The Desperate Game Read Online Free PDF Page B

industrial spy."
    He moved his hand slightly, cutting off the sarcasm. "If you don't know much about computers, how did you manage the little trick you pulled on StarrTech? You drained two thousand dollars out of the benefits program without anyone's realizing what had happened for months. Russ said if he hadn't been tearing things apart looking for answers to the missing shipments, he wouldn't ever have stumbled across your little project."
    She smiled brilliantly. "I'm a quick study."
    Which, translated, Zac knew, meant he wasn't going to get any more out of her on that score. Later, he promised himself. He was a patient man. Some even said he was on the slow side. But eventually he always got where he was going. One of these days he would answer the questions he was formulating on the subject of Guinevere Jones.
    As far as Guinevere was concerned, the man could drown in his own curiosity. Let him guess forever , she thought. Damned if I'll help him . She had little enough as it was with which to retaliate against the man who was blackmailing her. Making him shell out for an expensive meal hardly counted as real vengeance.
    The note waiting on her desk after lunch was predictable enough. She frequently heard from her sister during working hours. It didn't matter how many times she told Carla to call only in the event of a genuine emergency. That logic floundered because nearly every new development in Carla's life these days constituted an emergency. Glancing at the clock, Guinevere decided she had a few minutes left on her lunch hour, so reluctantly she dialed Carla's apartment.
    "Carla? I got your message-"
    "Oh, my God, Gwen, she's cutting off the Valium! I'll die. I will just lay down and die!"
    "Carla, please. Calm down. I don't understand." But Guinevere was very much afraid she did comprehend. Completely. This was not going to be the kind of news she needed just now.
    "You've got to talk to her, Gwen." Her sister's soft, husky voice was filled with despair and a threat of tears. "Explain to her that it's just too soon. I'm not ready for this. Gwen, you know I'm not ready. I'll really fall apart." Her tone took on aspects of a wail. "I can't handle it, Gwen!"
    "Carla, listen to me. I'm sure Dr. Estabrook knows what she's doing. She's a very competent psychiatrist. You've told me you trust her-"
    "It was all your idea to pick a woman therapist! You said she'd understand, but she doesn't, Gwen. She just doesn't know how hard this has been on me. She's trying to make me go cold turkey!"
    Guinevere took a firm grip on her shaky temper. "Carla, this is my lunch hour, and it's almost gone. I'm not in the office. I'm at a client's. I have to watch this sort of thing. You know that. It's not good for a temp to be seen spending too much time on the client's phone. Now just calm down and wait until this evening. I'll talk to you then."
    "Call her, Gwen. She'll listen to you. Please, call her for me. I just want one more renewal on the prescription. Is that too much to ask?"
    "Dr. Estabrook obviously thinks so." But she'd heard the broken sound in her sister's words and was worried.
    "Dr. Estabrook is some sort of radical feminist! She thinks all women should abandon men and live like amazons or something!"
    Guinevere groaned. "Carla, she's a happily married woman herself."
    "That's just it!" Carla replied triumphantly. "She tries out her theories on patients like me while in the meantime, she's got it all. Nice husband, expensive home, and a good career. I want to change psychiatrists, Gwen. I've had it with her."
    Something clicked. Guinevere began to see where the conversation was going. "I don't think so, Carla. I think Dr. Estabrook is handling your case very well."
    "Cutting off my Valium is not handling me well! Gwen, I want another doctor. I need a different one, someone who understands me, someone who is capable of some degree of empathy. I'm going to start phoning around this afternoon."
    Guinevere shoved her red tote