Peaceable Kingdom (mobi) by Jack Ketchum Read Free Book Online

real estate. She had a few other interests, she said, on the side. And she was doing pretty well from the look of it.

    And no, she wasn’t married.

    And no, she wasn’t engaged.

    There wasn’t even a boyfriend. At least none that she was telling him about.

    And he couldn’t help but wonder if she still got into the same kind of rough stuff in the bedroom as she did in the old days. The thought of it made his mouth water a whole lot more than the duck did, and the duck was the best there was.

    And it looked like maybe he was going to find out.

    He could tell she still found him attractive. Her body language, the way she looked at him and listened, everything told him she did.

    Well, he was still attractive. Why not?

    And she . . . utterly beautiful. Success, he supposed, had made her beautiful. The rough city edge to the voice was completely gone. What was left was a deep, resonant purr that made him think of wild warm nights on Caribbean shores, of jungle terraces, of heat and sweat and strange, exotic passions.

    In the limo they drove south from the restaurant toward her midtown hotel. The theatres all along Broadway and Eighth Avenue were letting out and traffic was heavy. They talked over splits of champagne. Of old mutual acquaintances barely recalled. Halfway there and stalled in traffic she leaned over and brushed his lips with hers. She smelled lightly of Aliage or something similiar. Her lips were soft, more generous than he remembered.

    “You’ll come up?”

    “Of course. Absolutely.”

    He was impressed. The hotel was one of the best in town and her room was nothing less than the penthouse.

    She opened the door and they stepped inside into darkness and she turned to face him, came into his arms, and her mouth was hot and sweet, broke free and locked the door behind him and turned on the lights, the huge bright living room springing into focus, took off her jacket and stood there in front of him smiling, and he thought how strange it was, that he should be here about to make love to a woman who only a month ago he’d thought was going to die—and die horribly—all across his video screen.

    Life was very odd.

    “I’m glad you’re here,” she said, stepping toward him again.

    “Believe me. So am I.”

    “It took a while, you know.”

    He was about to ask her
what did
when they stepped out of the bedroom, out of the darkness there.

    Three heavy men in jeans and teeshirts. Beer guts hard, straining their belts.

    Even a month later and without the masks they were all too familiar.

    And a whole lot uglier than he imagined.

    One moved behind him to the door. The others flanked her.

    “I told you I had a few sidelines,” she said. “Other interests. And I definitely recalled your other interests. I remembered them vividly in fact. I knew you’d be answering the ad sooner or later. Being you, how could you resist it?”

    She laughed. “You’ve become a very private person over the years, you know that, Howard? But then, the rich are always insulated—protected—aren’t they? I ought to know. It took me ten years to become . . . protected enough for this. An address was all I needed for you, but no one had one anymore. Who’d have thought you’d be here in New York playing the stock market? You could barely count your change when I knew you.”

    She sighed and caressed his cheek. Her hand was warm.

    “In the long run this was really much cheaper than hiring a private detective. And a lot more fun, too. We just ran the ad and waited. We even made a little money. Didn’t we, gentlemen.”

    They smiled. It was not a nice thing to see.

    The door to the bedroom opened. The girl who stood there in her white silk camisole was familiar too. The last time he’d seen her she was covered with blood. Now, of course, she was smiling.

    “My sister. Doreen, meet Howard. Did you notice the family resemblance, Howard? Didn’t you find it striking?”

    “What do you . . .