Xs, An Allie Armington Mystery Read Online Free

around him, then leans forward. “Why
do you ask?”
    “You mentioned sexual assault.”
    “There was evidence of bruising on the victim’s
genitalia. I’d say Miss Montoya was an unwilling participant.”
    We each stare the other down. If Greene thinks he’s
going to beat me on this, he’s dead wrong. Without moving my eyes,
I focus on his forehead. It’s a trick I learned in law school.
    When he breaks first and looks down at his notes, I
give myself a small pat on the back. Small victories are the very
best.
    “What about my sister? You inferred she might be off
the hook?”
    He slowly closes the spiral notepad, places it in
his jacket pocket and gives me a cautious smile. “I’d say it looks
good. But I’m willing to bet your sister knows a lot more than
she’s telling. Since you were an Assistant DA, you should remember
the drill. If you find out anything, give me a call.”

Chapter 5
    I HEAR ANGELA STIR. The bathroom door quietly snaps
shut, and a red glow brightens the room. It’s the light on the
phone between our beds. Why is Angela making a call at three in the
morning? And from the bathroom?
    I tiptoe over and press my ear against it.
    “Cliff? It’s Angela. There’s been some trouble. No,
I can’t speak up. Allie’s in the next room.”
    The hole in my stomach grows with each word I
hear.
    “Caro’s dead. Raped, beaten, strangled.” Her voice
breaks. “Oh, God, Cliff, what are we going to do?”
    Cliff Danes. Damn. I had met him only once and
instantly disliked him. Patrician and pushing fifty, he was a
third-generation heir with, according to Angela, hardly any money
left. Still, he was a major player in the Upper East Side Crowd
besides being well connected in the modeling world.
    Angela once lived and breathed Cliff ’s every word.
I wasn’t surprised when she confided he was her lover. Everything
was peachy-keen until her modeling gigs dried up and the bastard
dumped her.
    When she creeps out of the bathroom, I say, “What’s
Cliff Danes got to do with this? I thought you were through with
him?”
    Angela flicks on the lamp between our beds. “I was
going to tell you everything in the morning, but looks like neither
one of us is going to get any more sleep tonight.”
    She sighs and scrunches into her pillow. “I should
have told you sooner about the parties—the parties in New Jersey. I
think that’s how Caro got into trouble.”
    I perk up. “Parties? You never mentioned
parties.”
    “That’s because I only went to one. But Caro was a
regular.”
    “And that’s what got her in trouble?”
    Angela gives me one of her
“are-you-too-stupid-to-comprehend” looks and goes into instruction
mode. “These weekly parties—they’re billed as Stag Poker Nights,
but they’re anything but. Each man is required to bring a date.
There’s dancing and drinking and I guess some carrying on, but at
the end of the evening the man has to trade her for another woman.
After the trade it’s anybody’s guess.”
    The attorney in me snaps to attention. “Is there
money involved?”
    “Not that I know of. As I said, I only went once.”
She gives me a half-smile. “I have to admit the place is pretty
cool. It’s a waterfront estate in Jersey near Sandy Hook Bay, but
everybody calls it ‘The Castle’ because it looks just like the ones
you see in fairy tale books.
    “Cliff ’s been trying to join this group ever since
he heard about it. All the members are financially successful, have
inherited wealth or are descended from the Four Hundred.”
    “And so you went to New Jersey with Cliff last
week?”
    She nods. “But Cliff asked Caro to be his date when
he was initiated in February.”
    “Caro? Your Caro? How did he meet her?”
    “Through me.” Tears well. “When I introduced them,
he took one look at her, and I knew it would never be the same
between us. They were inseparable.”
    I start at that. After he so callously dumped
Angela, it’s hard for me to believe the Cliff