A Curious Woman by Jess Lea

Author:Jess Lea
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ylva Publishing
Published: 2019-03-15T16:46:57+00:00

Bess was wheeling her bike down the gallery drive and contemplating the long trip back home, when her phone rang.

“Where did you disappear to?” Was it Bess’s imagination or did Margaret sound hurt? “I returned to my office and found no sign of you. Apart from a sloppily folded blanket and a mug-ring on my desk.”

“Sorry about that. I figured I’d imposed enough on you for one day.” Bess had intended to sound considerate, but the silence on the other end of the line felt frosty. “Thanks for being such a good host.”

“No need for thanks. I buy my coffee in bulk and the couch wasn’t being used.” Margaret’s tone was definitely cool.

Had she been hoping Bess would stick around? Had she been disappointed when Bess left? The thought of hurting Margaret’s feeling caused Bess a strange jolt of concern.

Keen to keep Margaret on the line, she glanced around to make sure the crowds were out of earshot, and offered, “I’ve just had a strange afternoon. Steven Powell is freaking out that the police might discover something weird in his brother’s collection—what, I’ve no idea. And Georgina Harper just offered to boost my career if I would spy on Steven for her, and if I could find Leon’s lost collection.”

“His what?” Margaret’s tone was interested now.

That caused Bess to perk up, too. “Oh, the last exhibit he was planning before he died. I’ve no idea what it was about, but Georgina Harper thinks it’s a licence to print money, and Steven maybe wants to kill it.”

“If it’s anything like Leon Powell’s previous works, he has my sympathy,” Margaret sniffed. “Still, it would be interesting to know more.”

“Yeah.” Bess glanced up the drive towards the crowds still milling in the car park. “Especially since Georgina is threatening to expose me to the media as the chief suspect in Arwyn’s murder, if I don’t keep her happy.”

“How Machiavellian.” Margaret sounded rather admiring.

“Yeah, she doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty.”

“Mm.” Margaret hummed to herself. “How dirty, I wonder?” Then she asked, “And how is your house? Still standing?”

“I haven’t left the gallery yet. Trying to psych myself up for the ride home.” Bess sighed. God, her legs felt like concrete.

To her surprise, Margaret said, “If you come back here, I can give you a lift. I’m about to leave, anyhow.”

“Really?” Perhaps it was impolite to sound so eager, but Bess couldn’t help it. What a relief, to skip the journey out to the paddock. Not to mention the prospect of being alone with Margaret again, which caused a funny little flutter in her belly. She imagined them sitting side by side in Margaret’s car, close enough for their hands to touch, close enough to hear each other’s breathing. “That would be so nice of you.”

“Just be back here by quarter past.” Margaret’s voice had grown curt, as if she were already regretting reaching out. She’d hung up before Bess could thank her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.