Genuine Lies

distinction. The two other men rose. The man exiting Drake’s office bowed slightly to Julia showing her by the look in his eyes that he had not forgotten what it was to appreciate a young, attractive woman.
    She smiled—the gesture from him was so courtly and old-fashioned. Then he moved off, flanked by the two silent men.
    Another five minutes passed before the receptionist answered her buzzer and showed Julia into Drake’s office.
    He was struggling to recover. He hadn’t dared another Valium, but had gone into the adjoining bath and vomited up most of the terror. After splashing water on his face, a quick swishing of Scope around his sour-tasting mouth, and smoothing his hair and suit, he greeted Julia with the Hollywood handshake, a buss on the cheek.
    “So sorry to keep you waiting,” he began. “What can I get you? Coffee? Perrier? Juice?”
    “Nothing, I’m fine.”
    “Make yourself comfortable and we’ll chat.” He glanced at his watch, wanting her to see that he was a busy man with a lot on his plate. “How are you settling in with Eve?”
    “Very well, actually. I had a session with Fritz this morning.”
    “Fritz?” He went blank for a minute, then sneered. “Oh, yes, the exercise queen. Poor darling.”
    “I enjoyed it. And him,” she said her voiced cool.
    “I’m sure you’re a trooper. Tell me, how’s the book going?”
    “I think we can be optimistic.”
    “Oh, you’ve got a best-seller, no doubt about it. Eve tells a fascinating story—though I’d have to wonder if her memory wouldn’t be slanted. Still, the old girl’s one in a million.”
    Julia was dead sure Eve would pop him right in the caps if he referred to her as “the old girl” to her face. “Are you speaking as her nephew or her press agent?”
    He chuckled as his fingers snuck into the almonds. “Both, absolutely. I won’t hesitate to say that having Eve Benedict for an aunt has added spice to my life. Having her for a client has iced the cake.”
    Julia didn’t bother to comment on the mixed metaphors. Something, or someone, had Drake shaking in his alligator shoes. The distinguished-looking man with the silver hair and courtly manners? she wondered. Not her business—unless it pertained to Eve. She filed the question away.
    “Why don’t you start by telling me about your aunt? We’ll get to your client later.” She took out her recorder,
lifting
a brow until he nodded his permission. When her notebook wasbalanced on her knee, she smiled. Drew was scooping up almonds into one hand, then plucking them out of his palm one at a time, popping them into his mouth like bullets. Pop, crunch, gulp. She wondered if he ever missed a step and swallowed one whole. The idea forced her to look away a moment on the pretext of cuing the tape. “Your mother is Eve’s older sister, correct?”
    “That’s right. There were three Berenski girls. Ada, Betty, and Lucille. Of course, Betty was already Eve Benedict by the time I was born. She was an established star, a legend even. She was certainly a legend back in Omaha.”
    “Did she come back home for visits?”
    “Only twice that I remember. Once when I was about five.” He licked the light dusting of sugar off his fingers and hoped he looked properly pained. It was a sure bet a single mother with a young son would sympathize with what he was about to say. “You see, my father deserted us. It crushed my mother, as you can imagine. I was too young to understand then. I just wondered why my father didn’t come home.”
    “I’m sorry.” She did sympathize. “That must have been very difficult.”
    “It was incredibly painful. Something I doubt I’ve ever completely gotten over.” Drake hadn’t given the old man a passing thought in more than twenty years. Taking out a monogrammed handkerchief, he dried off his fingers. “He simply walked out and never came back. For years I blamed myself. Perhaps I still do.” He paused as if to regain his composure, turning his head slightly to profile and gazing broodingly out of the plate glass that shielded him from the morning’s smog. Nothing, he was certain, got to a woman quicker than a sob story told bravely. “Eve came, though to be honest she and my mother never saw eye to eye. She was very kind in her no-nonsense way, and made certain we always had enough. My mother eventually took a part-time job in a department store, but it was Eve’s contribution that kept a decent roof over our heads. She saw to