Penthouse Suite Read Free Page B

retrieve the maintenance cart.
    “Wait,” Max said sharply. “I still don’t know about Dorothea Jarrett, the lady in the wheelchair.”
    “Oh, yeah. Well, there was this poodle. He ran out of the hotel and caught his leash in Dorothea’s wheelchair and pulled her toward your pool. She was about to take a swim with her clothes on when I stopped her chair. I couldn’t take money as a reward, but she was pretty insistent. Then I found out that my car had committed suicide in your driveway. I know this must sound pretty wild to you.”
    “No, no it doesn’t. I’ve had some experience with this manipulating lady. Dorothea has never been known to do anything the ordinary way if she could make it more exciting.”
    “Well, she convinced the manager to hire me. I’d probably never have taken the job if it hadn’t been for my car. But they told me that Joe was going to be gone for two weeks and that he was your live-in maintenance man. Hey! It was fate. I fill in for Joe, get my two weeks’ pay, and live in La Casa del Sol.” Kate pressed the elevator button, watched the door slide silently open, and stepped inside.
    “Even Kate Hepburn couldn’t ask for more than that. Good night, Mr. Sorrenson. By the way, if you’re going out, you’d better change your shoes.”
    “Why?”
    The elevator door closed.
    Good night? Max looked down at his watch.Eight-thirty. Good Lord. Almost as hour earlier he’d been due to pick up Danni Manderson for dinner. Instead he’d mopped a bathroom floor, cleaned the mirrored wall, and sat at his kitchen table talking to his hotel maintenance man … eh, woman. He’d completely forgotten about Danni.
    But he did remember that sometime during the disaster they’d just weathered, he’d considered firing Kate. Instead he’d held her hand and comforted her.
    Max looked at himself in the mirrored wall of the entranceway. He was grinning like some silly yokel. Mirrors. They really were wonderful things. Walking into his study, he located his calendar and jotted down a reminder to his secretary to write to his decorator and thank her for the mirrors. He wasn’t certain that he’d taken proper notice of them before.
    He tried to call Danni, but she didn’t answer. Feeling guilty but not knowing what else to do, Max decided to visit with Dorothea. The story of the poodle and the rescue was too intriguing for him to overlook. He went into his closet and chose a jacket. What was it Kate had said about his shoes? He looked at his feet and burst out laughing.
    Max Sorrenson, who never left his apartment without coordinating his clothes, was wearing one brown loafer and one black one. He grinned, shrugged his shoulders, and exchanged both shoes for a pair of sneakers that he rarely wore. He started out the door, returned to his desk, and added a postscript to the note to his secretary.
    “
Order Alpo for the poodle, who wasn’t supposed to be in the hotel anyway, and … smaller coveralls for Kate.
”
    He studied his note for a moment and scribbled again.
    “
Have a television set installed in the bedroom.
”
    Almost at the elevator, he paused once more, turned, and made one final note.
    “
Invite Kate for dinner on Friday night.
”

Two
    The insistent ringing of the phone awakened Kate. She sat up abruptly.
    For a moment, she had forgotten where she was. She reached for the phone and put it to her ear.
    “Kate, is it? This is Ricardo, the night manager. Sorry you have to start your second day on the job at five-thirty in the morning, but we have a little problem in nine-oh-four with one of our resident guests, Mrs. Jarrett. I’ll meet you at the elevator.”
    Kate splashed cold water on her face, trying to force herself awake enough to tackle a problem. She quickly pulled on a fresh pair of Joe’s coveralls and ran a comb through her hair. Heading down the sidewalk that led from the housekeeping wing to the lobby, she shivered in the gray dawn air.
    “Good. That was quick,”