Drake Sisters 03 - Oceans of Fire

him?”
    Joley made a face. “You aren’t thinking of dumping your Russian hottie for Chad, are you? Do you remember him in school? He was totally obnoxious.”
    Hannah burst out laughing again. “Everyone was obnoxious in school, Joley. We all grew up, even Chad.”
    “Well, the hussy can’t sleep with one and rush off to be with the other.”
    “I know you’re not calling me a hussy, Joley!” Abigail glared at her. “You have no idea whether or not I slept with Aleksandr.”
    Joley grinned at her. “Hannah told me you wore the red panties. You had every intention of sleeping with that man and you stayed out all night. I don’t need confirmation that you’re a hussy. I already know!”
    Abigail tried to look innocent but the blush was creeping up her neck and into her cheeks and her sisters were giggling like schoolgirls. “Well, fine, maybe I did,” Abigail conceded. “But I’m not going off to find Chad Kingman, for heaven’s sake. He would never talk to me even if I did think he was hot, which I don’t . There was this little incident at a party when he was a junior in high school. Very bad. I’ve never been his favorite person since.”
    She glanced around, shoved open the door, and waved her sisters through. It was dark and gloomy in the back room. Boxes cluttered the floor and tables. Sculptures of various sizes littered the room.
    “It’s a little spooky in here,” Hannah said.
    “What are we doing?” Joley said. “Although, this isn’t bad. At least we don’t have to smile at Frank and watch him flirting with Aunt Carol. She’s deliberately leading that man on so she can spy for Jonas.”
    “Aunt Carol loves drama. And it doesn’t hurt to have two men hanging on her every word,” Hannah said. “I don’t know how she does it. I’ve even gotten close to her to see if I can feel the flare of magic when she’s flirting, but I can’t. It’s really her appeal. She makes everyone feel so good.”
    “She brightens the world,” Joley said. “Abigail, you should sneak back to the buffet table and get us Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    food and something to drink and we can have our own party right here.”
    “We aren’t partying, you slacker, we’re spying.”
    Hannah gripped her arm in excitement. “Spying?” She lowered her voice and looked around. “We need Aunt Carol’s camera.”
    “Fine, you two wait here and I’ll go get the camera and some food.” Abigail slipped through the door again and joined the throng wandering through the gallery.
    Carol was in the corner laughing with Reginald Mars. Abigail caught up a plate, filled it with finger foods, and made her way to her aunt. “Hello, Mr. Mars,” she greeted. “You look absolutely wonderful.”
    Carol ran her hand up and down Reginald’s arm. “Isn’t he handsome?” She beamed at the man, her eyes bright and her smile genuine.
    Old man Mars shook Abigail’s hand politely and flashed a charming smile. He had eyes only for her aunt. “Nice to see you, Abbey.”
    “I hope the two of you are having a great time. Aunt Carol, would you mind letting me borrow the camera for a few minutes? Joley wants a few shots for her scrapbook.”
    “Well, dear, of course not.” Carol removed the camera and handed it to Abigail. “But I did take several pictures of all of you girls as you moved around the room. Would you like me to show you how to use it?”
    “I’m good, thanks.” Abigail tried to look as innocent as possible. The smile was slowly fading from her aunt’s face and that was a bad sign. “You two have fun!” She hurried away before Carol could get a good “reading” on her.
    “What did you bring for us to eat?” Joley greeted her as Abigail slipped through the door. “I’m starving.”
    “How can you be starving? You hung out at the buffet table,” Abigail objected. “I brought a camera.
    The food’s just a cover in case anyone was watching.”
    “Then we may as well eat it,“ Joley said. ”It’s only practical.“
    Hannah rolled her eyes, but she grabbed a black olive. “What are we looking for, Abbey?”
    “You wench, you took my olive!” Joley smacked her sister’s hand. “Eat the cucumber thingies. I hate those.”
    “Something that could be a Russian artifact. Packing maybe might have come from Russia. Anything at all that might indicate something illegal is going on here.”
    Joley stood in front of a naked statue of a man,