The Devil You Know Read Online Free Page B

confident—almost powerful in the same way she had felt
after killing the snake.
    “I
don’t know,” Elise said. She stepped back to appraise Marie. “I shouldn’t be
seen next to you looking like that.”
    “You’ll
do just fine. I’m staying in the background tonight.” Elise had never been shy
about her hopes to make it in Hollywood, and tonight was part of that plan. The
two had met at Lockheed, but Elise had left not long after Marie for a job in
the wardrobe department at Piedmont Pictures. Finally she had managed to
wrangle an invitation to a party at the Piedmont mansion high in the Hollywood
Hills. It had taken only a bit of cajoling to convince Marie to accompany her
and keep her from feeling all alone among the movie stars who would doubtless
be there.
    “That’s
the plan.” Elise nodded. She gave Marie one more approving look. “Okay, then.
Make-up and hair.” She paused, holding up Marie’s left hand. “And jewelry.”
    “What
do you mean?”
    Elise
tapped the simple wedding band Marie still wore. “This needs to go.”
    “Elise!”
    “Just
for tonight.”
    “But
why?” Marie asked. “What does it matter? We’re not going there for me. It’s you
who’s—” She stopped short, recalling how insistently Elise had wanted her
at the party. Elise was not nervous about going; she was the sort of person who
could start a conversation with anyone. “You’re hoping I’ll meet somebody,”
Marie said resignedly.
    Elise
smiled. “Well, I’m hoping I meet someone, too.” When Marie did not return the
smile, she added, “Come on. It’s just one evening, one party. Here.” She took a
gold chain from her jewelry box. “Put your ring on this. You keep it close to
your heart that way, okay?”
    Her
smile turned tender now, and Marie bravely returned it. Without second-guessing
herself, she tugged at her wedding ring and had to twist it around her finger
several times. The skin pulled around the knuckle painfully for a moment before
the ring came loose. Aside from the physical discomfort, taking off her wedding
ring did not feel as awful as she had imagined, which she took as a sign that
she really was ready to do this, in spite of her reluctance. With only a bit of
resignation, she put the ring onto the gold chain and let Elise fasten it
around her neck. Then she slipped the ring past the neckline of the red dress
and let it rest against the pale skin of her bosom.
    “Okay?”
Elise asked. When Marie nodded and smiled bravely, she said, “Good. Now we’ve
got to do something with your hair. Clark Gable could be there, for all you
know.”
    “Gable’s
ears are too big,” Marie said. “I’m more partial to Errol Flynn.”
    “Well,
he might be there, too. But don’t put Gable down. You know what they say about
men with big ears.”
    Marie
laughed. “That’s big feet, genius.”
    “Feet,
ears, who cares? I just need to get my hands on a man with a Beverly Hills
address.”
    “And
if he gets his hands on you?”
    “So
much the better,” said Elise.

 
    Chapter Two

 
    Marie
felt the evening air on her back as soon as she stepped out of Elise’s car. A
cloud passed before the moon, and moisture from the ocean had blown in as the
sun had gone down. Her skin felt damp as she followed Elise across the wide
lawn, her heels sinking in with every step as she threaded her way among the
dozens of cars parked haphazardly on the grounds. Most looked expensive with
the moonlight reflected in their chrome grilles and the bright paint of their
big fenders, but a few were the average sort of cars that could be found in the
valley below, and one or two looked more shabby than Elise’s tired old Ford.
    Like
all the other mansions they had passed while working their way up into the
hills above Hollywood, the Piedmont home was immense, a multi-winged
Spanish-style that appeared both elegant and audacious. Even in the dark of
evening, the house practically glowed, lights blazing from every