Sudden Death Read Online Free Page A

resident aliens. When she arrived unannounced at Susan’s house, Susan looked right beyond her, told her she was crazy, and slammed the door. She ignored Carmen’s phone calls and entreaties. Carmen, stranded, lived with a tennis player and her family in Palo Alto until she could pull herself together.
    Harriet wondered if Carmen ever settled the issue, if not the score. Carmen preferred to avoid conflict. If something was rotten, ignore it. If it got worse, take a drink, smoke a cigarette, or puff on the magic weed, but under no circumstances face the pain.
    Carmen eventually signed on as Susan’s doubles partner. This lasted for three years and then Susan dumped her without warning for Happy Straker, another fleeting fancy but a terrific doubles partner. At no time did Susan ever sleep with Carmen again or mention the affair which had preceded Carmen’s arrival on her doorstep. Susan had moral amnesia. Why Carmen remained friendly to Susan mystified Harriet, for she felt, like a deep undertone beneath human hearing, that the other shoe had yet to drop.

    Miguel ordered cherries jubilee for dessert. All that blue flame at the table gave dinner a slightly exterminatory air. Miguel and Ricky talked about the expansion of cable television. The women talked among themselves.
    “I haven’t had cherries jubilee since baked Alaska and I haven’t had baked Alaska since my senior year at Smith College.” Jane shoved the dripping concoction into her mouth.
    “Did you bring your Smithie T-shirt?” Carmen had already finished her dessert. “The one that says Smith College, A Century of Women on Top.” Carmen coveted that T-shirt.
    Miguel turned to his sister. “Did someone say ‘women on top’?”
    “Forget it, Miguel, you’re a chauvinist. You’d never get it.” Carmen turned back to Jane.
    “They’re talking about Jane’s college,” Ricky explained.
    “Oh, for a moment there I thought we’d be embarrassed by the ladies.” Miguel’s teeth looked almost silver in the light.
    “We’d be embarrassed all right, but not tonight.” The two of them returned to their discussion.
    “Jane, what do I have to do to get one of those T-shirts?” Carmen inquired.
    “You can’t climb Mount Everest, that’s been done to death. Let’s see, you could bring me a good photograph of the Loch Ness monster or you could win the Grand Slam—or you could simply ask me.”
    “Please get me one of those T-shirts, and get one for my brother, too.”
    “I’ll write to my alma mater and see what I can do.”
    Harriet surveyed the room. “Full of Republicans.”
    “How can you tell?” Jane scanned the room.
    “Thin lips.”
    “Aren’t you nasty?” Jane toyed with her dessert.
    “Jane, I’ll finish that for you.” Carmen reached over and grabbed the plate. Jane looked perplexed. “Oh, come on, I know you’d kill for chocolate. Waiter, chocolate mousse.”
    “Am I that transparent?”
    “Carmen, I’ve got some contracts to discuss with you.”
    “What?” Surprised, Carmen twirled around to discover Seth Quintard standing behind her. Either he dug his way up from the potted palm or he walked in on moccasins because no one heard him coming.
    “Oh, yeah. Well, can’t we do it later?”
    Miguel perked up. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to be there. My sister has asked me to review her business affairs.”
    Seth quickly said, “Sure.”
    “I’ll call your room in about an hour,” Carmen told him.
    Athletes Unlimited crept over the sports world like a wild vine. From a tiny seed, the corporation threatened to take over the whole forest. Football, tennis, baseball, basketball, soccer, track and field, you name it, Athletes Unlimited represented the best in each sport. Their only competitor was a small firm headed by a former basketball star who couldn’t delegate authority. That wasn’t real competition. Seth headed the tennis division. He proved endlessly fertile in his ability to arrange deals. He had in his