Thin Blood Read Online Free Page B

Flexing and bending her leg,
she used the arm of the chair to ease herself up. She continued to watch as
Grace, seemingly oblivious to Jacinta’s presence, swept from the room. Jacinta
moved to follow her, almost colliding with Grace when she stopped abruptly and
turned.
    Grace stared
straight through her and for a moment, Jacinta thought she had become
invisible. Then she blinked, her eyes slowly focusing on Jacinta’s face.
    “I can’t help
you.” Grace’s voice quavered. “I need to be alone.”
    Jacinta nodded.
    She collected
her satchel from the floor beside the chair, opened the zippered side pocket,
drew out one of her business cards and handed it to Grace. “I’m sorry. I didn’t
mean to upset you; I assumed you would already have known about Craig and
Narelle.”
    At the mention
of their names, Grace’s eyes narrowed. She looked on the verge of tears, her
lips trembling as she opened the front door.
    Jacinta was
about to say something about the futility of burying the truth, but then
thought better of it, and quit while she was still ahead.
    “Please, Grace,
think about what I said. You can call me any time of the day or night.” She
stepped through the doorway, turned and added, “About anything, anything at
all.”
    “You’re talking
to the wrong person.” The door swinging closed, Grace’s ashen face disappeared
from view.

CHAPTER 7
     
    “You’re unbelievable, do you know
that?”
    Jacinta held the phone at arm’s
length and could still hear every word Brett was saying. Not that she could
entirely blame him.
    Grace’s words
rang in her ears: You’re talking to the wrong person . What had she been
alluding to? What wasn’t she saying? Perhaps it had just been a passing
comment, intended only to send Jacinta scurrying off in a different direction.
    She had spent
more than an hour sitting cross-legged on the daybed, staring out the window at
nothing, carefully weighing up her options before finally coming to a decision.
Why couldn’t Brett understand that it wasn’t personal? It was business, nothing
more. Anyway, his reputation is still intact and if he would just stop
kicking up such a fuss, he’ll soon realise that I would never deliberately
undermine him , she thought as, shifting position, she pulled her legs up
under her.
    What was wrong
with inviting a few people to dinner? They had been talking about it for long
enough. She would do her utmost to play the perfect hostess, making sure it
would be an enjoyable evening of good food, wine and conversation. She was
already planning the menu in her head. Something simple and elegant, she
decided. It would have to be; her cooking skills didn’t stretch much further
than simple.
    Brett still
wasn’t convinced. “Don’t do this to me, Jacinta.” He sighed and dropped his
voice. “Don’t do this to us… please…”
    “Brett, I really
don’t know what you’re so concerned about,” she said, knowing full well what
was on his mind. “I invited,” she added, trying to allay his fears, “Patrick
and Shauna as well.”
    Patrick Malcolm,
an old school friend of Brett’s, had recently become engaged to his partner of
eight years, Shauna Boise. The start-up of a new florist’s business on top of
wedding arrangements had kept the couple busy. Consequently, Brett hadn’t seen
much of his friends of late. Jacinta hoped that inviting them to dinner might
offset, partially at least, her ulterior motive for inviting Craig Edmonds and
his new wife, Narelle Croswell.
    Brett paused in
his tirade. Perhaps he was coming around to her way of thinking. Perhaps that
was just wishful thinking on her part. More than likely, on the other end of
the phone, he was shaking his head and trying to work out what her ploy was.
    Jacinta seized
the opportunity. “I swear I won’t mention anything at all about the case. You
have my word.” And she always kept her word.
    “So, what’s your
agenda? Why have you invited a couple of people that you’ve