Time Spell by T.A. Foster Read Free Book Online Page A

years? You cheat on me?” Her drink was empty. She stopped to pour another one. “How? What? What did I do to push you into someone else’s arms?”
    She waved her drink in the air and waited for an explanation. As if they were back in the ring, I turned my attention to her husband, who stood in the other corner.
    Holden looked aghast for a second, but I could tell he was not a man who apologized. He was shocked at her tone and her gall for approaching him, not for the crime he had committed. He walked toward his wife, poured his own straight shot of whiskey, and slung it back with gusto and a smile.
    “Now, now, my darling, don’t get so excited. Don’t you know by now it’s not up to you to keep me in or out of someone’s arms? I’ll do whatever damn thing I want to do. And yes, her name is Simone. Look at you, washed-up socialite from the East Coast, spending her nights in overpriced gowns, just waiting for some gullible sucker to pay her a compliment. Has it worked for you yet?” He glanced at his heavy gold watch tucked beneath his jacket sleeve.
    “Don’t wait up tonight.” He brushed a passing kiss on her cheek, winked, and walked toward the double doors that towered over the apartment entrance. “Oh, in case you’re wondering, she’s twenty-five, so maybe there is something you could do—stop being so desperate to hold on to who you used to be. No one here cares if you used to be young and beautiful. Simone actually is both of those things.” He chuckled maliciously.
    Helen screamed as she scrambled for the highball glass sitting on the bar. She threw it, and a shower of glass and whiskey barely missed her husband’s head as he walked out the door. There was a quiet click from the latch and he was gone.
    I expected to see Helen crumple to the floor in anguish or cry out for her husband to return, but instead she crossed the room to the telephone, calmly picked up the long handled receiver, and dialed.
    “Hi, Simone. Yeah, he bought it. He’s on his way to see you. Stick with the plan. Just stick with it, darling.” She smiled and hung up.
    Now, I knew I had a story.

H ELEN DREW a cigarette from her clutch and held one end to her mouth while lighting the other with what looked like a woman’s lighter, engraved on the edge. It was silver and shaped like a tube of lipstick with a diamond on the side as the flame’s trigger. It was probably a gift from Holden, a memento from happier days.
    She eased herself onto the U of the couch, curled her legs behind her, and let her eyes drift toward the windows, as if in a trance or maybe in a state of relaxation. Whichever one, I decided she had played her part in whatever scheme was now underway between her and Simone. I needed to follow Holden.
    Helen’s eyes scanned the budding Las Vegas skyline. Miles and miles of desert stretched beyond the inner bull’s-eye of construction trailers, cranes, and the twinkling lights of the newly birthed casino world. The desert’s burgundy sunset had faded to blue coal as the blinking lights of pop-stand casinos flashed around the Starlight.
    As if something had startled her, she sat upright out of her catlike position and looked directly toward me. Impossible . She couldn’t see me. I was cloaked in invisibility. Frozen with uncertainty, I waited for her eyes to continue drifting. What seemed like an eternity passed before Helen resumed her feline pose on the sofa. That was the only cue I needed. I decided it was time for me to leave the Starlight penthouse and follow Holden.
    Once I was out of the front door, I searched the hallway for Holden. Surely, he had taken the elevator to the lobby, so I ran to the elevator entrance. I saw the numbers running across the top of the elevator’s frame. Ugh! It was only on the second floor. I scanned the hall and noticed the stairs were at the end of the corridor. I decided to fly down the long stairwell in order to catch up with him. It would be quicker and I didn’t know