Soft Focus by Jayne Ann Krentz Read Free Book Online

your losses at Excalibur and find a new client.”
    â€œI don’t do business that way.” He looked around the room, as though the conversation had begun to bore him.
    â€œWait a second,” she said. “Are you saying this is about your reputation?”
    â€œI’m a consultant, Elizabeth. My reputation is all I have to sell. I always fulfill my contracts. No client of mine has ever been burned this badly on my watch. I sure as hell don’t intend to set any new precedents with Excalibur.”
    â€œFor heaven’s sake, you sound like a hired gun who makes his living shooting down your clients’ enemies for them.”
    He shrugged. “Whatever.”
    â€œYou’re talking revenge here, not your professional reputation.”
    He managed to appear even less interested in the direction the conversation had taken than he had a moment ago. “Call it what you want. The bottom line is that I’ll do whatever it takes to find Page, and I have a hunch he knows that.”
    She eyed him warily. “All right, I get the point. You said the first reason you think Page is still in the country is because he lacks the know-how to sell Soft Focus abroad. What’s the second reason you think he’s still hanging around?”
    He angled his head toward the nearest of the film posters hung on the wall. “That’s the second reason.”
    She followed his gaze. “I don’t get it.”
    â€œWhen you know a man’s secret passion, you know his greatest weakness.”
    Baffled, Elizabeth studied the poster more closely. An enigmatic Humphrey Bogart and a sultry Lauren Bacall were posed in a tense scene. The title, Dark Passage, was scrawled in red across the bottom.
    She looked back at Jack. “So Tyler Page likes film noir. How does that help you find him?”
    â€œHe isn’t just a fan of old movies,” Jack said. “He actually produced a new one.”
    â€œI don’t understand.”
    Jack went to the table and hefted a book from an untidy stack. It had a black and white cover. Elizabeth noticed the word noir in the title.
    Jack opened the book and removed a glossy little brochure that had been carelessly stuck between the pages. “I found this last night when I came looking for Page.” He handed the pamphlet to her.
    The picture on the front featured a seedy-looking private eye, complete with trench coat and gun in hand, standing in a dark alley. The cold light from a neon sign above a nearbytavern cast his profile into sharp chiaroscuro. The words “Mirror Springs Annual Neo Noir Festival” were printed down one side of the picture in yellow ink.
    Elizabeth looked up. “What’s this all about?”
    â€œLike I said, Tyler Page made a movie.” Jack jerked a thumb at one of the posters. “That one over there, to be specific.”
    â€œYou’re kidding.” Elizabeth walked toward the poster to get a closer look.
    Although the artwork paid homage to classic poster design, she saw now that it was a contemporary image. It featured a sultry blond actress with fine, sculpted features and eyes that had seen far too much of the dark side of the world. The woman wore a figure-hugging, low-cut gown and held a gun at her side. She gripped the weapon with casual ease, as though accustomed to its weight.
    The phrase “Once you start running in Fast Company you can’t stop” was written in slashing red script across the top of the poster.
    Elizabeth read the rest of the poster quickly. Fast Company . Starring Victoria Bellamy. Produced by Tyler Page.
    She glanced up. “So?”
    â€œTake a look inside the brochure,” Jack said. “One of the movies scheduled to be premiered at the Mirror Springs festival is Fast Company .”
    She opened the brochure and flipped through the list of films until she saw the title: “ Fast Company . Produced by Tyler Page.”
    She raised her