The Fifth Avenue Series Boxed Set Read Free Page B

“Your mother was looking for her earlier.   She was supposed to help her prepare for the party.”
    “And Mom thought she’d show?”   Celina tilted her head.   “Leana probably doesn’t even know what happened here today.”
    “I need to call your mother,” he said.   “She made me promise to call as soon as I knew something.   If you see Leana, tell her your mother needs her.”
    Although she knew she wouldn’t see Leana until later that evening, Celina agreed and followed her father to the door.
    The press was there, cameras and microphones raised.   “You can use one of the side entrances,” she said.
    “And lose their sympathy at the very moment I need it most?   Forget it.”
    And then he was gone, through the doors, swarmed by reporters and finally answering whatever questions he could.   Celina watched him for a moment, listened to the crowd’s frenzied shouting, but then she stepped away and resumed her work.   There was still much to be done before the party.
     
     
    *    *    *
     
     
    The sun was just beginning to set behind Manhattan’s jagged horizon when Leana Redman left Washington Square.
    She had been in the park since morning, reading the latest edition of Vogue, talking with those people she knew, watching those she didn’t.
    Now, as she passed the big empty fountain and neared the white arch, she watched the many children playing with their parents, glanced at a father twirling his young daughter in the air, and then kept walking, oblivious to the man taking pictures of her.
    Evening was beginning to descend, but the air was balmy and she was glad to be wearing only shorts and a T-shirt.   At twenty-five, Leana Redman had a long, thick mane of curly black hair, which, to her dismay, she had inherited from her father.   Although she wasn’t considered as beautiful as her older sister, there was something about her that always made people look twice.
    She left the park and began moving up Fifth.   The sidewalks were jammed with people.   A group of five teenage boys darted past her on skateboards, screaming and shouting as they shot through the crowd in a colorful blur of red and white and brilliant shades of green.
    Leana lifted her face to the warm breeze and tried to focus on the problem ahead of her—tonight’s party.   She had planned on not attending when her mother, sensing this, demanded her presence.   “Your father will be expecting your support.”
    The irony almost made Leana laugh.   He’s never needed it before .
    Four hours ago she was supposed to have met Elizabeth at their Connecticut estate and help her with last-minute preparations for the party.   Why her mother wanted her help was beyond Leana—especially since they both knew that Celina would take care of everything.   As she always does.
    She stopped at a crowded newspaper stand.   A man moved beside her.   Leana gave him a sidelong glance.   Tall and dark, his face lean and angular, the man wore an unseasonably warm black leather jacket that exposed a broad chest and the sophisticated camera hanging around his neck.
    Leana sensed she’d seen him before.
    It was her turn in line.   Ignoring the many newspapers and magazines that carried front-page pictures of her father, Celina and the new building, she asked the attendant for the latest issue of Interview, paid him and then tucked the magazine into the oversized Prada handbag that hung at her side.
    She looked again at the man in black leather, saw that he was staring at her and she started up Fifth, aware that he had purchased nothing and now was following her.   It wasn’t until she glimpsed his reflection in a storefront window that she realized he was taking photos of her.
    Leana turned and was about to ask what newspaper he worked for when she saw, tucked between the folds of his black leather jacket, the butt of a revolver.
    Startled, she looked at the man’s face just as he lowered the camera.   When he smiled at her, she