Sharp Edges Read Online Free Page B

play of light on beautiful glass always helped her to clarify her thoughts.
    After a moment she reached for the phone on the table beside the sofa. She flipped open a card file and found the home number of her friend at Mills & Mills, the firm that handled the Leabrook's security.
    The same intuition that she relied on so heavily when it came to art was sending small warning signals concerning Cyrus Chandler Colfax. It told her that he was not what he seemed.
    "Sally? Eugenia. I need a favor from you."
    "It's nearly seven." Sally Warren sounded startled. "Are you still at the museum?"
    "No, I'm home." Eugenia sank down onto the arm of the sofa. "I'm going out of town the day after tomorrow. I need some information."
    "Finally going to take a vacation, huh? About time. I'll bet you can't even remember the last one you took."
    Eugenia frowned. "Of course I do. I went to England two years ago."
    "And spent all of your time in the glass collections at the Ashmolean and the British Museum. But we'll let that pass. What do you need?"
    "Mills & Mills has been in the security business for a long time, right?"
    "Thirty years," Sally agreed.
    "You must know all of the other major security firms on the West Coast."
    "Probably. Why?"
    "I met one of your competitors today. Cyrus Chandler Colfax. Ever heard of him?"
    There was a short, startled silence on the other end of the line.
    "Colfax?" Sally sounded distinctly cautious.
    "Yes. Do you know him?"
    "I've never met him, but I've heard about him. I wouldn't call him a competitor. He doesn't go after the same business. Mills & Mills specializes in museum security. Colfax usually does corporate and private stuff. Very exclusive. Very expensive."
    Eugenia tightened her grip on the phone. "What can you tell me about him?"
    "Wait a second, you're not thinking of moving the Leabrook account to Colfax Security, are you?"
    "No, of course not. But I want to know whatever you can get on him."
    "It will take me a while. Mind if I ask why you need to know about Colfax?"
    "Because I'm going to spend my summer vacation with him."
    Two
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    "L evel with me, Cyrus, what kind of pressure did you use on Jake to get him to show up for Rick's graduation?" Meredith Tasker held wisps of blond hair out of her eyes. "Did you threaten to turn him in to the IRS for income tax evasion? Tell him you'd sabotage his latest business negotiations, maybe? Or did you go for the more direct approach and hire some professional leg-breakers?"
    Cyrus leaned back against the fender of his dark green Jeep. He folded his arms and studied the scene in the crowded high school parking lot.
    It was a clear, warm day in Portland. Perfect weather for a graduation, he thought. The ceremony had ended a few minutes earlier. Parents, some vastly relieved, others triumphant, stood in small groups and congratulated each other on having survived the experience of getting a teenager through high school. Their exuberant, newly graduated offspring, glorying in their sense of immortality and unlimited futures, clustered in various energetic flocks. Laughter and elated shouts drifted across the grounds.
    "I don't know what you mean, Meredith. Jake wouldn't have missed Rick's graduation for all the high stakes deals in Southern California."
    "That son of a bitch missed his own mother's funeral because some business came up in New York that required his personal attention. Come on, I was his wife. I know him better than anyone. What did you do to get him here today?"
    Cyrus shrugged. "Nothing much. I had my secretary call his office last week to remind him of the date."
    There was no need to add that as soon as his secretary had gotten Jake Tasker on the phone, Cyrus had taken over the call. The conversation had been short and to the point.
    "I told you, I can't make it," Jake Tasker said from his L.A. office. "I've got business. Rick will understand."
    "Let me put it this way, Tasker. Either you put in an appearance at Rick's graduation, or