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Back White Elephant Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. PART ONE The Preparations for the Party
  3. Claudine
  4. Zara
  5. Henry
  6. Zara
  7. Zara
  8. Claudine
  9. Henry
  10. Zara
  11. Claudine
  12. Henry
  13. Zara
  14. Claudine
  15. Henry
  16. PART TWO The Affair
  17. Claudine
  18. Henry
  19. Claudine
  20. Henry
  21. Claudine
  22. Henry
  23. PART THREE The Game
  24. Zara
  25. Claudine
  26. Henry
  27. Zara
  28. Claudine
  29. Zara
  30. Henry
  31. PART FOUR The Murders
  32. Claudine
  33. Henry
  34. Claudine
  35. Henry
  36. Claudine
  37. Henry
  38. PART FIVE The Process of Elimination
  39. Claudine
  40. Henry
  41. Henry
  42. Zara
  43. Zara
  44. Claudine
  45. Henry
  46. Claudine
  47. Zara
  48. Claudine
  49. Henry
  50. Claudine
  51. Henry
  52. Claudine
  53. Henry
  54. Claudine
  55. Zara
  56. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

That’s when Natalie stood and walked to the table.

Henry

He couldn’t stop staring at Steve. It had been years since he had had the chance to look at his face this close up. It looked like an old softball mitt. He was older. Good. There was a frailness that even his bravado couldn’t mask. Also good. His jealousy didn’t surprise him, but the tiny splash of compassion for his old competition did. Sometimes he couldn’t blame him for falling for Claudine. She was irresistible, especially then. She was just like Aspen: beautiful on the surface but dangerous underneath. Steve felt his stare and he quickly looked away. The compassion didn’t last long, replaced by a sick feeling in his stomach.

Sometimes he wondered what would have happened if he’d never brought Claudine up to see the property in the first place. If they would have built their first house on the bend of a river. Or in the middle of a meadow. A lesser plot. Everything about their lives could have been different. Would he have stopped drinking? He’d never thought about it like that. Would there have been another incident that made him stop? The drinks were coming so fast and frequent then, it’s hard to imagine that he’d come to the conclusion it had to end on his own.

Natalie chose a large rectangle-shaped gift. It seemed a little plainer than the rest. No bow. She walked slowly with it, it had some heft. A theme of the night, she, too, was having a tough time opening it. The professional wrap jobs meant they were harder to open: way more tape. Henry was about to help her so Claudine wouldn’t snap at him again, but Bobby was closer and offered his Leatherman. She gratefully accepted. Slicing through the cardboard, she hit a wall of Styrofoam. It made a sharp, high squeak as the blade cut into it. Natalie got the top open and gave the Styrofoam a tug. It scraped the sides of the box as she pulled it out, bits of Styrofoam littering the floor. She split open the covering and, using both hands, lifted out a statue. Deep bronze in color, it stood around ten inches tall. A cowboy on a horse, a rifle raised to eye level, his face fiercely concentrating on the target.

“The Lone Ranger?” Rashida joked.

A small sound escaped Claudine, one Henry had never heard before. The glass of red wine slipped from her hand, crashing to the floor, and quickly started spreading toward the white shag rug.

PART FOUR The Murders

Claudine