Resurgence Read Online Free Page B

after sitting down—she’s not up to mischief, after all. While drafting in pencil the update she’ll send to Amanda, the fax machine announces an incoming. She ignores it as none of her business and goes on with her writing. Then the phone startles her with its unfamiliar double trill. This too she ignores as none of her business and not her place to answer. But when it continues to ring, stops for brief intervals, then resumes ringing, she’s afraid not to answer. It might be Colin, letting her know he’s been delayed; it could be Anthony’s school calling to say he’s spewed all over his classmates again, or Rachel calling to ask if anything else should be added to her marketing list.
    “Yes?” she says, unconcerned with answering formalities.
    “David Sebastian holding for Colin Elliot,” a crisp British voice says.
    “He’s unavailable. May I take a message?”
    “And you are?”
    “I am Laurel Chandler, affianced to Colin Elliot and well qualified to take a message. Put David on.”
    After some muffled background debate, David comes on the line. “Laurel?”
    “Yes, I believe we now have that established. What is it? Colin should be back any minute. Shall I have him call you?”
    “Perhaps not. Ah . . . something’s come up. Something has happened that he should know about as soon as possible, so it may be better for you to tell him the minute he returns rather than risk—”
    “Tell him what? Risk what?”
    “We’ve . . . we’ve lost Rayce.”
    “What do you mean lost?” Laurel jumps to her feet.
    “His London housekeeper found him two hours ago.”
    “David, you’re not making sense. Lost, found, make up your mind . . . oh . . . oh Jesus Christ, no . . . no! ”
    David’s silence confirms the worst. She’s literally staggered by the realization, forced to hold on to a corner of the desk for support until she thinks to sit back down.
    “What happened?” she gasps. “Was it a heart attack? A stroke? An accident?”
    “Too soon to say with absolute authority, but preliminary findings point to overdose of a controlled substance.”
    “Shit! Where are you? How is this being handled?”
    “I’m still at his Holland Park place—that was his housekeeper who placed the call for me—and so far the situation is being handled badly because the property was already swarming with paparazzi when I arrived. First responders no doubt attracted them to the known residence of a high-profile celebrity. Impossible to prevent.”
    “Then word is out. I can expect to see this on television, hear it on radio.”
    “I’m afraid so.”
    “And that would be the risk you wished to avoid on Colin’s behalf—his learning of this through broadcast media.”
    “Precisely.”
    “Will you be making an official statement?”
    “Yes, of course, but not until I have something more definitive from the medical examiner and confirmation that Rayce’s several families have been informed. The entire London office is on it as we speak.”
    She has a hundred more questions and half that many reminders and cautions. To enunciate any of them now is to accept the role David hoped she would play before she landed the client for herself instead of his management practice; to operate as his backup and one-woman oversight committee now is to suggest she’s already having second thoughts about her so-called abdication. That this awareness could seep into a consciousness preoccupied with shock and disbelief is a little unsettling, but it’s a good indicator of how far she’s come toward being true to herself.
    “Keep me in the loop.” She clicks off without saying goodbye and punches in a set of numbers hoping she’s correctly remembered the country code. So much for leaving sleeping New Yorkers undisturbed. She gambles that she can complete a call to Amanda before Colin returns and does manage to get through with the worst of the news before hearing his approach.
    “I’ll call back as soon as I can.” She ends