Double Trouble (13 page)

Chapter 2

The appointed day rolled around and Kim and I found ourselves arriving at the front door of a country estate. It was fairly extensive, showing that Lord Bentley had some serious money. We parked the car and gave our names to a butler who led us to a waiting room where we cooled out heels for ten minutes or so before someone turned up to collect us. The person who did that bustled in with arms outstretched crying, “Kim,
darling
, it’s been so long! So
lovely
of you to come!” Kim was enfolded in an enthusiastic embrace and subjected to the ‘air kissing’ ritual that I always thought was so stupid, and then held at arm’s length for further inspection. “You haven’t changed a
bit
,” was the comment from our air kisser. “Still as
gorgeous
as ever!”

When Kim could get a word in, she introduced our host to me. “Paul, this is Miranda, the school friend I was telling you about. Miranda, this is my brother, Paul.”

We exchanged ‘Pleased to meet you’ banalities, and then stood around looking like idiots. Miranda was quite pretty I thought, with an elfin face, shoulder length, straight, light brown hair and a pleasing figure. Her smile appeared genuine and her light green eyes sparkled with mischief. Yes,
nine
out of ten.

Luckily, Kim broke the silence by asking, “Miranda, what’s all this actually in
aid
of? You know as well as I do that we never really got
on
all that well at school. You were always with the
posh
group and I was always in with the plebs. What am I
really
doing here?”

Miranda motioned us both to nearby chairs and then sat down herself.

“Kim, I know we were never close, but I needed to
talk
to you. This party thing came up and I thought it was an ideal excuse to invite you over to have a little chat. I badly need your
help
.”

“In
what
way?’ Kim asked, curiously.

Miranda smiled. “You may not be
aware
of it, my sweet, but you’ve developed quite a
reputation
among the girls.”

“Reputation?” Kim echoed. “What
sort
of a reputation? Is it something I shouldn’t be asking about?”

Miranda laughed softly. “On the contrary, darling, we’re all
envious
of you. You helped Dianne Patterson with that
stalker
last year, didn’t you?”

“Well, yes, I suppose,” Kim conceded. “I
did
help her a bit.”

“A
bit
?” Miranda exclaimed. “Sweetheart, you taught that stalker such a lesson in manners that I heard he ran off and joined the
Peace Corps
. And there was Michelle Johnston. You rescued her from her abusive boyfriend,
no
? And not to mention Katherine O’Malley. Didn’t you save her from being
killed
in that bank robbery shootout not so long ago?”

“I just happened to be in the right place at the right
time
, that’s all,” Kim said, modestly. “Miranda, what’s your
point
?”

Miranda looked around suspiciously and leaned towards us, lowering her voice. “The point is, sweetie, that now it’s
my
turn to ask for your help. I know that I don’t have much of a right to do so because I was always so
horrible
to you at school, but I hope you’ll accept my apologies for all the nasty things I said about you then.” She looked at Kim, wistfully. “Do you
forgive
me, Kim? I really am
sorry
. I was such a presumptuous
prig
back then. Hopefully, I’m more mature now.”

“Of course I forgive you, Miranda,” Kim replied. “We were
all
immature in those days. Hell, we were
kids
! What
else
could we have been but immature?”

Miranda jumped up and opened her arms. “Thank you, honey,” she murmured as Kim stepped into her embrace. “I appreciate it. I really do.”

After the non-aggression, peace-sealing hug, Miranda and Kim sat back down again and Kim asked, “Now that we’ve gotten
that
out of the way, tell me what’s going on, Miranda.”

Miranda glanced around the empty room once again and whispered, “I’m being
blackmailed
, Kim.”

“Do you know
who
the culprit is?” Kim questioned.

“No, not really,” Miranda said hesitantly, “but I think it’s one of our
classmates
. Whoever it is, they seem to know an awful lot about my
school
days.”

“
What
are they blackmailing you about?” Kim wanted to know.

Miranda blushed. “It’s
so
humiliating!” she confessed. “I’m not sure I can bring myself to
tell
you.”

“Sweetie, I
have
to know if I’m going to help,” Kim protested. “It’ll just be between
us
, I promise. And
Paul
, of course. We won’t reveal it to anyone, honest.”

Miranda hung her head. “I’m so ashamed,” she whispered. “A few months ago I was on an sightseeing tour of the islands and well, there was a final farewell
party
that night and I’d had a bit to drink, like everybody did, and I sort of……
you
know….”

“No, I
don’t
know, Miranda,” Kim said, after a pause. “That’s
why
I’m asking. Come on, honey, what happened?”

“There was a
strip
poker game going on,” Miranda continued, twisting her hands together in distress, “and I joined in for some reason. I didn’t think I’d had
that
many drinks. I wasn’t
drunk
or anything, but it degenerated into a kind of an…
orgy
. I remember seeing a few camera flashes, but I was too……
involved
to worry about it then. But last week some photos arrived and a
note
. Oh
god
, Kim,
what
am I going to do?”

“Calm down, honey,” Kim soothed. “Do you still have the note?”

Miranda dug into a pocket and produced a typewritten piece of paper. It read:

The negatives of these photos will cost you $50,000. Details will follow soon. If you don’t pay, copies will be sent to your father and all of your school friends in the Forever Society. Don’t go to the police. If you do, I’ll know and send the photos. Further details following.

