Intimate Relations by Rebecca Forster (most popular ebook readers TXT) 📕

"Don't worry, this isn't personal." Cori raised her voice. The girl gave her a passing glance.

"Good to know."

She took a key ring out of the pocket of her cut-offs. She wasn't adverse to a conversation, but she wasn't especially interested either. Still, she was polite.

"So if it's not a hook up, I still think you're out of luck.  She hasn't been here for a week, maybe more."

"How do you know," Cori asked.

"'Cause I clean the place." The girl found the key she wanted on her chain, and put it in the lock. She opened the front door, held onto the knob, put her hip out and smiled. "Want to come in?"

"I should tell you I'm a cop," Cori said.

"What did she do?" the maid asked.

"She died for starters."

"That's a bummer."

"Still want me to come in?" Cori asked.

"Since she croaked, I guess I'm going to have to find another gig." She pushed the door open wide. "We might as well have some fun."

Finn found them by the pool when he arrived with warrant in hand. Cori's pants were rolled up to the knees, her feet dangled in the pool, and her jacket was on a lounge. A young woman was in the pool, her arms crossed on the tile edge, her feet kicking gently as she talked to Cori. Her name was Karyn with a 'k' and a 'y', and she was buck naked. She looked fetching; water beads on her cheeks sparkled under the late morning sun, her skin was smooth and tan. Her hair was long, slicked back in front and floating behind her in the water.  Little dry wisps curled around her brow. Under the water, Finn could just make out her bum. Given the glancing light and the movement of the water, her undress seemed quite innocent. She smiled at Finn, invited him to join her in a swim, and then took no offense when he declined.

"Karyn is an actress, but she cleans houses to make ends meet. I was invited in, but I told her I needed to wait for you outside," Cori said, knowing he was wondering if she had already made the search warrant moot.

Finn smiled at both women. He asked Karyn, "How is it in Hollywood?"

"It's a shit place, but I'll make it."

"I've no doubt," Finn said.

"So I was telling Cori that I saw the Asian guy once. The one in the video."

The girl dipped her head back, and then shook it out. The little wisps were plastered against her head now. Finn pulled up a chair and looked at the video Cori held out to remind him. He needed no reminder. It was a pity to look at Beverly demean herself, to see a man so feeble in the face of two women and their anger. He only wished the video was clearer. Finn would have liked to see Roxana's reaction to the attack. Was she frightened? Angry? Disdainful. To see her face at that moment would have told Finn so much. Yet all he saw was the push, Bev leaning over her, the man moving forward. Finn got the sense that should Roxana scramble up, Bev would have gotten as good as she gave.

"And do you know his name?" Finn asked.

"What?" Her head came up. "My ears were under water."

"Do you know this gentleman's name?" Finn said.

"Nope. But I'll tell you this, it was the only time I saw her be close to human." Karyn drew out the word so that it was clear there was no love lost between her and her employer.

"Sounds like you didn't get along?" Cori asked.

"Oh, come on. Everybody knows that stchitck. I've seen it on Law and Order a zillion times. I tell you we didn't get along, you tell me I'm a suspect." Karyn kicked off, did a twirl, disappeared under the water, came up, and swam back to the side. "I'm going to miss this place. When she wasn't home for a couple days I just hung out back here, read scripts, and recorded some auditions. It was a sweet gig. Sometimes I thought that Roxana didn't really live here. I know she didn't cook. She drank, but she didn't cook.”

"We'll give you a pass on the suspect thing," Cori said, trying not to laugh. "And you tell us what you know about this man."

"I don't know anything about him." Karyn's face was suddenly pinched as if the mere mention of him was distasteful. "He came in when I was finishing one day. Weird dude.  I kind of felt sorry for him. He couldn't look me in the eye." She looked at Cori. "Did you have one of those smart kids in grammar school? The one whose mom sent them to school with their shirt buttoned all the way up? Glasses. Their pants were always a size too big, so they could grow into them?"

"I did," Cori said.

"Sure, I think I might have been that boy," Finn said.

"Oh, right." Karyn laughed and gave him a wink. "Anyway, he came in and sat down. I heard them talking a little bit and Roxana was almost, I don't know, flirty? That was strange for her because she was pretty mean to everybody. Not when she was on camera. Now there was a good actress."

"Who were these everybodies she was mean to?" Finn asked.

"Typical wanna-be-influencer types. Lots of pouty looks in the camera, lots of money or pretend money. Who knows? Anyone who came here was like that." Karyn shrugged. "The movies I'm going to be in will mean something. What Roxana did was just gross. Sometimes I'd catch her in the bathroom in her undies. She'd be looking into the mirror and putting on her make-up. Of course she was filming. She talked like the people who followed her were her very, very best girlfriends."

"Did she have a lot of them? Followers?"

"Last time I looked she had like almost a million. I have to hand