A Fashionable Vice

Anne Duncan, 32 and divorced, is constrained by moralistic precepts inculcated by her dead father. She meets charming Scott Evans, impoverished college senior with a dazzling smile, but 10 years her junior. He invites her for coffee; she ends up paying for wine and cheesecake, epitomizing his approach to life. He claims a preference for older women, but the relationship remains platonic, despite a promising interlude in his condo. Then Scott runs off to Europe with another woman.

Facing reality, she must find a way to earn more money. Best friend, Kathy Marlow recommends her to a small press in Tucson, but the venture fails. Anne ends up back in San Diego where Kathy introduces her to irreverent Teri Lawson. The two, similar in age but disparate in outlook, decide to share a place. A year later, Anne encounters Scott with Kathy. She'd avoided him after learning he was Kathy's lover and that, instead of going to medical school, he was working on a master's in psych. And he looks remarkably prosperous.

Anne fills in for Kathy at Scott's Commencement. His change in fortune astounds her. He drives a Porsche and has an expensive condo in posh La Jolla. He's evasive about the source of his wealth but invites her to stay the night. Next day Anne complains to Teri that, when about to make love, she'd envision Kathy's face and freeze. Later she learns of Kathy's intention to break off with Scott. Teri cautions Anne that Scott's actions prove he thinks of no one but himself. Rejecting the warning, Anne goes to a jam session with Scott and has a good time, ignoring the fact his friends are surprised Scott isn't with his usual date, Adrienne. Lovemaking that night is all Anne had hoped for.

Choosing to ignore his selfishness, Anne moves in with Scott. Kathy warns her about Adrienne, but Scott claims Adrienne merely helped furnish his townhouse. Scott is extremely generous; Anne can't imagine returning to her previous penurious life-style. Then he reveals the source of his wealth. He's blackmailing Adrienne, having chanced to get photos of her pushing her millionaire husband over the edge of Grand Canyon. His revelation shocks Anne but rather than endanger her life of luxury, she goes along with Scott. He insists she meet Adrienne who treats her abominably.

Anne's shocked again when Teri's imprisoned for murdering her own lover. Thoughts of prison terrify Anne and are multiplied when she visits Teri in jail. Unable to face years in prison, Teri commits suicide. Devastated, Anne's grateful for Scott's support and agrees to a nostalgic trip to the Grand Canyon. She loves the Canyon and tells Scott how essential he is to her. That night his declaration of love thrills her. But next day they visit the spot where Adrienne murdered her husband. Scott gleefully recalls forcing Adrienne to strip and submit to sex. Except now she enjoys it. Enraged, Anne pushes him over the edge, then too late spots a man with a camera approaching. She shoves the surprised man aside and runs.

Hurrying home to La Jolla, she she ferrets out hidden cash and incriminating photos of Adrienne. Fleeing to Mexicoâ"she's fluent in Spanishâ"she ends up in La Paz. Convinced the whole thing is Adrienne's fault and, on the strength of the photos, she calls the woman and orders her to bring $100,000 in cash. When Anne goes to pick up the money, she finds not only Adrienne but Earl, the camera-carrying man she'd pushed down and, alive and well, Scott. He says she faces a long prison term for attempted murder. He offers her two choices: immediately submit to humiliating punishment from a vengeful Adrienne and then return to La Jolla as the older woman's maid or be left naked and penniless in Mexico, a fugitive from justice.

Anne opts for the latter, but two Mexican peons happen along and, thinking her a whore, try to rape her. She's saved by the arrival of a limo carrying Julio Morena, Mario Fuentes, and Don Cesar Olivera. They provide clothing and invite her to Olivera's home in Guadalajara. She accepts, and relates her recent adventures to Cesar who has Mario take her to Puerto Vallarta until a new identity can be prepared. Mario's lovemaking proves even more satisfactory than Scott's.

When she and Mario are called to Guadalajara the trip has a cloak-and-dagger aura, but Don Cesar has ID and a passport for her in the name of Eva Olivera. She is to pose as Cesarâs wife, and Anne, Cesar, and Mario go to a posh resort. She learns a bit about Cesar's background but not the source of his wealth. An adequate lover, he's not as exciting as Mario with whom she continues a clandestine affair.

In Buenos Aires, the high life and Cesar's lavish generosity continue; Mario goes off to Chile. A bomb explodes in Santiago, but Mario returns safely and amuses her while Cesar goes off to Cordoba. His return is delayed by the assassination of a Cordoban politician, but Cesar eventually turns up unharmed. Next stop: Caracas. With Mario in Maracaibo, Cesar admits he's enchanted by Anne. Mario returns and reports on a huge oil fire that damaged the facilities of Cesar's competitors. A stop in Puerto Rico is marred by the car bombing of a U.S. diplomat, and Eva/Anne feels like a Jonah, disasters following her. She's relieved when they depart for Madrid.

Cesar rents a luxury apartment in Madrid but they spend most of their time in a villa outside Seville where, when Don Cesar's away, Anne and Mario make love. But reluctant to risk losing Cesar's wealth, she tells Mario the affair must end. Mario wants to continue even though, if Cesar catches them, they'd be killed. She's skeptical, until Mario reveals to her the source of Cesar's wealth: he began as a hired assassin, invested wisely, and then began accepting stock in profitable companies as the fee for his services. No longer in need of money, he continues his deadly ways for the thrill of it. The disasters that had distressed Anne were all Cesar's doing.

And the real Eva, Cesar's jealous wife, had threatened to inform on him. When he met Anneâ" almost a dead ringer for Evaâ"he murdered Eva, had her body cremated, and substituted Anne to cover up the murder. Mario stays with Cesar because the pay is good, but he'll do anything to keep Anne. She still opts for Cesar, even if he is the monster Mario claims. Then Cesar must fly to the U.S. and Mario, as usual, makes the arrangements and packs Cesar's bags. As Cesar boards the plane, Scott and Adrienne turn up to board the same plane and wave to Anne. Anne's worried they'll notify the police of Anne's whereabouts, but Mario says not to worry. Hours later, a bulletin reports the plane blew up over the ocean with no survivors. Mario tells her she's now a wealthy "widow," that Julio, as Cesar's attorney, has arranged for her to inherit and share her wealth with the two men. By phone she speaks to Julio in Mexico and learns Mario was Cesar's arson and bomb expert. Horrified, suspicious, she in the end decides to say nothing, merely toasting with: "How soon do we leave for Guadalajara and that inheritance of mine?"