Read Online Twist of Fate by Jayne Ann Krentz - Free Book Online

thought of as the island charm of her apartment. Two more Yuppies in a world that seemed to be filling up with the genus. Drake and Vicky were of the species academia . It was a relatively small but highly evolved example of the basic group. This species prided itself on being clever enough to see the subtle humor of ordering an expensive California zinfandel with roasted red pepper fettuccini. This species could also wage esoteric, academic, and totally irrelevant arguments while consuming both the zinfandel and the fettuccini.
    Hannah saw Drake and Vicky quickly and expertly scan the heavily laden shelves of her bookcase. She knew they weren’t terribly impressed. Her collection of books was highly eclectic, to put it mildly. It was unfocused, covering in uneven depth everything from the history of magic to basket weaving. Her personal library represented the kind of interests the academic world finds most amusing: a layman ’s interests.
    Hannah was still idly putting together her mental construct of Drake and Vicky Armitage. Most of the pieces were in place. Drake, she sensed, was going to make it up the academic ladder because he was good at handling academic politics. He got himself on the right faculty committees, went to the right teas, and managed to make himself useful at the right levels. He knew instinctively who held power in his world and he knew how to get close to those people.
    Vicky, on the other hand, would climb the academic ladder using real brilliance. She would be the one whose publishing record would eventually guarantee her a slot on any faculty.
    The marriage between Drake and Vicky, Hannah figured, would last as long as they were useful to each other. At this point Drake found that some of the gleam of his wife’s intellectual abilities rubbed off on him in faculty meetings. His name had appeared alongside hers on a couple of monographs, although Hannah privately wondered how much he’d really contributed. Vicky, on the other hand, found Drake’s understanding of how the faculty bureaucracy functioned extremely useful. It was an alliance made in academic heaven and would probably fall apart with little regret on either side the day they were offered good positions at opposite ends of the country. Hannah wondered who would get custody of the Armitage’s wine collection.
    â€œI’ll help you with the drinks,” Vicky said amiably, half way to the balcony. She swung around and came toward the kitchen. “You’ve got your hands full there. Here, I’ll handle the mail for you.”
    She removed the letters from Hannah’s fingers before a protest could be made. “Going on a trip?” Vicky indicated the tickets.
    â€œDown to the Caribbean. I’m going to close up my aunt’s house.” Hannah opened the refrigerator and was relieved to find two bottles of mineral water that her brother must have left behind on his last visit. She couldn’t stand the stuff herself.
    â€œOh, that’s right. I remember you said something about it a few weeks ago.” Vicky plucked the bottles from Hannah’s arm and opened drawers at random in the white-tiled kitchen until she found an opener. “What a fantastic opportunity.”
    â€œOpportunity?”
    Vicky shook her head in wonder. “Just think, the chance to see Elizabeth Nord’s private library. All her notes and records; the books that she read and maybe even drafts of the ones she wrote. There might even be some unfinished work that hasn’t yet been published. God, what I wouldn’t give for that opportunity. What a shame she didn’t leave it all to an academic library. I wonder why not?”
    Hannah shrugged, watching in resignation as Vicky Armitage made herself at home in the kitchen. Short of tripping Vicky with the cane, there wasn’t any way of stopping her. “She said in her will that she wanted me to have the stuff.”
    â€œYou really should