Santa Fe Dead Read Free Page A

difficult can this be? I’m innocent in the eyes of the law.”
    Karp was quiet for a moment. “Give me a number where I can reach you.”
    It was Barbara’s turn to think. Jimmy had said there was no GPS chip in her new phone. “All right.” She gave him the number.
    “I’ll try to get back to you inside an hour,” Karp said, then hung up.
    AFTER A LONG look around the Bel-Air parking lot, Eagle got into the rented Mercedes, and Susannah got into the passenger seat. “Keep your eyes open,” he said.
    “Yeah, for a blonde.”
    “I very much doubt that she’s still a blonde.”
    “Okay, what should I look for?”
    “A woman with a gun.”
    “Oh.”
    He drove to Century City, sticking to the surface streets and being very watchful, then parked in the lot under her building. Susannah found a cart, and they wheeled their luggage into the elevator and upstairs.
    The place was spotless and not as cramped as Eagle had remembered it, when it was still full of unpacked boxes.
    “God, I have sixteen messages,” Susannah said, picking up the phone and pressing the Message button.
    Eagle took their luggage into the bedroom, which was nearly as cramped as he remembered it. When he came back she was still listening to messages, and she looked angry.
    Susannah hung up the phone. “One call from my agent, who canceled our appointment, and fifteen messages from my ex-husband.”
    “What’s his problem?”
    “His problem is, he’s still angry about the settlement he had to pay.”
    “Call your lawyer and let him deal with it.”
    “Every time I so much as speak to him it costs me five hundred dollars,” she said.
    “You’re not going to get any sympathy from me over your legal fees,” Eagle replied.
    “You lawyers are all alike.”
    “No, some of us charge a thousand dollars for a phone call. Does your ex have any sort of legitimate beef?”
    “Certainly not. He’s just nuts, that’s all.”
    “Then instruct your lawyer to get a temporary restraining order. That will stop him from calling you. Does he have your Santa Fe number?”
    “He doesn’t even know I bought the Santa Fe house—at least, as far as I know. My publicist kept it out of the press, and my number is unlisted.”
    "How many people in L.A. know you bought the house?”
    “Three or four, I guess. I told them all not to tell anybody.”
    "How often does that work in L.A.?”
    She picked up the phone and called her lawyer.
    RICHARD KARP PHONED Judge Henry Allman, who had presided over the Barbara Eagle case, catching him before he went into court.
    “Yes, Richard?”
    “Judge, I’ve heard from my client.”
    “And you’ll be surrendering her when?”
    “I’m sorry; I don’t know where she is. She says she’s out of the country.”
    “Then why are you calling me?”
    “Judge, the woman is absolutely panicked; that’s why she did what she did. I don’t think for a minute it was planned, she just went nuts and bolted.”
    “Well, get her into my court, and she can explain herself.”
    “Now she’s afraid for her life; she’s convinced that Ed Eagle will have her killed.”
    “That’s not my problem, until she’s in my court. I can send the police to get her, if you like.”
    “Judge, it’s my hope that you’ll drop the escape charge.”
    “Well, you can hope.”
    "The woman has spent a year in the L.A. County Jail, and she’s officially innocent. No one was hurt in her escape, and the incarceration has to count for something; she’s already served more time than she’s likely to get on the escape charge. I think, given the jury’s verdict, that she should be allowed to go and live her life without fear of arrest. She was in a very fragile state, mentally, and she needs to be able to recover without fear of being incarcerated again.”
    “Have you talked to the D.A. about this?”
    “No.” Karp could hear the judge’s fingers drumming on his desk. “All right, I’ll dismiss the escape charges. Write an order and