The Angel's Game (The Cemetery of Forgotten 2)

“Your friend told me you’d got yourself into trouble.”

“Isabella?”

“She’s very worried about you.”

“Isabella has a tendency to believe she’s my mother.”

“I don’t think that’s what she was getting at.”

I avoided her eyes.

“She told me you were working on a new book commissioned by a foreign publisher. She calls him the boss. She says he’s paying you a fortune but you feel guilty for having accepted the money. She says you’re afraid of this man, the boss, and there’s something murky about the whole business.”

I sighed with annoyance.

“Is there anything Isabella hasn’t told you?”

“The rest is between us,” she answered, winking at me. “Was she lying?”

“She wasn’t lying. She was speculating.”

“And what’s the book about?”

“It’s a story for children.”

“Isabella told me you’d say t

hat.”

“If Isabella has already given you all the answers, why are you questioning me?”

Cristina looked at me severely.

“For your peace of mind, and Isabella’s, I’ve abandoned the book. C’est fini,” I assured her.

Cristina frowned and looked dubious.

“And this man, the boss, does he know?”

“I haven’t spoken to him yet. But I suppose he has a good idea. And if he doesn’t, he soon will.”

“So you’ll have to give him back the money?”

“I don’t think he’s bothered about the money in the least.”

Cristina fell into a long silence.

“May I read it?” she asked at last.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a draft and it doesn’t make any sense yet. It’s a pile of ideas and notes, loose fragments. Nothing readable. It would bore you.”

“I’d still like to read it.”

“Why?”