Caught Dead Handed Read Free Page A

the connection until you started talking to the cute cop.”
    â€œThat’s all right,” I said. “No reason you should have.”
    She shook her head, and her short, fine hair flared out, then fell perfectly back into place. Mine never does that.
    â€œReally, I should have picked up on it. You’re the Emerson grad. Best school in the world for theater arts. You have great TV experience, too. Doan was supposed to interview you this morning.”
    â€œYep. That was me.” So if I’m so darned qualified, why’d you hire some guy ? Where is this conversation leading, anyway? I tried changing the subject.
    â€œHow did Mr. Doan take the news? About Ariel?”
    She shrugged, a slight lift of one elegant shoulder. “Doan is Doan. He said it was her own fault, always going down to the wall to sneak a smoke during the movie. He said a woman of her size ought to know better than to get too close to the edge—especially since she couldn’t swim a stroke. He’s mostly ticked off because now he has no late-show host.”
    â€œThat seems cold,” I said. The anger was back. “And so was the way he hired that man without even giving me the courtesy of an interview.”
    Again the ladylike shrug. “He decided to grab the other guy. Scott Palmer.”
    â€œSo I gathered.” That sounded snarky. I didn’t care.
    â€œI don’t blame you for being mad,” she said. “But Palmer had another appointment with a Boston station, and Doan didn’t want to lose him.”
    â€œIs he all that good? How did Mr. Doan figure that I might not be better?”
    â€œYou don’t do sports.”
    â€œExcuse me?” Nobody had said anything about sports.
    â€œHe compared résumés. It was down to you two. You can do weather and shopping. Palmer used to do sports. Doan figured since he already has a weather girl and we don’t do shopping, he’ll get more for his money with Palmer. Our regular sports guy does only the pro teams. Sox, Bruins, Celts, Pats.” She gave a soft laugh. “He’s going to get Palmer to cover the high school basketball and football games. Two talents for the price of one.”
    So the station manager isn’t only rude, but he’s cheap, too.
    It was my turn to shrug. “I suppose that makes a certain amount of sense, but it was still a rotten way to treat me after I came all this way for an interview.”
    â€œI know it was, but listen. Are you still interested in working here?”
    The question surprised me. “Why? Doing what?”
    â€œLook,” she said. “Doan told me to find a replacement for Ariel, pronto. Like, in time for next Monday’s show. Tonight we’ll probably do some kind of Ariel tribute or something, and we don’t do Nightshades on the weekend. Doan said, ‘I don’t care how you do it. Just do it!’ How in hell am I supposed to do that?” She spread her hands in a hopeless gesture.
    â€œBeats me.”
    â€œYours is the only résumé I have that even remotely approaches the qualifications for show host.”
    â€œWell, thanks, but no thanks.” I almost laughed out loud. “I’m not the least bit psychic.”
    â€œSo what? Neither was Ariel. They’re all a bunch of fakes. It doesn’t matter. I mean, you have an acting background. You’ve hosted a show before. You look good on camera. You know how to pitch a product. That’s all it takes.”
    â€œIt can’t be that simple. George told me that Nightshades is one of your top-rated shows.”
    â€œYou know George? My brother?”
    â€œNot really. We met earlier this morning. In the corridor.”
    She shook the perfect hair again. “George does make friends easily. But listen, Lee. Help me out here. Where else am I going to find a good-looking Emerson grad with TV credits and a brain in a couple of days?” She lowered her