
     
    A little nod was his only reply.
     
    She dropped his hand and turned toward me.
     
    “It’s . . .” You could just about see her searching through her memory. “Kathy, isn’t it?”
     
    “Kim, actually.”
     
    “Yes, of course. It’s good to see you again, too.”
     
    I’d never met her before her in my life.
     
    But I’d met women just like her. You might have, as well. A lot of the time, they’re really sweet, the way rich women can be. They’re not all bitchy the way you see on TV. But they’re usually a bit on the alcoholic side. Not like crazy, hit-the-bottom alcoholic, but just the sort of nicely befuddled way you get to be when you have a chauffeur to take you wherever you want to go, plus plenty of other people to make sure you’re okay. Crap, if I had that kind of money, I’d probably drink my breakfast, too. Plus – for women married to somebody like Falcon – it probably helped them to not think about where all the money came from. That way, you can stay a nice person.
     
    “How have you been, Kelly?”
     
    “Busy,” I said. “You know how it is.”
     
    “Oh, I do .” Her expression brightened. “You know what we