Free Barbara Silkstone - Wendy Darlin 02 - London Broil by Barbara Silkstone Page A

color do you see me as?”
    The question was so direct, it caught me off guard. I snuggled next to her and gave her my most honest answer. “I don’t see you as any color.”
    A grin spread from her lips to her chubby cheeks. She slipped her little arms around my neck. “Good, because I don’t see you as any color either.” She settled down, resting her head in my lap and waving a pretzel in the air like a tiny wand. “Can I lick off all the salt?”
    “Only if you intend to eat it when you’re done.”
    “But the salt’s the best part. I’ll give you the pretzel after I clean off the salt.”
    “You lick the salt, you eat the pretzel. In every life there comes a time when you have to eat the pretzel, too.” I tickled her under the arm and she squiggled away. “Speaking of pretzels, I have to make a private call. You keep Tink quiet while I’m on the phone.”
    She put her hand to her mouth to cover her giggle. “Are you calling a pretzel?”
    “It’s very important the pretzel not hear Tinkerbelle barking or you talking. Okay?”
    “I’ll read my nursery rhyme book to her until you come back. She flipped to the middle of the book… “Pussy cat, Pussy cat, where have you been?”
    I did a double take. Haunted by a friggin’ nursery rhyme.
    Scrambling out of Fort Tinkerbelle, I walked into my den. Two rings and I had the skinny hamster on the line. It was time for some little white lies.
    “Mr. Smith, I’ve sent Matty and her granddaughter on a vacation.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. “I’ve turned your paperwork over to a fed friend of mine. Now hear me and hear me good. I highly recommend nothing happens to Matty’s house while she’s away.”
    “But… but…”
    “No buts, Mr. Smith. That is if you want to hang onto your butt. You’re being watched,” I fibbed. “Anything happens to the house or to Leon, Matty, or the child, and my fed friend stands ready to take you down. He pulled up your record and he sure didn’t like what he saw. You’ll be feeling his teeth in your neck for the rest of your life if you step out of line. You doubt me? Run my name through Google. See who I hang with and the criminals I’ve run aground or buried at sea.” I was impressed with my ability to bluff using my imaginary fed friend.
    I clicked off just in time, as the noise from the tent grew louder.
    “I’ve been to London to visit the Queen!” Treanna belted out, with Tinkerbelle howling along with her. “Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you doooo there? I frightened the little mouse under her chair!” She sang at the top of her voice.
    London? Queen? I felt like I’d been smacked in the head with a smart stick. A picture was forming, but before it arrived, my phone rang. It was Roger. I hadn’t heard from him since I stormed off three days ago.
    “You sitting down?”

Chapter 20
    I sat at the kitchen counter and held my breath.
    “Benny’s still missing. I filed a report with the Met. You’ll be called back to England as a material witness in the investigation of his disappearance.”
    “That poor dear man! Do you think he’s been murdered?”
    “Could be…” Roger’s response came out as a long drawn out sigh. “He does have a dark past that may have caught up with him.”
    “Any suspects?”
    “You were the last one to see him.”
    “I left him with Samuel… sort of.”
    “Samuel’s disappeared.”
    “It has to be Darcy. You said she was violent. And she knew him.”
    “Loopy violent, not murder violent.”
    “She’s a professional thief. I’m a respected real estate broker.”
    “It’ll look very suspicious if you don’t come back to face the police. Plus… I need your help.”
    This sounded familiar. Pacing the kitchen, I thought about the promises I had made to Matty. I had a child in a tent reading to a dog and a snoozing grandmother to help. Now here comes another U-turn into my life, and that U-turn rhymes with duck.
    “Come back and help me find the last Lost