Read Ashes To Ashes: Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective for Free Online Page B

unfortunate death. But that was a shock, a
real shock, too young for that. I meant after he came home with
bruised balls. I gave him hell, too, for putting himself in that
position. And for putting Karen in that position."
    "Not the name of the game," I agreed.
    "Absolutely not. That girl
is—well ... you know. We all are trying to help her through
this."
    I said, "Naturally."
    "Sure. Could be very
damaging, very...scandalous, degrading. I mean to the family name
as well as to herself, and we all are ..."
    "... trying to help her through this," I
helped.
    "Naturally," he replied, turning it back to
me.
    I was beginning to like the guy, though with
strong reservations. Or maybe respect is a better tag for what I
was feeling at that moment.
    I said, "Let's get back to Bruno. Where's
the body?"
    "In a funeral chapel, where it belongs."
    I said, "But, naturally,
to help him get through that ... ."
    Kalinsky chuckled again. I believe he was
starting to like me too. "Pretty sharp, aren't you? Look, Ash, this
family does not need notoriety."
    This "family," I was thinking as he
continued talking, now consisted of a single person: Karen.
    "JQ would have done it this way. I was a
punk kid fresh out of Harvard Business School when he took me under
his wing, wet as hell behind the ears and not a dime to call my
own. He gave me the responsibility for Karen, and by God I mean to
exercise it the same way he would. So don't miscalculate my
feelings in all this. She is my granddaughter, dammit, the same as
if..."
    "Grandfather surrogate," I mused. "But
you're far too young."
    A slow smile began at his eyes and spread
warmly toward his mouth as he pushed that one around. "Better
than—I thought I'd die. But it was funny, wasn't it? I
mean—serious, sure, serious and embarrassing as hell, but still
funny. Wonder whatever possessed her to pull something like
that."
    "Exactly," I said.
    "Exactly, to what?"
    "Whatever possessed her."
    "Don't get you."
    "It wasn't Karen."
    "What do you mean, it wasn't Karen?"
    "Not herself."
    "Oh. Sure. 'Course not.
That's what made it so damned funny. But she's been doing a lot of
strange stuff lately, and ..."
    "Ever see her like that before?"
    "Like what?"
    "Naked."
    "Oh. Well ..."
    "Grandfatherly fashion, of course."
    I got a flash from the eyes as he responded
to that one. "I was thinking of when she was a little girl—but, no,
nothing like that since—hold it, there, Ash—why do I feel that
you've taken charge of this conversation?"
    I showed him a flash of my own as I replied,
"You said 'Have a talk.' Talk flows both ways, doesn't it?"
    The lord of the manor produced a single
cigarette and lit it without offering me one. I took the
opportunity to study him closely while he did so, then I lit one
of my own.
    He was less relaxed than
when we came in there, shoulders a bit tight and tilted
forward—aggression—chin out and reaching toward the flame as he
lit up—belligerence—fingers clenched tightly onto the
cigarette—fear of losing—hard, sharp pulls as he sucked up the
smoke—anxious—settling back in his chair to fix me with a stern
gaze—reasserting control.
    "Didn't like the navy life, eh?"
    I blew smoke back across the desk to mingle
with his and replied, "Too confining. Great institution, though, if
you like institutions."
    "But you don't."
    "Not usually."
    "Maverick. Love your independence. Like to
run your own show. Can't really knuckle under to organizational
structures."
    I showed him a very small smile and replied,
"Bingo."
    "IQ of one-ninety. That's genius level."
    I waved it aside. "Genius is as genius does,
or however that goes. I never put much stock in intelligence
tests."
    "Trust fund from your mother's family really
doesn't set you up the way you'd like to be, though. You can't
afford that Maserati, Ash."
    Bingo, again, but I would
not give him the satisfaction. "I do okay. Lots of sun, plenty of
fresh air, come and go as I please. Why are you hiding Bruno's
body?"
    He did