Bundle of Trouble - By Diana Orgain Page 0,67
didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted a little something to take the edge off.” She pulled open a drawer. Inside were baggies filled with marijuana.
Who kept that kind of stash in a store?
She selected a bag from the drawer and squatted behind the counter, safely hidden from street view as she lit the bong and inhaled. “Maybe you need a hit, too.”
I exhaled and slumped down next to her. “I’ll pass. Want to tell me about you and Brad?”
After a moment she nodded. “We were working at the restaurant together and, you know, one thing led to another. We were staying out late, partying . . . He was really cool and everything, but a little uptight. So, not totally my type, but, you know, he was so good lookin’.” She opened the baggie and loaded the bong. “Anyway, we were smoking and drinking, and what can I tell you? The sex was really hot, so we just kinda kept at it.”
“Were you seeing each other up until his death?”
“Oh, no! It went down kinda rough. Eventually, I had to tell him that he wasn’t my type. By then I’d started seeing Winter. We were much more alike, much more compatible. I thought he was my soul mate.” She sighed. “I had to tell Brad. He didn’t take it too good . . . cuz, you know, I think he liked me a lot.”
“Why did Brad come to see you on June fifteenth?”
She played with the lighter in her hand. “To try and get back together.”
“You said no?”
“I told him no way in hell. He left really mad. If I had known that I was never gonna see him again, and that Winter was gonna dump me, well, hell, one final final wouldn’t have been too bad.”
“Do you have any idea who killed Brad, Michelle, and Svetlana?” I asked.
Jennifer took a hit and slowly shook her head. “Wish I did.”
•CHAPTER NINETEEN•
The Sixth Week—Discovery
Monday rolled around sooner than I would have liked. I hated the idea of Jim having to go to work.
“I wish you could take more time off to be with me and the baby. After all, I’m supposed to be back to the office next week.”
“What are we going to do about day care?” Jim asked.
My throat constricted. Leave my angel with strangers all day? “We won’t need day care.”
“Honey, we have to be realistic. I mean, even if you solve this homicide for Mrs. Avery, we still need a second income.”
“I could get another client.”
Jim looked at me, a cross of pity and love on his face.
“You think I’m kidding myself, don’t you?” I asked.
He wrapped his arms around me. “I totally believe in you and support you and love you.”
“You think I’m kidding myself.”
“How about I ask for a raise today?”
I pulled out of his embrace and looked into his eyes. “You certainly deserve one.”
“Yeah. I’ve been landing them new clients left and right. You should have seen the ad campaign I presented last week. Maybe I can squeeze a few more dollars out of them, or hell, even a promotion.”
Relief washed over me. Maybe I could stay home after all.
“You better get going then,” I said. “You don’t want to be late on the day you get promoted.”
To-Do List:
1. Find Brad and/or Michelle and Svetlana’s killer.
2. ✓
3. Get some sleep.
4. ✓
5. Figure out how to launch this PI business—need license?
6. Research day care for Jelly Bean—just in case.
7. Start diet.
8. Pick up some dental whitener.
9. Find time for manicure/pedicure.
I looked over my list. How could I prioritize that to-do list? Could I really find a killer?
Well, I had found George, hadn’t I?
Please don’t be one and the same, I prayed, unable to control the nausea that surfaced.
The phone rang, interrupting my thoughts.
“Kate. Nora Collins here. How are you and the baby?”
My boss from corporate hell.
“Fine. Fine. Everyone is good.”
“Great. Glad to hear it. Did you get the basket we sent?”
The staff from my office had sent a baby bathing basket. In it was a little yellow ducky robe complete with a bill hood and two feet dangling from the end of it, a couple of rubber duckies, baby shampoo, lotion and soap, and a waterproof bath book.
I hadn’t had the time or energy to mail the thank-you cards. What had happened to my manners? I reached for the pen that was near me and re-added “Mail thank-you cards” to my to-do list.
“We got the basket,” I said. “Thank you.”
“Glad you like it. Sheryl