Read An Evil Guest for Free Online

example.”
    Cassie stared. “You—you watched me dress. . . .”
    “I did not. I can explain later.”
    “You can explain now!”
    “As you like. Before you came home, I had found your gun in the night-stand. Under it was what’s called an ankle holster. The straps on those things have to be long enough to circle the calf of a powerfully built man, so they would presumably circle your thigh. When you left, your gun and holster left with you.”
    “I could have had it in my purse.”
    “You could have, but it didn’t seem likely since you had taken the ankle holster, too. It was much more likely that your gun was strapped to your leg. To your calf if you were wearing slacks. When I joined you in this car, I saw that you were wearing a skirt. Besides, that Canadian officer poked through your purse. If your gun had been in there he would have found it.”
    “The cop you had pick me up looked in my purse, too.”
    “Did he?” Gideon’s shoulders rose and fell. “I don’t suppose he found anything.”
    “No, but he’d tapped my phone. He knew about Sharon naming lipsticks to get to sleep.”
    “Or he had tapped Sharon’s.” Gideon sounded bored. “Or your talk was broadcast at some point. If the number you called was that of a cell phone, it had to be. Or he spoke to Sharon afterward. I could go on.”
    “You want me to go partners with you. If I do, you’ll have to trust me.”
    “Exactly.” Gideon nodded. “And this sort of thing is the only way I can do it. Suppose you’d called Bill Reis instead of Sharon. Reis is the man we’re going after.”
    “I don’t even know him.”
    “You will.”
    “I . . . see.” Cassie looked thoughtful.
    “So I hope.”
    “We’ll become friends. Reis and I. Is that your idea? But all the time I’ll be feeding information to you, maybe even setting him up for a neat little murder.”
    Gideon touched the brake pedal. “No. I don’t do murders.”
    “Comforting.”
    “Bill Reis does, however. Haven’t you noticed that I haven’t objected to your gun?”
    “Yeah. Did you mess with it? Take out the bullets or the firing pin?”
    “No. Why should I?”
    “Darned if I know.”
    The black car slowed again and swung off onto a side road.
    “Where are we going, Dr. Chase?”
    “To a certain mountain. There’s a road for most of the way up. Beyond that, we’ll have to hike to the summit. When we reach the summit, you’ll become a star. That will take another hour or two, I’m afraid. After that, we’ll return. It’s important that you make the final performance of that play.”
    “I’m going to name a price.”
    “Are you?” His teeth shone in the dark.
    “I am. A firm, hard price, the amount I want for going along with this from this point on.”
    “If you want cash now, it had better not exceed five hundred dollars. I don’t have much more than that with me.”
    “I want your word that I’ll get this much if I play ball. Your word of honor.”
    “You’d trust me to that extent? I—well, Miss Casey, it’s flattering.”
    “Yes, I would. Besides, I have to.” For a second or more, Cassie wrestled with her thoughts. “I would anyway. I don’t know why, but I would. You’re a wizard. Sharon said that, and she was right. But you’re a good wizard.”
    “Famous,” Gideon remarked dryly, “for saying there is no good.”
    Cassie nodded. “I think I understand that now. You mean it’s extinct. I never did before. When I saw you on vid, I mean. Now I’ve got it. Or I think I do. Is this supposed to bring my price down?”
    “I suppose not.”
    “You suppose right.” Cassie drew breath. “Have I said this is firm? It is. One hundred thousand. I’ll keep on with this—be your Rose O’Neal—for one hundred thousand dollars. Payable on demand, in cash.”
    Gideon chuckled. “I asked the president for fifty million. I haven’t told you about that.”
    “The president?”
    Gideon braked, swinging his strange black car around a sharp