The Fatal Fortune Read Free Page A

took her arm and steered her forcefully down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk.
    “Zac, I have to be picky. You’re not going to be the easiest man to work for, you know. You need someone calm and unflappable. Someone with a good personality, so that she can handle your important clients properly. You also need someone who can do your typing, handle your accounts, and present a good image.”
    “Damn it, Gwen, I just want a secretary, not a presidential aide.”
    “Don’t worry, Zac, I’ll send someone over soon. Now, about my little problem—”
    “Guinevere, I have learned through hard experience that your problems are rarely
little
.”
    “Don’t sound so abused. I’m not going to involve you in this. I’ve told you, I just want some advice. Now, here’s the situation: I think one of my employees has become the victim of a very subtle, very cruel protection racket.”
    Zac slid her a sidelong glance. “Are you kidding?”
    “No. Listen to this and tell me what you think. I sent a young woman over to Gage and Watson a few weeks ago.”
    “The electronics firm?”
    Guinevere nodded. “Someone in her office turned her on to a psychic, a character who goes by the name of Madame Zoltana. Madame Zoltana agreed to see her initially for a small consulting fee, but after a couple of visits she revealed to poor little Sally that she knew Sally had gotten pregnant when she was seventeen.”
    “Oh, hell.” Zac sounded as if he knew what was coming.
    “Sally was flabbergasted. It seemed to prove that Madame Zoltana really knew her stuff. But it didn’t stop there. Zoltana also knew that Sally had given the baby up for adoption. You have to understand, Zac, that the experience nearly devastated Sally. She’s a fragile person in the first place. Finding herself pregnant and abandoned at seventeen nearly caused her to commit suicide. She was talked into having the baby by one of those antiabortion groups. They promised her that once she gave the baby away she would be free to rebuild her own life. Sally did exactly that. It’s been a long, slow process. Because of the baby, she was forced to drop out of school. She had to complete high school through a GED program. Her parents disowned her, and she was left destitute. It’s a sad story. Suffice it to say that she’s gradually pulled herself back together. A few months ago she came to work for me, and she’s shown remarkable improvement on the job. She’s starting to come into her own at last.”
    “Guinevere, the social worker,” Zac commented dryly.
    “I’m serious, Zac. That young woman really started to get her act together during the past few months. For the first time since she was seventeen, she’s beginning to see a future for herself. But she’s still very fragile, Zac. Now along comes this screwy Madame Zoltana and warns her that her whole world is about to fall apart again.”
    “How?”
    Guinevere drew a deep breath. “She told Sally that unless Sally kept coming to her on a regular basis, the baby she gave away when she was seventeen would someday learn who its natural mother is, come looking for her, and ruin Sally’s life. For the right price, Madame Zoltana says, she can prevent that from happening with her psychic powers. Poor little Sally is absolutely terrified.”
    Zac whistled softly. “I’ll be damned. That’s pretty grim, all right. What a racket.”
    “That’s exactly what it sounds like to me, a sleazy sort of protection racket. Madame Zoltana finds some useful secret in a person’s past and then offers ‘protection’—for a price.”
    “And the price is continued visits to Madame Zoltana at very high fees.”
    “Exactly.” Guinevere lifted her chin determinedly. “I can’t allow that sort of thing to happen to one of my employees on the job, Zac. I’m going to find out what’s going on and expose the whole sordid mess. That Madame Zoltana deserves to be hung.”
    Zac sighed. “Gwen, if people are stupid enough