Play Dead by Meryl Sawyer Read Free Book Online Page B

he eaten any? He’d been so intent on looking around the crowd for Hayley’s ex-fiancé that he wasn’t paying enough attention to what he was doing.
    He turned and flashed a smile at Farah Fordham. He’d met the striking brunette at the church and he’d reviewed her background in the jacket Phillips had given him. He’d checked the files on all the other suspects, too. “They’re good, all right.”
    Farah gazed up at him with inquisitive brown eyes that had enough makeup on them to stock a cosmetics counter. “Are you related to Meg?”
    He could understand why she asked the question. Meg had quickly introduced him by his first name at the church. “No, I’m just a friend.” His instincts told him to play his cards close to the chest.
    Farah reached for another shot glass with a shrimp perched on the rim. “Really? Have you known her long?”
    “Awhile.” Why was she asking? Ryan wondered. Then the light dawned. He knew from talking with Meg that her only sister, Hayley’s mother, was dead, and now, withHayley gone, Meg didn’t have obvious heirs. He also knew from reading her jacket that Farah was overextended financially. Her CPA firm was doing well, but her lifestyle—and her boyfriend—outpaced her income.
    “Hey, babe, here you are.” A tall man with a surfer’s blond hair and tan strode up to them, his smile revealing perfect white teeth. Phillips would have called them “SoCal teeth” because so many people had invested in braces and teeth whiteners. It was the land of beautiful people with perfect teeth.
    “Kyle, this is Ryan…” Farah waited for him to supply his last name.
    Ryan extended his hand. “Ryan Hollister.”
    Kyle shook his hand with a firm grip. “Kyle Wilfert.”
    “You’re Conrad’s son,” Farah said.
    Ryan nodded; he could see the light going out of her eyes. He was right; she was checking out possible heirs. He wondered how close she was to Meg. Did it matter? Maybe it did. Phillips said at this stage of an investigation, everything should be considered.
    “I’m in real estate development,” volunteered Kyle as he grinned at Farah and slipped his arm around her waist. “Not that there’s much going on right now with the lagging economy and all.”
    He’d skimmed the jacket on Kyle and he recalled the file said the boyfriend had declared bankruptcy and moved in with Farah earlier this year. The guy didn’t have a pot to piss in—not that you’d know it from his surfer-dude smile.
    “What do you do?” Farah asked.
    “Computers.”
    “Oh,” Farah said, totally uninterested.
    A tall man with broad shoulders and thick brown hairwalked up, saying, “I’m so sorry to hear about Hayley. What a tragedy.”
    Ryan eyed the man who seemed to know Farah and Kyle quite well, but Ryan didn’t recognize him from any of the jackets Phillips had given him. The guy didn’t sound too sincere, but then neither did Farah or Kyle. During the service the only ones who’d cried were Courtney Fordham and Meg.
    “I’m Laird McMasters.” The man introduced himself to Ryan with a firm handshake. “I own Rip Tide.”
    Ryan nodded, recognizing another surf/skate company. It also had a line of clothing that competed with Surf’s Up.
    “Laird offered to buy Surf’s Up,” Farah informed him, “but Hayley wouldn’t hear of it.”
    “Really?” Ryan immediately put Laird on his list of people to investigate.
    “Now’s not the time to talk about it,” Laird said. He set his glass on the table nearby. “I’m sorry about Hayley, but I have to leave. I’ve got a meeting.”
    “We couldn’t sell the company now even if we wanted to,” Farah explained even though Ryan hadn’t asked. “It has to come out of probate.”
    “Should be soon,” Kyle said.
    “Excuse me,” Ryan said. “I see someone I need to talk to.” He turned away and edged his way through the crowd to where The Wrath was standing alone, sipping a bottle of water with a black image of a hooded Grim