To Have and to Kill by Mary Jane Clark Read Free Book Online Page A

you.”
    “All right,” said Glenna. “Maybe we can do it after the auction.”
    Piper opened her purse, took out the white envelope, and handed it to Glenna.
    “You showed it to Jack?”
    “I did,” answered Piper, “but, to tell the truth, he wasn’t too concerned. He thinks somebody is just jealous. Maybe an old love doesn’t want to see you and Casey happy.”
    “Like Phillip?” asked Glenna.
    “Maybe. Or somebody else. What about Casey? You think one of his exes could have, you know, gone off her meds?”
    “Oh, who knows?” asked Glenna. She cocked her head toward the front desk. “See that woman checking everyone in? Her name is Jessie Terhune. She and Casey were involved for a while. Casey told me she was much more serious than he was. But I can’t imagine that she’d actually write a letter like this.”
    Glenna frowned as she looked down at the envelope. Then she lifted her head and straightened up, shifting her shoulders back. “This is ridiculous,” she said. “I’m not going to give whoever wrote this piece of trash the satisfaction of getting upset.” She handed Piper a program. “In the meantime, check this out and see if there’s anything you want to bid on. And Quent Raynor is over there. Make sure you go over and talk with him. You never can tell what’s going on in that mind of his.”
    Glenna departed to check on some last-minute details. As she passed the fireplace, she tossed the envelope into the flames.

Chapter 12
    P iper perused the list of auction items. Dinners at Rao, Per Se, and Jean Georges; New York Giants season tickets; box seats for the opera at Lincoln Center; a consultation with a leading plastic surgeon who was throwing in a series of Botox injections; a session with renowned photographer Martha Killeen; a diamond bracelet from Walden’s; and a behind-the-scenes tour of A Little Rain Must Fall hosted by Travis York, Glenna’s costar. Piper noted that Travis had also agreed to act as auctioneer for the evening, with Glenna acting as his assistant.
    Piper had gotten to know and like Travis during her stint on the soap opera. She had always suspected that the love scenes his character played with Glenna’s were more than acting, on his part. She had observed the way his eyes followed Glenna, the way he listened to her every word and was delighted by everything Glenna did. So when Glenna had confided the information that she and Travis eventually did have a short fling right after she and Phillip separated, Piper was not surprised.
    Piper wondered how Travis felt about his costar getting married.
    S canning the room and looking for Quent Raynor, the head writer and main director of A Little Rain Must Fall, Piper spotted Martha Killeen holding a camera and talking to the woman who used to go out with Casey. What was her name again? Jessie something .
    With her short red hair, freckles, and small, upturned nose, Martha Killeen was as well known to people in the entertainment world as those she photographed. Over the years, Martha herself had been the subject of magazine and newspaper articles touting her creative genius, her ability to dream up fabulous ways for her subjects to be photographed. No setting was too exotic, no costume too fantastic, no situation too outlandish if Martha thought they would enhance the photo shoot and end up expressing the essence of her subject’s personality.
    But lately, the articles about Martha Killeen mentioned her remarkable talent only in passing. Instead, they focused on the severe financial problems with which she was struggling. The last story Piper read reported that Martha had negotiated some time from her creditors.
    For as long as she could remember, Piper had fantasized about having her picture taken by the award-winning photographer. During high school, she must have thumbtacked to her wall over a dozen portraits taken by Killeen found in assorted magazines. Some girls liked the Backstreet Boys; Piper liked Meryl Streep