Digging Deeper by Barbara Elsborg Read Free Book Online Page B

alphabet game. Giles had jumped in a little too quickly for Beck’s peace of mind when Flick revealed her middle name. He had a strong suspicion Giles knew full well how to spell Xanthe and he didn’t find that knowledge at all comforting.
    “What the fuck was that about?” Beck demanded when Giles emerged.
    “What?” Giles’ puzzlement seemed genuine.
    “You and her.” Beck turned to glare at Flick’s back. “What’s going on?”
    “Lighten up, Beck.” Giles pushed past him back into the dining room.
     
    When Flick came in to clear the plates, she kept her gaze down. Beck had presumed her guilty without knowing all the facts. The story of her life. She carried in the desserts, individual cheesecakes topped with delicate sugar strand cages. Eleven of them looked fantastic. Sad to say there had been a little accident with Beck’s between the kitchen and the dining room. He glanced up at her when she slammed the plate in front of him.
    “Have you spat on it, too?” he asked.
    Flick put her mouth to Beck’s ear. “No. Like to guess again? You know, for a guy who makes a living digging up things with extreme care and attention, you’re mighty quick to jump to conclusions.”
    She stalked off with Kirsten in pursuit.
    “What’s the hell’s the matter?” Kirsten asked as Flick slumped against the wall outside the room.
    “Giles tried to kiss me and Beck thinks I’m a slut.”
    “He’s drunk.”
    “No, he’s driving.”
    “Not Beck, you idiot. Giles is the one who’s pissed. Now stop frowning and start smiling or Lady C will dock your wages.”
    Flick produced a smile she suspected would only attract a short-sighted chimpanzee.
    “Much better,” Kirsten said. “By the way, he doesn’t have a wife or girlfriend or boyfriend.”
    Flick bared more of her teeth.
    “Keep doing that and you won’t be filling the girlfriend position,” Kirsten said.
    Flick didn’t think there was a snowflake in hell’s chance of filling any position with Beck, though several sprang to mind. She imagined the only position he’d like her to fill was six foot underground. She doubted he’d be digging her up.
    By the time she’d laid out the cheese and biscuits, the kitchen was tidy, the dishwasher humming and the chefs almost ready to leave. Nik had one hand attached to Nita’s hip and a satisfied smirk on his face. Flick was jealous of the simmering affection they’d flambéed up between them. She took the coffee into the drawing room along with two plates of petit fours, skillfully rearranged to disguise the fact that she’d stuffed five in her mouth and then went to ask Celia if she could go.
    Flick had lost her sparkle and Beck knew it was his fault. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Celia hand her an envelope and caught something about services no longer being required. His heart slumped into his stomach. Why had Celia sacked her? Did she know there was something going on between Flick and Giles?
    “Are you listening?” Kirsten asked.
    “Sorry.” Beck tried to tune back in.
    “It’s my birthday next Saturday and I’m having a party with a James Bond theme. I’ve invited Giles and Willow. I wondered if you’d like to come.”
    “Right.” Beck watched Flick’s mouth tighten as she listened to Celia.
    “Do you think you will?”
    “Uh?”
    “Bring anyone?”
    “Maybe, I’ll let you know. You’re not going home together?” Beck’s gaze followed Flick out of the room.
    “She’s off to work.”
    Beck looked at his watch. “What, now?”
    “She’s always working. She does a late shift at a gas station a couple of nights a week. My boyfriend is picking me up. Flick doesn’t have a boyfriend.”
    That wasn’t very subtle, Beck thought but then his answer wasn’t subtle either.
    “I’m not surprised.”
    ———
    Beck woke several times that night. Once when the clubbers came back, again when one of them threw up in the bathroom and the final time when someone got into bed with him.