Santa Fe Dead Read Free

Finally, she took the book on spas and began to read. It took her twenty minutes to find just the right place, called El Rancho, secluded on a mountaintop overlooking Palm Springs. She used her new cell phone to call.
    “Good morning. El Rancho,” a woman’s voice said.
    “Good morning. My name is Eleanor Wright, and I’ve just had a sudden urge to get away from it all. Do you have any accommodation available?”
    “Let’s see, we have a small suite at twelve hundred dollars per day and a double room at nine hundred. The suite has the better view, and the price includes all meals and drinks. No liquor is served. We offer a full range of spa activities, a beauty salon, tennis and golf half an hour’s drive away.”
    “I’ll take the suite, please. Would you schedule me for a two-hour massage at five P.M. and make an appointment with the hairdresser and a colorist for tomorrow morning?”
    “Of course. May I have a credit card number to hold your reservation?”
    Barbara gave it to her and got driving directions from the interstate. On the way she stopped at a liquor store and bought a bottle of good bourbon whiskey.
    AS SOON AS she had checked into her suite, Barbara unpacked, then went into the bathroom and used the auburn hair dye, cleaning up after herself carefully. She left her hair wet and combed it back. Tomorrow, she would have a better job done by a professional. She had her massage, then dinner in her room, along with a couple of large scotches, then settled down to watch the TV coverage of her escape. Finally, she fell asleep.
    SHE WOKE THE following morning to learn from the TV that she had been acquitted of second-degree murder. “Holy shit!” she said aloud. She hadn’t figured on that.

3
    ED EAGLE NEARLY choked on his eggs. “Susannah!” he yelled.
    She stuck her head around the bathroom door. “Yes?”
    “Barbara was acquitted!”
    “What?”
    “I’m not kidding; she got off!”
    “What does this mean, Ed?”
    “It means that all they’ve got on her now is escaping from the courthouse. She can’t be charged with the two murders again.”
    “Anything on where she is?”
    “Nothing; she’s very, very good at disappearing.”
    “Do we have anything to worry about?”
    “Well, given that she’s already tried to kill us once, I’d say yes.”
    “Are we okay here in the hotel?”
    “You will recall that here is where she tried to kill us last time. We should get out of here. Are you done in L.A.?”
    “I need another day to see my agent. We can go to my apartment; Barbara wouldn’t know where that is.” Susannah had a pied-à-terre in Century City.
    “I hate your apartment,” he said. “And your ex-husband knows where it is, doesn’t he?”
    “Maybe. I’m not sure, but I haven’t heard from him for a while.”
    “That’s because you’ve spent most of your time in Santa Fe.”
    “We could move to another hotel.”
    Eagle sighed. “All right, let’s go to your apartment.” He pointed at her tray. “Have some breakfast, then pack and we’ll get out of here.” He began packing, himself, and he retrieved the small .45 pistol and holster he traveled with and ran the holster onto his belt. He wasn’t taking any chances.
    BARBARA WAITED UNTIL after nine o’clock, then phoned her lawyer in Los Angeles.
    “Good morning. Karp and Edelman.”
    “Richard Karp, please; it’s Barbara Eagle.”
    “Oh.”
    Karp came on the line. “Barbara? Where the hell are you?”
    “Richard, you don’t really want to know that, do you? Let’s just say I’m out of the country.”
    “Have you heard the news?”
    “Yes, and I have to say I’m surprised.”
    “Why are you surprised? I told you I’d get you off.”
    “And I believed you, Richard, right up until the moment when I climbed out that window.”
    “Well, now we’ve got an escaping-from-custody charge to deal with. I’m going to need a ten-thousand-dollar retainer.”
    “Richard, after all I’ve already paid you? How