Phantom Angel by David Handler Read Free Book Online Page B

five times in the last two hours,” Lovely Rita informed me.
    â€œWhat did he want?” I said into my cell as I hoofed it westward on East 8th Street.
    â€œ You, little lamb. He told me you won’t return his calls. He used some very naughty words to describe you.”
    â€œI hope you defended me.”
    â€œI couldn’t. I was too busy blushing.”
    â€œGot any news for me, Rita?”
    â€œPlenty. For starters, R. J. Farnell’s high-flying hedge fund, the Venusian Society, has no assets, no investors and conducts no business of any kind. I checked with a friend of mine who’s a lawyer with the SEC. He’s never heard of it or of Farnell. Neither has my pal who’s a governor of the Federal Reserve.” Rita has a lot of Wall Street friends from her lap dancer days. “Real deal? The Venusian Society is nothing more than a name and a Web site. It’s bogus. He’s bogus. Mind you, I have found eighteen R. J. Farnells in the tri-state area, plus another dozen who are listed as Robert J., Richard J., Ronald, Randolph, Rance…”
    â€œRance?”
    â€œI’ve eliminated ten of them so far, unless you’re looking for, say, the manager of a Dunkin’ Donuts franchise in Freehold. I’ll keep at it, but I’m not feeling very lucky.”
    â€œWhat about those phone numbers that Morrie had for him?”
    â€œNothing more than disposable cells. His girlfriend, Jonquil Beausoleil, is totally off the grid. No driver’s license, no credit cards, no nothing. This is a girl who doesn’t want to be found. I can try to back-trace her from Charleston if you—”
    â€œIt’s not Charleston. It’s Ruston, Louisiana.”
    â€œSounds like you got somewhere.”
    â€œI found her, in a manner of speaking.”
    â€œWhat manner would that be?”
    â€œI just forwarded you two nude photo galleries. Also a video.”
    â€œGot ’em. Let’s see what we … Oh, goodie, here she is on a yacht. Wow, she sure is a limber little thing, isn’t she? I could never do a full split like that. Not even when I was on ’ludes. What am I looking for here? Because I’ve seen a vay-jay before. Although I’m wondering if they Photoshopped hers because it really looks like she’s wearing lipstick on it, don’t you think?”
    â€œI think we’re getting off of the subject here. And no.”
    â€œOkay, here she is on her tum-tum in a hotel room. What am I…?”
    â€œAny detail, however tiny, that might tell us where she is. When you start enlarging the images you may spot something. An item on that nightstand next to the bed. Or a reflection coming off of a picture on the wall. Maybe you’ll be able to make out what’s outside the window.”
    â€œWant me to check out the yacht, too?”
    â€œPlease. And zoom in on that coastline in the background. I could be wrong but it sure looks like the South Shore of Long Island to me.”
    â€œI’ll see if I can find a landmark. What else?”
    â€œAre you watching the video yet?”
    â€œHang on … Yeah, Boso’s rubbing baby oil on her boobies. What about it?”
    â€œThose mirrored sunglasses she has on. I thought I saw an image reflected in them.”
    â€œYou do realize that you’re the only man in the entire world who was looking at her sunglasses, don’t you?”
    â€œCan you digitally enhance it?”
    â€œI’ll try,” she sighed. “But there’s only one of me, Benji, and I just broke my umpteenth dinner date with Myron. He got all sore at me about my ‘priorities’ so I promised I’d meet him for a late supper and … did I remember to mention there’s only one of me?”
    â€œWhat I remember is that one of you is more than enough for any man.”
    â€œAre you getting frisky with me?”
    â€œWhat if I am?”
    â€œYou