One of Those Malibu Nights Read Free Page A

attention? Look, Sunny, it’s the truth.” He told her quickly what had taken place just fifteen minutes earlier, taking care to eliminate the red hair, the sexy black negligee, the spectacular body and the face like a naughty angel.
    “What I don’t get,” he said finally, “is why she didn’t summon help. I mean, why was she shooting at me? Her would-be savior?”
    “Perhaps she’s the murderer.”
    “What murder? I didn’t see a body. But I’ll bet she wasthe one who screamed. Plus she was sobbing. I saw the tears on her face. Look, babe, I’m in a dilemma here. I already called the guard at the gate. He called the house, got word from the owner, Ron Perrin—as in Ronald Perrin, billionaire investment mogul—that nothing was wrong. Said it was probably just that the TV was too loud. Now that’s b.s. I
know
what I saw. So do I call the cops? Or do I let her get on with whatever it is she’s up to and keep my nose out of their business, because it’s probably only the usual domestic quarrel and she was just making her point?”
    “With a Sigma .40? Some point! If I were you, Reilly, I’d keep my nose clean and stay away where you’re not wanted. Unless of course she wants to hire you for some fabulous fee that you can’t refuse, especially now the TV show might be canceled. I mean, why work for free?”
    Mac thought worriedly about it. “What if she’s really in trouble?”
    “It seems to me she knew exactly how to take care of herself. And so, I guess, did Mr. Perrin. Do me a favor, Mac, you’re talking Malibu Colony. Nothing bad ever happens there, everything is sweetness and light. Just don’t be the one to make waves.”
    Sunny was sitting on the bed again. The phone was clamped between her shoulder and her ear and she was wishing she had a cup of coffee and that Mac would talk about something other than business. Like them for instance.
    As if in answer to her wish, he said, “I miss you likecrazy. I couldn’t take it tonight, just me, mooching along the beach with Pirate. And you not beside me, not there waiting for me, not in my bed … in my heart.”
    Sunny’s own heart shifted pace to an incredulous little jiggle. “What did you say?”
    “I miss you, Sunny. How about I catch the next flight to Rome?”
    “Oh, Mackenzie Reilly,” she said, tremulously, “that would be heaven. I know this café with the best espresso… .”
    “Forget espresso. Make a reservation at your favorite restaurant. I’m taking you out on the town tomorrow night. It’s nothing but the best for my woman.”
    Sunny sighed happily. All was right in their world again. And for her, the billionaire Ron Perrin and the woman with the Sigma .40 were temporarily forgotten.

C HAPTER 5
    Early the next morning Mac strolled up the street to Ron Perrin’s house. Of course he knew all about Perrin. Who didn’t? He was a big shot who’d made his first money by successfully investing for the insurance business, and had then parlayed his investment firm into one of the Wall Street majors. And though he now seemed all power and success, the man had a past. He’d divorced his first wife amid a great scandal because of his relationship with another woman, who happened also to be married to a prominent man. Plus he had once been accused of mishandling funds, though he had emerged, at least on the court records, as clean as a whistle.
    Now Perrin was CEO of a string of high-profile companies, and even more powerful. And much, much richer. Hewas also married to a famous movie star, the blond, petite and beautiful Allie Ray.
    As well as the Malibu house, Perrin owned a mansion in Bel Air and a desert compound in Palm Springs, a couple of hours’ drive from L.A. It was nothing but the best for Ron Perrin. He lived like the king some folks claimed he believed he was.
    From the street angle, Perrin’s house in the Colony was a simple blank sheet of windowless limestone. The door was a lofty slab of unpolished steel that