Read Warhol's Prophecy for Free Online

with Becky,’ he said, throwing the tea towel onto the worktop. ‘Perhaps she needs someone to keep an eye on her.’
    He was out of the kitchen before Hailey could reply.
    She heard his footsteps on the stairs.
    Despite the fact that the television was on, the volume was low and Hailey wasn’t really paying much attention to the programme. It was a soap opera – wasn’t it always? She merely gazed blankly at the screen, listening as Rob made his way down the stairs, then into the kitchen. A moment later he wandered into the sitting room and sat down in the chair on the other side of the room, his gaze straying first to the TV and then to the daily paper lying on the coffee table close to him. He picked it up and flipped it around to the sports pages.
    ‘Did you read her a story?’ Hailey asked.
    ‘She was tired anyway,’ Rob answered. ‘It didn’t take long for her to drop off. Not surprising really, is it? I mean, she’s had a lot of excitement today – if that’s what you want to call it.’
    He continued looking at the paper.
    ‘Oh, for Christ’s sake, Rob, drop it, will you?’ Hailey said wearily.
    He lowered the paper.
    ‘Drop it? Our daughter gets lost in one of the biggest shopping centres in the country, and you say “Drop it.” What the hell were you doing?’
    ‘I knew this was coming. You think it’s my fault, don’t you?’
    ‘Do you have any idea what could have happened to her?’
    ‘I spent nearly an hour thinking about nothing else.’
    ‘You weren’t going to tell me, were you?’
    ‘No. Because I knew you’d react like this. ’
    ‘How do you expect me to react?’
    ‘With a little bit of understanding. I went through hell this afternoon until they found her.’
    ‘And you just decided not to tell me?’
    ‘Don’t start lecturing me about deceit, Rob. You’re not really in a position to do that, are you?’
    He raised his hands. ‘Change the record, Hailey,’ he said irritably.
    She glared at him.
    She was about to speak again when she heard the two-tone door-chime. Flashing him one final, angry glance, she got to her feet and headed for the door, from habit peering through the spyhole before she opened it.
    As she waited on the doorstep, Caroline Hacket rubbed her hands together.
    ‘It’s getting colder,’ she commented as Hailey let her in.
    Caroline slipped off her long grey coat to reveal a dark sweatshirt and jeans beneath. She draped the coat over the bannister and turned to Hailey, seeing how pale and drawn she looked.
    ‘Are you OK?’ she wanted to know.
    Hailey nodded. ‘Becky’s fast asleep,’ she said, reaching for her own coat that hung on the rack behind her. ‘We’ll be back by nine.’
    Caroline touched her friend’s arm and nodded. She turned as Rob appeared in the doorway to the sitting room.
    ‘How’s things in the world of big business, Rob?’ Caroline asked, smiling.
    ‘Not bad,’ he said, forcing a return smile that appeared more like a leer. He pulled on a jacket and dug in his pocket for the car keys. He then wandered outside, and a couple of minutes later Hailey heard the engine of the Audi throb into life.
    ‘You know where everything is, don’t you?’ said Hailey.
    ‘I should do by now,’ Caroline told her. ‘Go on. Everything will be fine. I’ll see you later.’
    Hailey closed the door behind her and headed towards the passenger side of the waiting Audi.
    ‘ Everything will be fine. ’
    How badly she wanted to believe that.

7
     
    T HE ROOM WAS small. No more than fifteen feet square. Sparsely furnished. It contained little except three chairs, a filing cabinet and a small coffee table. The walls were plain, their banality not even enlivened by a photograph or a painting.
    The consultation room reminded Rob of a cell.
    Cigarette smoke hung in the air like a curtain of dirty gauze, and the ashtray on the table next to a box of Kleenex was already full. Hailey and Rob were both smoking, watched with something approaching