Downfall Read Free Page A

the street below.
    “You need to be nicer to her,” I said. “You can trust her to keep her mouth shut about the Round Table.” And I knew we could—we’d given Leonie a far safer, brighter new life.
    “I will never trust her.”
    “I do, end of discussion.”
    “I understand you want to be with your son,” Mila said. “I do. But the bars, a very good livelihood for you, were not free. There was a price attached.”
    “I’m not ungrateful. But I’m also not a police detective.”
    “The Round Table never wants the police involved. If this poisoning attempt on Monroe was because he is a member of the Table, then we must know without involving the police. Felix will help you.” Felix was the manager of The Select. The senior managers of my bars know about the Round Table and were recruited to help with their work.
    “What about you?”
    Daniel grabbed my wiggling fingers and laughed. Sweetest sound ever.
    “I have to return to Los Angeles tomorrow on other business. I’m sure you can handle this.”
    “And what do I do when I find out who tried to poison Monroe ?”
    “Give me their name. Then the Round Table will decide how to proceed.” She got up from the laptop, gave me a smile dimmer than her fake bridal one. “Don’t pretend you’re not itching for some action. A man like you doesn’t like to sit and play with a baby on a blanket for long.”
    “Actually, I like nothing better.” I made a face at Daniel. “Don’t we? Don’t we like playing on the blanket?” Daniel concurred with laughter but then gave me a rather serious frown, as though a more detailed answer required thought.
    Mila didn’t smile. “I know you love Daniel. But I also know you, Sam. You cannot sit at a desk; you cannot play on a floor. You need something more.”
    I looked up at her. “No, I don’t.”
    “Sam. Send Leonie and Daniel home to New Orleans. They’ve been traveling with you for two weeks; a baby needs routine and order, not bars and airplanes. I’ll even give Leonie and Daniel a ride to the airport, get them their tickets. Then you go home when you’ve cleared up this little case for me, yes?”
    I was a former undercover CIA agent, not a detective, but I nodded. Anything to get her to go. If I found Monroe’s poisoner, fine. If I didn’t, then maybe I could make a new deal with the Round Table. One that kept me out of trouble. One that let me play on blankets. Then I could go home to New Orleans for a while. I had to find a way to make this balance work.
    “That planner will be so disappointed that we’re not getting married there,” I said. I don’t even know why I mentioned it. The words felt odd in my mouth, and I was glad Leonie wasn’t there, even though we were just friends now.
    Mila crooked a smile at me. “Maybe if you find our poisoner,” she said, “I’ll throw you a big party.”

3
    Wednesday, November 3, afternoon
    D IANA STOOD ALONE in her mother’s town house, trying to decide, Do I search on her computer? Go through her mail, what? Listen to her messages?
    She went to the cordless phone, neat in its cradle. She pressed the message button. Heard first her own voice calling two days ago, then the failed pitch of a telemarketer trying to upgrade Mom’s cable TV package, a friend from an art museum calling to ask if Mom would serve on a committee for a fund-raiser. A man’s voice, smoky and a bit gruff: “Janice? It’s Felix. Just calling to see if you’d like to have a drink tomorrow night at The Select after the meeting. Let me know. Okay, good night.” Then nothing.
    Felix, oh yes. Mom’s new friend. A bartender down in the Haight, she’d met him once. An odd friend for Mom to have, he wasn’t exactly the corporate suit type. She wondered what meeting he meant.
    A stack of mail by the computer. Diana flipped through it, feeling more and more like a thief. No letters from secret lovers, no flyers from the Cell Phone–Free Yoga Hippie Institute, either. Just bills and