Skorpio by Mike Baron Read Free Book Online Page A

you. How's Lars?"
    "He's a little sweetheart. We played with some of his toys for awhile, I gave him the warm milk and he fell right asleep."
    Betty checked the kitchen. Everything ship-shape. Beadles pulled out his wallet and paid Stephanie forty bucks. "Thank you very much."
    "Thank you, Professor. And if you need me again please call."
    Betty went to check on Lars. Beadles waited until Stephanie had taken her bike down to the street and left before turning off the outside lights and locking the door. He went into the bedroom and took off his sports jacket. The disconnect between Liggett's effusive praise and their personal chemistry bothered him. The department head didn't like him. There had been nothing overt. A few disparaging comments about their own "GQ celebrity," an instant of undisguised lust directed at Betty.
    Mrs. Liggett was bigger than her husband and had a sour expression. Beadles had no doubt their home life was less than ideal.
    Betty swept into the room. "Lars is down for the count! Give me a minute to slip into something more interesting…"
    Bam. Just like that he had a stiffy. Beadles peeled off his shirt and trou. Betty came out of the bathroom wearing a filmy black baby doll. As they made love he couldn't help thinking does it get any better?
    "Did you see Doris Liggett?" Betty said lying in his arms after. "She looked like she was training for a pie-eating contest."
    "Now Betty. Be nice."
    "The Haverhills are going to have us over for dinner."
    "Who's that again?"
    Betty stretched languidly. "Ollie Haverhill runs Madwire Media. I ran into him at the bar. His wife Lois heads the Illinois Women of Influence. They've asked me to join them."
    "That's great, Bet!"
    "So all of a sudden you're an Indian?"
    Beadles felt a ripple of shame. "I thought you knew that."
    "Let me guess. Cherokee."
    "Yes, that's right. I knew I told you."
    "No you didn't tell me. I guessed Cherokee because every white American who claims Indian blood says Cherokee. Don't ask me why. Maybe it's that long march. Maybe they impregnated every farmer's daughter along the way."
    "My mother told me I had Indian blood," Beadles said in a slightly defensive tone. "It's part of our family history. I think my great, great grandmother on my mother's side was a full-blooded Cherokee."
    "Show me the papers."
    "I don't got to show you no stinkin' papers!" Beadles said.
    Heavy pounding on the door.
    Beadles and Betty looked at each other in astonishment. Who could it be at that hour of the night?
    The pounding resumed. A muffled shout.
    Betty looked at Beadles with bafflement. "Did he just say it was the police?"
    Beadles pulled his trousers on and threw on a Catamount T-shirt. He padded through the darkened house. The living room danced gaily with red and blue strobes through the front window. Beadles looked out the front door. Two police cars had pulled up, one in front and one in the drive. Three police officers stood on the porch waiting to be let in.
    ***

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    "Nightmare On Maple Street"
    The cops were big. They were city cops, unknown to Beadles. Beadles opened the front door. The lead cop handed Beadles a folded warrant.
    "Mr. Beadles, I'm Officer Whitaker of the Creighton Police Department. We have a warrant to search your home for artifacts believed to be taken from a collection owned by the university."
    Beadle's face looked like counter-rotating gears. "Are you serious?"
    "We're very serious, Mr. Beadles. If you'll please step aside."
    Beadles looked at their uncompromising faces and stepped back. They all looked like linebackers. Betty appeared in the hallway wearing a terrycloth robe.
    "What is it?"
    Lars started to cry.
    "These gentlemen have a warrant. They think I've stolen artifacts from the university."
    "That's ridiculous!" Betty snapped, whirling and heading toward their son. One cop moved as if to stop her but Whitaker put a hand on his arm. A lady cop appeared. Her tag said Gonzalez.
    "Officer," Whitaker said,