“What’s this ‘
Forever Society’
?” Kim asked.

“That’s what makes me believe that it must be a
school
acquaintance,” Miranda answered. “It was an ultra secret club that a group of us began back in our school days. We were all sworn to secrecy that we’d never tell
anyone
about it. We’d meet every week and talk about our lives. You know, the usual girly stuff, but hardly anybody else knew about it. They were my best friends in all the world and we’ve kept in touch ever since. I’d just
die
if they saw those photos! I’d never to able to look them in the eye again! It’d be
too
humiliating. Kim, you
have
to help me get those negatives back! I’ll do
anything
!”

“So what are you planning to do?” Kim asked.

“I’m going to have to
send
the money, of course,” Miranda replied, heavily. “I can’t risk the social scandal if they were made
public
. But my fear is that this won’t be the
end
of it. There’ll be
another
demand, and then another and another until I’m bled dry. I’m not totally naïve. That’s the general pattern,
isn’t
it?”

“I’m afraid
so
, sweetie,” Kim said, handing back the note. “Do you have the photos?”

Miranda hesitated. “Yes,” she said, slowly. “Why do you ask?”

“I’d like to
see
them,” Kim replied.

Miranda gasped. “I
can’t
show you those, Kim,” she said, horrified. “They’re
disgusting
!”

Kim smiled understandingly. “Miranda, honey, there’s virtually
nothing
that can disgust me these days. I was in a hippy commune for years in my younger days and I participated in a few orgies
myself
back then. I don’t think that
anything
can shock me.”

Miranda looked at Kim with renewed interest. “And you go around
telling
people about that?” she asked in amazement. “Aren’t you
ashamed
?”

“No,” Kim replied, “why
should
I be?”

“Kim, I’m
surprised
at you!” Miranda remonstrated. “Don’t you have any sense of
morality
at all? I always thought of you as having some
standards
of decency. What happened?”

“
Nothing
happened,” Kim said, testily. “I just believe that sex is a natural function of living. It’s nothing to be
ashamed
of.”

“It is in
my
world,” Miranda glumly announced. “Daddy will probably disown me and my friends will never
talk
to me again. Where I come from, it just isn’t
done
.”

“Come on, Miranda,” Kim wheedled. “It can’t be
that
bad.”

“It
is
,” Miranda reiterated. “You don’t
understand
, Kim. This sort of scandal will
ruin
me. It’s social
suicide
. I’ll never be able to hold my head up in public
ever
again.”

It was at that stage Miranda suddenly began to cry, the recent events overwhelming her. Kim immediately went over and pulled her into a comforting embrace. “We’ll do what we can, I swear,” she comforted, as Miranda wept. “Things will work
out
, you’ll see.”

It took a few minutes for Miranda to compose herself, but she finally pulled out of Kim’s arms and wiped her eyes. “
Sorry
about that,” she muttered.

“
Don’t
be,” Kim said compassionately. “There’s nothing wrong with a good cry. It settles the emotions. I do it myself from time to time.”

“You
do
?’ Miranda asked curiously, still drying her eyes with her handkerchief. “I have to say, Kim, I find that a bit astonishing. At school you were always considered to be the ‘
tough
’ one. I don’t ever remember you
ever
crying. At
anything
.”

“I know,” Kim smiled reminiscently. “I kept everything locked inside. I’ve learned
better
since then.”

“So, what do you cry about
now
?” Miranda asked, curiously.

Kim blushed a little. “Oh,
lots
of things,” she replied. “But mainly it’s when my relationships go bad, and there’s been a
lot
of that over the years, believe me.
Paul
, here, acts as my comforter then.” She dusted her hands together. “But we’re not here to talk about
my
love life. Miranda, where are the photos?”

“I’ll show you,” Miranda said reluctantly, “if you feel you absolutely
have
to see them.”

Kim put a reassuring hand on Miranda’s arm. “I’m not doing it to be a
pervert
, honey,” she said. “The photos may give us some sort of a clue. And at this time, we need
all
the clues we can get.”

Books by Steve Elliott:

* Vampire? (Part 1)

* Alien? (Part 2)

* Timing It

* Hog Mama

* Thief

*Depression World

* Picture Perfect

* Society Tart

*Betrayal

* Earth Angel

* Double Trouble

*Multiples

* Childhood.1(a)

*Dreaming.1(b)

* Rescue.2

* Lioness.3

* Wedding Woes.4

* Crossroads.5

*Daughter.6

* Endings & Beginnings.7

*Grandchild.8

*Final Chapter.9

*Crystal Thief (1)

* Dangerous Desires (2)

* Trix (3)

* Zenith (4)

* Pitfall (5)

* The Vile (6)

* Revenge (7)

* Retribution (8)

* Rosewing (9)

* Night Things (10)

* Blood Stone (11)

* Diama the Destroyer (Vol.1)

* Sacrifice (Vol.2)

* Wizard (Vol.3)

* Finders Keepers (Vol.4)

* Sword of Destiny (Vol.5)

* Known Strangers (Vol.6)

* Deception (Vol.7)

* Time After Time (Vol.8)

* Return (Vol.9)

* Friend or Foe? (Vol.10)

* The Missing Mayor (Vol.11)

* Jigsaw (Vol.12)

* A New Beginning (Vol.13)