Good at Games by Jill Mansell Read Free Book Online

relief anyway.
    â€œI can’t believe this. You must know who I am.”
    â€œWell, I’m sorry,” Suzy protested, “but what am I supposed to be—Psychic Suzy, Mind Reader Extraordinaire? Look, we could do it with charades if you want. You start with your name. First word, how many syllables? Hang on, somebody’s coming…”
    At the sound of approaching footsteps she swiveled around. The next moment a bright flashlight shined directly into her eyes. Dazzled and blinking, Suzy held up one hand to shield herself from the light.
    And a stunned male voice said, “I don’t believe it. Jesus! ”
    This situation was fast becoming too weird for words. Suzy felt her heart begin to flap like a parrot in a cage. She might be blinded by the flashlight, but she recognized that voice at once.
    â€œHarry?” Shock made her babble. “Heavens, of all the gardens in all the world you had to walk into this one. Harry, I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re doing here, but you’re interrupting a really important game of charades. You can be on my team, OK?”
    This had to be some kind of elaborate setup, Suzy decided. A ploy to meet her again. Unless…and bearing in mind that he was, after all, a policeman…
    â€œHang on, is this an undercover operation?” Suzy swung back to face the girl. “Do you work with Harry?” She smiled. “Or are you an international drug smuggler?”
    Harry held up a phone.
    â€œI’ve been waiting for you to come back to the car.” He was addressing the girl, Suzy realized. “He just called a couple of minutes ago. It’s time to go in.”
    Going in, that definitely had an undercover ring to it. Maybe the girl was a fellow officer after all.
    Next to her, Suzy heard the girl take a deep breath.
    â€œRight.” She turned to face Suzy. “I’m Lucille.”
    â€œWhat?” Suzy mentally ran through the possibilities, charade-wise. Loo. Seal. Well, that would have been dead easy.
    â€œLucille Amory.”
    Suzy gazed blankly at her. It was clearly meant to mean something, but she couldn’t for the life of her imagine what.
    â€œI’m sorry, I’m usually terrific at names. Could you…?”
    â€œYour sister,” Lucille said awkwardly.
    Suzy laughed. “What?”
    Her sister’s name was Julia, for heaven’s sake.
    Harry, clearing his throat, said, “I think maybe we should go in.”

Chapter 4
    It wasn’t until Suzy was standing aside to allow Lucille through the French windows ahead of her that she realized where the clicking had been coming from. Hundreds of tiny beads, threaded among the dozens of plaits in her hair, made contact with one another every time the girl moved her head.
    Lucille’s skin was the color of Taster’s Choice made with double cream. Her eyes were chestnut brown. She looked nervous but stunning, like a young model making her debut on the catwalk.
    â€œThis is a joke, right?” Suzy glanced from Lucille to Harry and back again. “Did Jaz set this up?” Far-fetched, admittedly, but Jaz may have thought they could do with a practical joke to lighten the mood.
    But if he had, wouldn’t Lucille be screaming with laughter by now instead of trembling uncontrollably and looking as if she’d quite like to burst into tears?
    She’s got eyelashes like Bambi , thought Suzy. Now how fair is that?
    The door was flung open, and Julia appeared. Her gaze shifted from Suzy’s legs to Harry to Lucille. “Who are these people?”
    Glancing down, Suzy remembered that she had one bare leg and one stockinged one. When she moved, she felt the redundant suspender flapping attractively against the back of her thigh.
    â€œThis is Lucille. Our sister, apparently. Technically, she’s a half sister. And all this time we thought darling Daddy was such a saint. Oh well, good for him. That’s