Drop Dead Gorgeous by Heather Graham Page A

do it for me. Just once,” he told her. “All kinds of awful things could have been avoided.”
    For a moment she felt a strange, cold fear inside.
    “Like what?” she whispered.
    “Our divorce.” He rolled around, and she felt him trying to study her features. “Of course, we can still do it.”
    “What?” she inquired, annoyed. “Brad, we are divorced. You do what you want to do. And you make big bucks, You could hire five women at a time if you wanted.”
    She vaguely saw the motion as he shook his head. “I want you and another woman.”
    “You’re a pervert.”
    “No more so than any other red-blooded American male.”
    “You’re cruel to me.”
    “I’m complimenting you! I want you, and another woman.”
    She shook her head, impatient as if she dealt with a child. Then she stroked his beautiful blond hair. “I’ve got to go.”
    “Think about it, Just me and you, and another gorgeous woman. Just once. My birthday is coming up.”
    She smacked him lightly in the jaw. “Pervert!”
    “Hey, my old girlfriend is back in town as well. You and Lori Kelly. What a lineup.”
    “Lori Kelly apparently had the sense to know that you were a pervert when we were in high school. And don’t do fantasies about my friends. It makes me uncomfortable.”
    “It’s a great fantasy.”
    “Brad—”
    “All right! I’ll keep it in my head.”
    “Great. Now I’ll feel awkward any time we’re together.”
    “Hey, don’t. ’Cause you know something?” he said softly.
    “What?”
    “I do love you, you know.”
    She smiled. He held her close. Just held her. It was nice. “I’ve got to go,” she said unhappily.
    “I’ll give Tina a call, make sure she’s okay. You can stay a little longer, then I’ll follow you home. How’s that?”
    “Nice, Brad, thanks.”
    She watched as he dialed their daughter, talked to her, ascertained that everything was all right, and made her swear that she had the doors properly locked and the alarm on. He hung up, flicked on the television, told Jan he’d make them a couple of drinks, and padded out of the room.
    She stared at the television. The late-night news was rehashing the earlier news. About Ellie.
    “Turn it, please,” she said as Brad came back into the room, handing her a Jack Black and Seven.
    He quickly flicked to the Playboy channel.
    Jan groaned softly as a two-women, one-man sex scene popped onto the screen.
    “So I’m a pervert, huh?”
    “Yes,” she said primly.
    “Aw, come on, just watch,” he said.
    A few minutes later he was making love to her again. When it was over, he whispered, “We perverts need our fixes. Just once, Jan. For my birthday.”
    She turned away from him, pulling the sheets over her head. “You want me to go pick up some girl?”
    “Sure. Or I can pick her up for you. Or take you places where a woman would come on to you.”
    “Pervert!” she said. “Think about it! What would you do if some girl came on to your daughter?”
    He was quiet.
    “Huh?”
    “Kill her. Or him.”
    “You couldn’t kill.”
    “Yes, actually, I think that I could.”

 
     
     
     
    4
     
     
    B rad Jackson lifted the receiver quickly as his bedside phone rang.
    He usually let the machine get it.
    But Jan had dozed off, and he had changed channels to watch the news again. Ellie. Poor damned Ellie.
    “Hello?”
    “Brad?”
    “Yeah.” He frowned. “Ricky?”
    “Yeah, it’s me.”
    “Anything new on Ellie?”
    “No,” Ricky said impatiently.
    “You have any inside information?”
    “Are you kidding? There was a leak somewhere in the department—you know there’s actually a half dozen teams on this case— and someone spilled just about everything we know. That news lady seems to have more information than I do. If I learn anything that I can tell you—”
    “I’m just kind of worried. I have a wife and daughter, you know.”
    “ Ex-wife.”
    “Whatever, you know that I’m concerned about her.”
    “Yeah. Well, Jan is a