The Cheim Manuscript (The Shell Scott Mysteries)
Page 23
I am not!
Well, come on over, then. But hurry.
Look, even if I did do such a fool thing, Id have to get dressed. I was all ready for bed. In fact, I’m only wearing an — um — rather gaudy robe —
Zo come like you are, drezzed, undrezzed, whats the differenze?
But — but what if I get arrested? I’m already in enough trouble with the cops, and they might really bust me. Not to mention the fact that I would never in my life live it —
Daddy, youd better make up your mind in — in ten seconds. Or its all off!
You better believe it, zweetie. Zhe means it. And zo do I!
Ten . . . nine . . . eight . . .
You’ve got to be kidding, I said. You’re planning to shoot me to the moon or something? Kill me? Ambush —
Zeven, zix, five . . .
Yeah, they were both in on it. Whatever it was. Even taking turns counting.
Look, I said, I cant just fly out of here with my wild Chinese robe flapping — just showing it in public could get me ten years — and go ripping through the streets of Hollywood, my God, especially Hollywood —
Four . . .
But —
Three . . .
But —
Two . . .
Well . . .
One!
Hold the phone! I’m on my way!
You better hurry up, though. Shell —
Yeah, you better make it zpeedy, zweetie.
But that was the last I heard, because Id hung up the phone, dashed to grab my car keys and zipped out the door.
Maybe they were nuts. Maybe I was nuts. Maybe they had some grim, evil, horrible, unthinkable fate in store for me. Like locking the door and peeking out the window at me, laughing like maniacs.
Or maybe . . .
As I jumped into the Cad, switched on the ignition and ripped out of the garage and down the alley and into the street, I was thinking: Whatever it is, whatever it isn’t, that’s life, old buddy, and if you’re going to live it you’ve got to take a chance once in a while.
And — at least when it concerns a lovely like Zena who was the whole Thousand and One Nights Entertainment rolled up into any single night of the year, or a tomato like Sylvia who, had she been born an Eskimo, might have melted all the igloos in Alaska — I’ll take a chance.
As I swung around the corner and headed toward Zenas — and, I supposed, Sylvias — I got a quick but vivid impression of the morning skies, flaming reds, pinks, shadowy purples, wisps of dawn-gray, a fringe of violet.
That’s one of the nice things about Southern California. We have such glorious sunrises.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1997 by Richard S. Prather
Cover design by Open Road Integrated Media
ISBN 978-1-4804-9916-4
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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