You Don't Know Jack Read Free Page A

me of Lars. I'd had about all of that I could take for one day.
    "Hi," I said.
    "Sit."
    Okay, so she wasn't in the mood for chitchat. I could be all business. I'd prefer to be all business, but the nature of my business was too emotional. I just had to remember I wasn't the one who broke my clients' hearts... that honor went to the men in their lives, but I'd be lying if I said I never felt like I might be shot or stabbed for bringing bad news.
    No matter how expected that news might be.
    "So, you followed Frankie this morning?" Dinah lowered the sunglasses and in the dim light offered by the candle between us, I saw her eyes were heavily made up giving them more of a catlike appearance than normal.
    She was a striking woman, beauty rife in the exotic bones of her cheeks, the full sculpted lips, the slight dimple in her chin, the creamy pale skin, the ebony hair, and those golden-green eyes.
    "I did." Frankie was her much younger husband, a bouncer at Club Jaded Edge. At forty, Dinah Edger looked ten years younger. She was taller than me by an inch, had a dancer's strong, wiry build and the air of someone who made things happen. She didn't strike me as the insecure type, but she suspected her husband was using her generous allowance to woo an old girlfriend, and I was about to confirm her suspicion.
    "Let's have it, then." She reached for the gimlet glass of clear liquid in front of her and took a long swallow. I figured it was vodka, one of the pricy brands.
    I considered ordering one for myself, but I was working. "Frankie went to Bainbridge Island."
    She rolled her eyes. Not the reaction I'd expected, nor the reaction of a woman bent on taking out her heartbreak on me.
    I ordered a diet soda from the barmaid, then continued. "A woman met him at the ferry. They walked into Winslow for an intimate chat over a couple of steaming espresso cups."
    Dinah's exotic face tensed. She laid her glasses on the table next to her drink. The barmaid arrived with my drink, but I didn't look away from my client. I could feel emotion wafting off her as strong as the expensive perfume she wore, but I could identify neither the emotion nor her pricey scent.
    "I did some checking afterwards," I said. "The woman owns a floral shop in Winslow, on the main drag."
    "She specializes in exotic blooms," Dinah muttered, her voice flat, unimpressed by my fact-gathering skills. Okay, so, she already knew what business Frankie's inamorata operated. It was a fact she might have shared with me, as it would have saved me some time. I removed the photographs from the envelope and shoved them toward her.
    She did a quick flip through the glossy prints, sighed and leaned back in the chair. "You wasted your morning, kiddo."
    "What?"
    "You wasted my time and yours and my money." One of her long pointy nails tapped the photos. "This ain't the bitch. He's not cheating on me with her . That's his sister."
    "His... sis—"
    "Yeah."
    Wow. What I'd witnessed between Frankie and this redhead seemed a lot more sexual in nature than my chaste ideas of brotherly and sisterly affection.
    "She's a total bitch," Dinah said, her voice low, sharp. "A homophobe. I really hate her guts. I'd be totally pissed if Frankie gave her a cent of money he's earned at the Club. Jade would roll over in his grave, and rightfully so."
    Yes, he would. Jade Edger, Dinah's brother, had opened Club Jaded Edge and been the star attraction for a few years. Until he contracted HIV that soon developed into AIDS. Dinah had nursed him through until the very end. He'd willed the club to her and Dinah had continued on — making the club a memorial to him. She embraced the gay community as her own. If there was a prejudiced bone in her body, it was for the prejudiced.
    She downed the last of her drink, tossed a ten onto the table, and swept to her feet. "Look, kiddo, in my business it's performance that counts. Call me when you have some real evidence."
    I wanted to tell her I needed more money, but I