The Desperate Game Read Free Page A

situation anyway, so why suffer? She walked to the black leather love seat and threw herself down into a corner. "My God, I'm exhausted. Say what you have to say and then leave, Mr. Justis."
    "You've had a long day," he observed mildly. He took the black wire diamondshaped chair across from her and eyed her feet. "You were in the offices of Camelot Services at seven o'clock this morning, ate a sandwich at your desk for lunch, grabbed a bite of supper on your way to the bar, and then put in a full shift as a cocktail waitress."
    "The woman who was assigned to take the waitress job phoned in sick at the last minute." Guinevere decided trying to keep him from using the short form of her name would be pointless. Another small battle lost. Sooner or later she was going to have to find a defensible position.
    "Do you always sub for your people when they can't go out on one of the temporary assignments?"
    "Someone has to do it. As you must know from your prying, Camelot Services is still a very small operation. I didn't have anyone else I could call in at the last minute."
    "And you didn't want to offend the client by being unable to meet the request for a temporary cocktail waitress," he said softly.
    "When you're in the temporary help business, you can't come up with too many excuses or you'll lose clients."
    "Yes. I know how important it is to please clients. Which brings me to the reason I'm here."
    "I'm glad something is going to get you to explain yourself. Do me a favor and lay it all out in short, pithy sentences. I'm too tired to fence with you."
    "I want to please one of my clients, Gwen. I think you can help."
    She eyed him narrowly. "What client?"
    "StarrTech."
    "I see." She thought about that for several long seconds. Then she thought about the future of Camelot Services. It was the same as thinking about her own future. At the moment both were beginning to look shaky. "What, exactly, are you doing for StarrTech?"
    "It's hired my firm to take a private, very quiet look at a problem it's been having with lost equipment shipments. The people there think the problem is originating within their computer department."
    "Your firm?"
    "Free Enterprise Security, Incorporated." There was a hint of satisfaction underlining the words.
    Guinevere blinked. "You're an investigating agency? A private detective service?"
    He shook his head. Then he frowned down at his hands. He'd clasped them loosely between his knees, his elbows resting on his thighs. "My firm offers consultations to businesses."
    "What sort of consultations?" It was like pulling teeth, Guinevere decided. But she was going to get some answers if it killed her. Perhaps a little more liquor would make him chattier. And heaven knew she could use a drink. She got to her feet, wincing a little. "Would you like some brandy?"
    "Thank you." He watched her as she walked into the kitchen, but he didn't follow. When she reappeared, holding two small snifters of brandy, he accepted the offer with a polite inclination of his head.
    "You didn't answer my question." Guinevere prompted him, resuming her seat. "Just what sort of consultations do you provide?"
    "Security consultations."
    "Ah." She swallowed some of the brandy. It might not make her guest any more comprehensible, but it certainly made it easier to sit here and deal with his presence in her apartment. She took another sip. "Ah," she said again, and wondered if it sounded any wiser this time.
    "My firm provides very discreet services, Gwen. We're called in when management does not want to create a stir or make accusations. Generally corporate managements hate to create stirs or make accusations. Bad for the image, and stockholders take a dim view of that sort of trouble. If we learn that there's something worth creating a stir about or decide that accusations should be made, we go ahead and make the recommendation. It's up to the client to pursue it into court."
    "You keep saying 'we.' Just how big is Free Enterprise