The Gifted Read Online Free Page B

Little Orphan Annie falls into that category.”
    “She does,” I said. “Rumour has it that she’s a very nice woman and that she’s making ‘Daddy’ Warbucks a very happy man.”
    “Good for them,” Celeste said. “I wish it had worked out that way for my father. Have you seen him?”
    “There was an emergency. He had to go back to the hospital almost as soon as he got here.”
    Celeste whistled. “I’ll bet Cleopatra was not one bit pleased about Caesar’s defection.”
    “Understandably,” I said. “This is her birthday party.”
    “Stay tuned,” Celeste said. “Lauren will make my father pay. She always does – it doesn’t have to be a special occasion.”
    When Zack wheeled over, Celeste looked thoughtfully at his yellow silk pyjamas, leaned over, touched the Phalaenopsis aphrodite in his breast pocket, then gave me the quickest of once-overs. “Nero Wolfe and Archie,” she said.
    “Not bad,” Zack said.
    Celeste’s expression was mischievous. “Don’t be grudging. That was nothing short of brilliant. Now, it’s your turn.”
    I studied her drab outfit and noticed that one of the threadbare cardigan’s pocket was strangely bulging.
    “Are we allowed to see what’s in your pocket?” I asked.
    Celeste reached into her sweater pocket and took out a stone.
    “Virginia Woolf,” I said.
    Celeste examined the rock in her hand meditatively. “My poor, brilliant, tortured Virginia. She needed to make sure she’d drown when she walked into the river.” Celeste heldout the rock so we could see it more closely. Neatly printed on the stone’s surface were the words Bay Roc Villa . “This is one of my stepmother’s collection of stones from places where she and my father have holidayed,” Celeste said. “No thoughts of suicide there. Lauren is not prone to existential angst.” Celeste dropped the stone back into her pocket and turned her eyes towards the bar. “Well, well,” she said. “Julian came after all. He told me he’d been invited, but he didn’t seem keen on coming. I guess the birthday girl pouted until she got her way.”
    Lauren was standing so close to Julian that her breast was pressing against his chest. When she brushed his shoulder with her lips, Zack made a moue of disgust and took Celeste’s arm protectively. “We don’t want to watch this,” he said. “I think it’s time for the three of us to check out the grub.”
    The appetizers table was decorated with mini-pumpkins, owls, ravens, and tarantulas. Festive, but whatever the season, the club’s menu never varied, and although the hot hors d’oeuvres had been tarted up for Halloween, they were comfortingly familiar.
    Zack and Celeste attacked the curried prawns simultaneously. When they reached for seconds, Zack turned to Celeste: “Are you okay?”
    “No,” she said bluntly. “Coming to Cleopatra’s party was just one of my pathetic attempts to spend some time with my father and, of course, he was a no-show.” Celeste looked to the dance floor, where Lauren and Julian were moving as one – their bodies pressed together, their limbs intertwined. With their raven hair and milk-white skin, they could have been mother and son, and that made the sensuality of their movements all the more disturbing. Finally, Lauren whispered in Julian’s ear, and hand in hand they left the dance floor.
    Zack’s gaze followed them. “What the hell’s going on there?”
    Celeste laughed the low, husky laugh of the confirmed smoker. “I told you. Payback.”
    Midweek parties at the Open Skies Country Club took into account the fact that the working days of most guests began early. The formal part of events always got underway at ten. I knew that after the cake-cutting, Zack and I would be making a quick exit, so a little before ten, I headed for the ladies’ room.
    Lauren Treadgold was in there alone, looking critically at her reflection in one of the mirrors above the sinks. Her private time with Julian must have