A Chill Rain in January by LR Wright Read Free Book Online Page A

She could feel or hear his heart beating, and then he pressed her hard against him and she felt her own heartbeat, too, and she couldn’t tell which was which. One was beating much faster than the other; that one’s mine, she thought. She lifted her head, eyes still closed. Delicately her fingers touched the nape of his neck, and slowly she pulled his face toward hers. She had been waiting for this for months and months, a kiss from Karl Alberg with no Roger in the way, no Roger in her heart; Roger was gone, all right, she thought, tasting Alberg, losing herself in this, a sweet, clean kiss, with power in it…
    She pulled away but held on to his shoulders. She was glad he was big. A substantial man, she thought fondly. His face looked a little older than when they had first met, his hair was a little thinner, he was still enigmatic—until he smiled. She remembered the first time he’d kissed her—in her kitchen, in the dark, while outside the moon flirted with clouds and shone when it could upon the water. He’d been cockier then; more certain of himself. Or brash, and only pretending certainty. She touched his face with her fingertips and remembered being afraid to go to bed with him then because she thought she would tell him anything, there; but was there anything, now, that she wouldn’t want him to know?
    â€œLet’s go have some lunch,” she said, smiling up at him.
    Alberg linked his arms around her waist. “Let’s go to Victoria.”
    â€œVictoria?” said Cassandra, laughing. “For lunch?”
    â€œNot today. Friday. For the weekend.”
    Cassandra shook her head. “That’s moving a little fast, don’t you think?”
    â€œFast, hell.” Gently, he pulled her closer. “You like flowers, right? I happen to know that in Victoria there are all kinds of flowers blooming.”
    â€œPansies,” said Cassandra. She leaned against him.
    â€œOh, yeah?”
    â€œPrimroses. Bergenia. Broom.”
    He pushed her away, so as to look at her. “There, see?” said Alberg, beaming.
    â€œHow did you know?”
    â€œSid Sokolowski was over there the other day. He takes an interest in plants and things.”
    â€œBut there’s no need to go all the way to Victoria,” said Cassandra. She put her arms around him. “The periwinkle in my rock garden is already out.”
    â€œAnd if the sun shines,” Alberg went on, his cheek resting on the top of her head, “the ocean in Victoria will be extremely blue.”
    â€œI don’t know,” said Cassandra.
    She heard Alberg sigh.
    Cassandra smiled, holding him close.
    â€œI’d pay,” he said hopefully.
    â€œOh, well then,” said Cassandra. “Why didn’t you say so?”

Chapter 12
    â€œD EATH . And diaries. And money,” Benjamin repeated. “That’s what we’ve got to talk about.”
    A winter rain was falling on the Sunshine Coast, and the breeze from the ocean was cold and damp. Leaves from the arbutus trees blew across the patio, making scouring sounds, like a coarse broom scraping a concrete floor. Every so often the wind sent a spray of sea water over the barrier made of rock, right onto the patio, and some of the spray struck the window with a sizzling sound, as though the ocean water were hot instead of cold.
    Benjamin was sitting in Zoe’s black leather chair, waiting for her to say something. His head rested against the backrest, his ugly hands rested on the arms, and his eyes were closed. But Zoe knew that his body was rigid with the strain of apprehension. She heard in his breathing a struggle not to gasp.
    She had known instantly what he was talking about. And she had instantly believed him; Benjamin, preposterous as it seemed, was in possession of something that could just possibly harm her.
    She gazed at him dispassionately, thinking.
    She thought she might decide to sit there, quietly, silently,