Read To Trust a Stranger for Free Online

left-punched a button, and started the car, all at approximately the same time. The AC blasted out hot air. He turned it down and rolled down the windows until the interior could reach a decent temperature. Street sounds formed a steady background noise not unlike the buzz of a giant insect.
    “Uh, wait a minute.” Julie Carlson sounded uneasy. The look she sent him was wary. God, she was a pretty thing. Sid had always been about a million times luckier than he deserved, and his wife was no exception. “Sit tight,” he said to her with a quick, meant-to-be-reassuring smile that he had no idea struck its recipient as downright scary, framed as it was in scarlet lipstick and platinum curls. He put the Blazer in reverse before she could say anything else and then spoke into the phone as Hinkle answered. “ Yo . Change of plan. Get over to
85 Dumesnil Street
and get some pictures. Edwards is having a party and I want an album.”
    “Me?” Hinkle squawked, his disembodied voice making his displeasure clear. “What about you? You seemed to be getting along with him real good. You turnin' tail now that the going's getting tough, you chicken shit?”
    “Somebody hit my car, and I've got to sort it out. It's going to take a while. Get those pictures.” He drove toward the exit. Now that they were moving, there was a breeze, which made the temperature inside the car almost bearable. Beside him, his passenger was looking more uneasy than ever. Mac smiled at her again. Sid's wife falling into his lap like this was the most promising thing that had happened to him in a long time, and he meant to make the most of it.
    “Edwards doesn't know me from crap,” Hinkle said. “How'm I supposed to get in?”
    “Take a pizza. Pretend you're delivering. Hell, just walk in. Nobody'll notice. Edwards is drunk off his ass, and apparently there's going to be quite a crowd.” There was a break in the traffic. Mac pulled out behind a big white Caddy and headed south. If the thieves were pros-and they almost certainly were-the Jaguar was long gone. But it was always possible she'd been robbed by a couple of kids out for a joyride, in which case the car might have been abandoned somewhere nearby. “I don't think this is such a good idea,” Julie Carlson said. “Would you take me back to the parking lot, please?” Mac caught her eye, held up one finger-wait a minute--and gave her another of those reassuring smiles. He watched her glance down at the cell phone in her hand and hesitate, and then he tracked her other hand as it crept up the door toward the handle. Was she thinking about jumping out? Not unless she had a death wish. The street was jammed with cars, and at this time of night it was a good bet that most of the drivers were feeling no pain. If he'd still been a cop, he could have done a month's worth of busts right here, knocking on windows and hauling the over-the-limit ones in.
    “Yeah, like nobody's gonna notice a straight black man taking pictures at a gay white guy's orgy. I'm gonna get my ass kicked.” Hinkle's gloomy-sounding voice spoke in his ear. “Shit. This always happens. Every damned time.”
    “Got to go,” Mac said as he stopped at a traffic light, saw Julie Carlson's fingers curl around the door handle, and broke the connection. “What was that all about?” She was looking at him apprehensively. “I was supposed to take some pictures at a party, and now, thanks to you, I can't make it. A friend's going instead.” Mac shot her a quick, assessing glance as he folded the phone and dropped it back down inside his blouse. There wasn't much positive he could say about the size-42DD Maiden form that was even now threatening to cut him in two, except that it made a hell of a holster for phone and pistol alike. That elastic was strong stuff. If NASA hadn't discovered it, somebody should clue them in. He looked pointedly at her hand on the door handle. “You planning on getting out?”
    “N-no.” She looked