Fool Me Twice Read Online Free Page A

say anything.
    “Don’t go all quiet on me, Jesse.”
    “I’m sorry, Belva. I wasn’t aware I was being condescending.”
    “Then pay closer attention. In any event, my water bills for the months of August and September were higher than they were a year ago.”
    “And you’re certain you weren’t using more water?”
    “I checked the meter readings.”
    “And?”
    “They were the same as they were a year ago.”
    “But it cost you more?”
    “Yes.”
    “Did you receive a notification of a rate increase?”
    “No. Did you?”
    “Not that I’m aware of,” he said.
    “So what are you going to do about it,” she said.
    “Let me ask around.”
    “About other people’s water bills?”
    “Yes.”
    “Okay. But I don’t want you shunting me aside ’cause I’m old. I want answers.”
    “If you’ll let me get off the phone, I’ll try to get you some.”
    “Don’t be fresh, Jesse.”
    “I’ll get back to you, Belva.”
    “I’ll be waiting,” she said, and hung up the phone.
    Jesse put down the receiver and stared out the window for a while.
    Paradise is a small town, he thought.
    Then he called out to Molly, who was leaning in the doorway, one hand on her hip.
    “What?”
    “Are you aware of any recent increases in W and P water rates?”
    “Why?”
    “Belva Radford says her bills are higher.”
    “Belva Radford’s a head case.”
    “That may be so, but she’s still entitled to an answer.”
    “Then you’ll have to give her one.”
    “I’m aware of that. That’s why I’m asking you. Could you call over to W and P and ask whether there have been any recent rate hikes?”
    “I’ll have to check my schedule,” she said.
    “Quit giving me a hard time, Molly. Just call and find out, will you, please?”
    “I’ll take it under advisement.”
    Then she walked back to her desk.
    Jesse watched her.
    This is going to be a long day, he thought.

  8  
    A fter a rash of disappointing meetings with a handful of assistant casting directors, Ryan returned to the mansion he shared with Marisol.
    Things had slowed considerably for him, and he thought that if he could at least get the assistants talking about him, perhaps they might be more successful in finding him work. But it was fruitless. Although it remained unspoken, Ryan was aware that people knew he and Marisol were having issues and they wanted to wait until things resolved themselves before they risked antagonizing her by casting him.
    He parked the Prius in front, picked up his shoulder bag, and headed for the house.
    When he put his key in the lock, it didn’t fit. He looked at it to make certain it was the right key. It was. He tried it again, but it still didn’t fit.
    He walked around to the back of the house and tried to unlock the kitchen door. That key didn’t work, either.
    He then tried every other door of the mansion, but his keys worked in none of them.
    “She changed the locks,” he said to himself.
    Which pissed him off. He rang the bell. He banged on the door. There was no response.
    He considered breaking a window, but he knew that the glass was reinforced and all he would succeed in doing would be to attract the attention of the security service.
    Things had gone badly for him since he married her. He knew she was a bigger star than he, but his expectations were that his star would rise, not fall, as a result of their marriage. He hadn’t been prepared for the level of attention she received wherever they went. And the manner in which she diminished him.
    In the paparazzi photos, he was always in the near background, standing slightly to her left, an insincere smile plastered on his face.
    She often neglected to introduce him to the important people at the Hollywood functions they frequently attended. When his agency dumped him because they didn’t want to represent “Mr. Marisol Hinton,” he became alarmed.
    He tried to talk it over with her.
    “I’m hurting here,” he’d said, on their way home from a