Linda Lovely - Marley Clark 02 - No Wake Zone by Linda Lovely Read Free Book Online

doubly
glad you’re here.”
    “It might be best if I hang in the kitchen. I don’t exactly
have a calming effect on the man. If Hamilton sees me, he’ll become even
testier.”
    “You know him?” Her eyebrows shot up.
    “Afraid so. I’ll explain after he leaves.”
    “Okay, but please listen in, and if I call out, charge in
like the cavalry.”
    As Darlene ushered her unwanted guest into the great room, I
skulked a few feet away, my ear plastered to the kitchen door. Hamilton didn’t
waste time on condolences.
    “My men will be here first thing tomorrow to secure Jake’s
papers. You need to show them every place your husband kept important
documents. And I need a complete guest list for your party.”
    Darlene jumped in. “That’s not going to happen.” Her tone
suggested gritted teeth. “I will not let a bunch of strangers paw through
Jake’s personal things on your say-so. If I happen to find any Jolbiogen
documents, I’ll let Tom Brooks know.
    “And why do you need a guest list, Mr. Hamilton? I don’t
want you harassing Jake’s friends. Frankly, I can’t see how any of this is your
business. The sheriff’s investigating the accident. I had to put up with your
pompous ass when Jake was alive. I don’t now. Get out of my house.”
    “As the grieving widow, I thought you’d be happy to
cooperate.” Hamilton’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Since you’ve refused, it’s
my duty to share my impressions with the sheriff regarding you and your
daughter.”
    “Marley, would you join us, please?” Darlene raised her
voice. “I want Mr. Hamilton to see I have a witness in case he makes more
threats.”
    I stormed in like a thunderclap, the kitchen door swinging
wildly in my wake. I wanted to deck him.
    Hamilton’s jaw quivered. “Stay out of this, Colonel Clark. I
don’t know how you’re involved, but I’m going to find out. Maybe you helped
your friend cook up this little sendoff for her husband.”
    “Get out.” Darlene made her demand in a controlled voice.
“Now.”
    He marched to the front door and slammed it as a punctuation
point. For a moment, we stood dumbstruck.
    “Well, that went well,” I said.
    Darlene turned to me in surprise and then laughed. A second
later, I joined her. Our laughter grew until tears rolled down our cheeks.
    Steam escaping from the day’s pressure cooker.
    In Darlene’s cheerful kitchen, our laughter ebbed and a
feeling of gloom descended.
    “I can’t believe his nerve,” she muttered. “Jake retired
three months ago. What papers could possibly justify Hamilton coming on like a
storm trooper? And why bring my daughter—and you—into this?”
    She shook her head. “Hamilton’s never disguised his opinion
of me. Thought Jake was slumming. I cooked for a living and graduated from Iowa
State, not Haa-vuud.”
    She cocked an eyebrow. “So tell me. You’ve apparently
crossed swords with the butthead. Should I be plain mad or worried?”
    I offered a brief synopsis of my encounters with Hamilton.
    Darlene raked a hand through her pixie-cut hair. “There’s no
way Tom Brooks authorized Hamilton to pull this.”
    “You mentioned him before. Who is he?”
    “Jolbiogen’s president. He’s worked with Jake forever,
almost from day one.”
    “Call him,” I suggested. “Ask him to put a choke chain on
Hamilton.”
    I gave Darlene more detail on Thrasos International.
Hamilton knew he needed big names in his stable to dazzle corporate America. He
used family clout to recruit retired Army generals, FBI and Interpol
specialists, computer and technology gurus. The firm not only offered
protection for bigwigs, it built a reputation for making problems disappear—the
kind of problems companies and governments don’t want public.
    Darlene’s fingers fastened on a saltshaker. She twirled it
back and forth. “What kind of problems?”
    “A foreign official trying to extract a bribe in exchange
for a mega-bucks contract. A CFO suspected of insider trading.