A little shiver snaked up her neck at the commonality and Emily had no choice but to agree with Delia. “Yes, I suppose I would, but I’m not a private investigator.” Emily laughed a little at the thought of it. Evan had tried to discourage her from becoming too involved in his business, and now here it was being laid at her doorstep.
“Well, I say smart and driven is just plain that, smart and driven, no matter what profession you’re in. I’m willing to pay you twenty-five hundred up front to see this case through, and if it takes you longer than a week or two, I am happy to pay more.”
“Twenty-five hundred?” She could definitely use that money right now.
“Yes. I’m desperate to learn the truth about my husband,” Delia said, “and I can see you are eager to learn the truth about yours.”
She’s got that right. Emily crossed her arms and looked at Delia for a moment or two before proceeding, giving some thought to what she would need to know in order to help this woman. “Explain to me then, Delia, what makes you think he’s stealing from you?”
“My CPA found some anomalies in the books. We think he’s siphoning off money from our company funds.”
“And on top of that, you believe he’s seeing another woman behind your back?” Emily asked.
“Yes, I do. My husband is quite a bit younger than I am, you see, and he’s very good looking—the classic tall, dark, and handsome type.”
We hope you enjoyed the excerpt from
The Scent of Lies, A Paradise Valley Mystery: Book One
by Debra Burroughs
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A Paradise Valley Mystery: Book One?
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THREE DAYS IN SEATTLE
PROLOGUE
Whitney began to stir from a deep sleep, waking to find herself in pitch-black darkness, her hands and feet bound. She tried to move, but she couldn’t. Yanking against the ropes proved useless, as the bonds were fastened to something solid.
Her head began to pound and her breath was coming in short gasps, but she couldn’t get much air. Something was over her mouth—duct tape, maybe? She didn’t know or care, she just needed air.
She struggled to scream, but the only sound she could make was a high-pitched moan.
Where am I? What’s happening to me? Murky thoughts slogged through her disoriented mind. Maybe I’m dreaming, she thought. Wake up, wake up, wake up! But it was not a dream.
The sound of something scraping the floor made her freeze. She tried to listen, hear if someone or something was coming, but her heart thudding in her ears made it hard to concentrate.
A door creaked open, and she blinked as the harsh light hit her eyes. Was someone coming to rescue her? Or was it her captor? She decided not to risk it and shut her eyes, going limp, hoping her pounding heart would not give her away.
CHAPTER 1
“Forget it, Nigel! It’s been a very long day. I’ll finish up in the morning. I just need to soak in the tub for a while and get to bed. I will call you first thing tomorrow, I promise.” Kate McAllister clicked off her cell phone and set it on the bathroom vanity, exhausted after her hectic photo shoot in the Hollywood Hills ran late into the evening.
The warm water in the claw-foot tub was beckoning her. She was anticipating being enveloped by its warmth, letting it soothe away the stress of the day. Sticking one painted toe in the water, she checked the temperature before getting in. Perfect, she sighed softly.
As she was about to drop her fluffy white robe to the floor and step into the bath, the cell phone shrilled on the vanity behind her. “Shoot,” she muttered under her breath. “If that’s Nigel again, I’m going to kill him.”
A slight frown creased her brow as she turned and glanced at the Caller ID. She recognized the area code was for Seattle, where her baby sister Whitney lived, but if it were her sister, the phone would have shown her name and not Unknown Caller.
Peering up at the wall clock, she saw the time was ten-forty-five pm. Why would someone I don’t know be calling me this late? Tension began creeping up the back of her neck. No one calls this late just to chat. She reluctantly picked up the phone.