Free HIS OTHER SON by MAYNARD SIMS Page B

was still going strong, although quite a few people had left. There was
still a need for all the exits to be secure and the guests to be escorted to
their cars, He arranged cover on the door of the house and went in search of
Anders.
                Inside
the house the noise was louder than he had anticipated. Several people were
clearly drunk, while others were still determined to dance until they dropped.
The band was playing, although he heard the singer give notice that the end was
near.
                Ryker knew which part of the house Anders had been directed
to, and he headed that way. It wasn’t long before he bumped, literally, into
Martin Devereaux .
                  “Watch where you’re…oh, it’s you.”
                “Apologies,
Mr. Devereaux .”
                “I
thought you were covering the door. Is everything in order?” Devereaux’s eyes darted from side to side as he spoke,
looking for important people he didn’t want to ignore.
                “All normal. I’m just doing an internal sweep. Checking
bathrooms and bedrooms, making sure no one has extended their invitation in
ways it wasn’t intended.”
                Devereaux allowed a look of distaste pass over his face,
before his carefully constructed façade of sophistication was restored. “I’m
not sure what sort of parties you’re used to attending, Ryker ,
but my guests know how to behave.”
                Ryker nodded. “Of course. Excuse
me, but I’m off to check on the well behaved guests who were snorting cocaine
earlier,”
                He
walked off before Devereaux could splutter a
response.
                As he
began to climb the stairs he glanced back, just in time to see Caroline Devereaux standing next to her husband.
    Caroline was annoyed, if her
body language was anything to go by. “Have you seen Paula yet?”
                Devereaux looked at her as if she was speaking a foreign
language. He was still smarting from his conversation with Ryker .
“What? No, I guess she’s off doing whatever spoiled eighteen year olds do these
days.”
                “Which
is what exactly?”
                “I
wish I could remember.”
                Caroline
grabbed his arm and pulled him into a corner so they wouldn’t be overheard.
“There are three of those sisters with mother.”
                “And
your master plan of getting your brother on board failed at the first hurdle.”
                “He’s
always been a disappointment,” Caroline said, her voice full of as much venom
as she could muster.
                “So
where do you think Paula is?”
                “Someone
said they’d seen her with that Rulski kid.”
                Devereaux nodded approvingly. “That’s good. His father has
a lot of influence, he could help business.”
                Caroline
crinkled her nose in despair. “Martin, they won’t be swapping study tips. What
do you think they will be doing?”
                “But…she’s
just a…”
                “She’s
not a kid any more. Wake up and look at her. She’s all grown up.”
                Devereaux smiled and nodded at some people who were walking
past. “I’ll have to circulate. People are leaving.”
                “I’m
going up to see mother. It’s about time someone took control around here.
Father might be taken in by these fake holy rollers but I’m not. Dr Cooperman
says people often seemingly improve, even appear to recover, for a period of
time before…” Martin touched her cheek in a gesture of genuine affection.
“Father seems to think the Church is saving her life but all they’re doing is
fooling her into believing there’s hope.”
                “Hope’s
not such a bad thing.”