Guilty by Lee Goldberg Read Free Book Online Page B

her daughter Becky's birthday cake. "How could you let Becky talk you into renting Bloodbath Daycamp for Girls ?"
    Jake Henderson grinned at her from across the table, where he was dropping the paper plates and party favors into a Glad trash bag. "So what? It's her birthday—let her have a little fun."
    " Bloodbath Daycamp for Girls ," she repeated to herself as she put the cake in the refrigerator. Her husband set down his bag and tiptoed to the doorway and peeked into the living room.
    The girls were all huddled around the set, their eyes wide, the light from the TV flickering like a campfire. His daughter Becky watched the movie while braiding Cory Macklin's long blond hair.
    Nina Henderson flicked off the kitchen lights and pressed herself against her husband's back, wrapping her arms around his waist and patting his stomach.
    "C'mon, Jake," she whispered into his ear, "let's leave them alone and go upstairs."
    The phone in the kitchen rang shrilly, startling them both.
    "Ignore it," she mumbled.
    Jake shrugged apologetically, untangled himself from Nina, and went to the phone. "Hello?"
    "Jake, this is Brett Macklin."
    "Hey, how'ya doing?" Jake said. "I haven't heard from you in ages."
    Who is it? Nina mouthed.
    Brett Macklin, he mouthed in return.
    Nina shot a confused look at Jake and then peered into the living room at Cory, who was frozen with the rest of the girls, their attention captured by something suspenseful on the screen.
    "Want me to get Cory for you?" Jake said.
    "No," Macklin said quickly, "that's all right. I just wanted to check in and see if everything is okay."
    Jake scratched his forehead. "Ah, yeah, everything's fine, Brett. Why?"
    "Just wondering," Macklin said. "Do me a favor, keep your eye on Cory, okay?"
    Jake glanced at Nina, who was spying on the girls. "We've got our eye on her right now."
    "Make sure she gets home all right," Macklin said, "and don't leave her alone."
    "Sure," Jake said.
    "Thanks." Macklin hung up.
    Jake stared at the receiver. "He's nutso."
    # # # # # #
    Brooke talked incessantly. It was the wine. It was the quiet of the apartment. It was the insistence of Isadora Van Rijn's eyes looking into her own.
    "Your work is scary but it draws you in anyway," Brooke said, uncomfortably aware of the warmth of Isadora's arm around her. "That one with the faceless, naked woman sitting on top of the man, pinning his neck between her knees. It's as if she's strangling him with her femininity. It's unsettling as hell."
    Isadora smiled and remained quiet, leaving Brooke to flounder in the pressuring silence.
    "There's poetry to your violence, though." Brooke was trying to fill the room with words and force out the tension. She knew she was saying things thoughtlessly and wondered, for a second, if she sounded foolish. But the silence was more threatening. Her body was buzzing in a scary, thrilling way, and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not. "Your images are fraught with sexuality, death, and emotion. Where do you get them from?"
    Isadora's other hand dropped gently onto Brooke's thigh. It choked the words rising in Brooke's throat, and she felt a hot flush ride over her. She met Isadora's gaze directly and gave in to what she knew she had been feeling all night. Isadora let her hand gently stroke the soft skin of Brooke's thigh and leaned slowly towards her.
    Brooke knew she wouldn't stop her. She had been resisting these feelings for hours. Go ahead, Brooke thought, staring into Isadora's dark eyes. I don't know what's going to happen, but I want to find out.
    She couldn't say these things to Isadora—she simply challenged her with her gaze. Isadora pressed her face close to Brooke's throat and let her hand slide up Brooke's flank.
    Brooke felt Isadora's breath on her skin, warming it, making it tingle. She enjoyed a deliciously precarious feeling of hanging over a precipice, awaiting the inevitable fall into something wonderful.
    Isadora sat up straight and took Brooke's wrists