Read Online Bright New Murder by Traci Tyne Hilton - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Traci Tyne Hilton
Ads: Link
college-educated (well, almost) twenty-something. Surely she knew someone who could do a little cyber spying.
Ben!
His name on her contact list was a happy surprise. Gemma’s stepbrother. He was a tech guy. Designed websites and stuff. He even worked for that Realtor for a while…the one she had met that time the dryer caught fire.
Ben would know how to find out who Bang-Bang was. She texted him a begging message.
While Ben could be of some help, there was one person who would know if Michelle Smith had been an HLP protester.
Rose of Sharon Willis.
She googled Rose of Sharon Willis and HLP. First hit: an HLP Facebook page.
Jane snickered. Of course it would be Facebook. HLP was kind of old-fashioned like that. She “liked” the page and then sent a private message asking Rose of Sharon if she had time to get together. She suggested Sprouted Quinoa, a little vegan raw-food café not far from her apartment. Surely Rose of Sharon wouldn’t turn down free raw vegan food.
She sipped her coffee. Her fingers twitched and her heart was racing. She was both overcaffeinated and anxious. She had hit the waiting-game part—would her contacts come through for her? Maybe, maybe not. But if she wanted to solve the murder (and keep her heartache at bay), she had to keep moving.
She had one more obvious move she could make while waiting to hear back from Ben and Rose of Sharon. The event center might well have security footage of the event. As a private detective (in training), it behooved her to ask if she could view it, so, coffee cup in shaking hand, she headed to the Shonley Center.
***
The event center was an echoey concrete building with high ceilings, faded carpet, and many long halls. It had been built long before she was born—like the 1980s or something—and was showing its age. The dusty smell of an old heating system reminded Jane of the basement of her Bible school. She hummed along to the Peanuts Christmas song while she looked for the security office.
A couple of the many, many spaces were in use. A guy about her age in black khaki pants and a white polo shirt rolled a dolly full of folded tables into a room by the front door. She followed him.
“Hey!” She waved her hand as she called out.
He looked her up and down, and then grinned. “Yeah?”
“Is there, like, an office around here?” Her voice had instantly gone valley girl on her, and she wanted to bite her tongue off. Instead, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and hated herself a little more. She wasn’t trying to look like an idiot, but she was sure managing to like a pro.
“Like a business office?” The guy frowned.
‘”Yeah, like that.” She smiled and tilted her head. She straightened it up with a jerk. She would swear off coffee forever if she couldn’t pull herself together.
“I dunno.” He leaned on the handle of his dolly. “I’m just here to set up for the model railroad convention. But I’m off in half an hour.” He lifted his eyebrows and gave a kind of bro nod.
“Bummer.” She shrugged and left.
While this convention facility wasn’t the great big one with the pointy towers, it was still big enough that Jane was lost within minutes.
Jane was about to give up and take the first exit she could find, when she ran into an older man wearing a vacuum backpack and headphones.
She got as close as she could and tapped his shoulder.
He shut off his vacuum. “Can I help you?” He had a kind smile and a bushy mustache.
Jane smiled and wrung her hands. The obnoxious valley girl seemed to have been replaced by a simpering child. She tried to pull herself together again. Square her shoulders and all that. Detective. She was a professional detective. “Yes, thank you.” She was still grinning, but at least she wasn’t rubbing the toe of one shoe with the other. She had both feet firmly on the ground like an adult. “I’m looking for the security office.”
The man nodded towards the elevator. “Gotta git
Ben!
His name on her contact list was a happy surprise. Gemma’s stepbrother. He was a tech guy. Designed websites and stuff. He even worked for that Realtor for a while…the one she had met that time the dryer caught fire.
Ben would know how to find out who Bang-Bang was. She texted him a begging message.
While Ben could be of some help, there was one person who would know if Michelle Smith had been an HLP protester.
Rose of Sharon Willis.
She googled Rose of Sharon Willis and HLP. First hit: an HLP Facebook page.
Jane snickered. Of course it would be Facebook. HLP was kind of old-fashioned like that. She “liked” the page and then sent a private message asking Rose of Sharon if she had time to get together. She suggested Sprouted Quinoa, a little vegan raw-food café not far from her apartment. Surely Rose of Sharon wouldn’t turn down free raw vegan food.
She sipped her coffee. Her fingers twitched and her heart was racing. She was both overcaffeinated and anxious. She had hit the waiting-game part—would her contacts come through for her? Maybe, maybe not. But if she wanted to solve the murder (and keep her heartache at bay), she had to keep moving.
She had one more obvious move she could make while waiting to hear back from Ben and Rose of Sharon. The event center might well have security footage of the event. As a private detective (in training), it behooved her to ask if she could view it, so, coffee cup in shaking hand, she headed to the Shonley Center.
***
The event center was an echoey concrete building with high ceilings, faded carpet, and many long halls. It had been built long before she was born—like the 1980s or something—and was showing its age. The dusty smell of an old heating system reminded Jane of the basement of her Bible school. She hummed along to the Peanuts Christmas song while she looked for the security office.
A couple of the many, many spaces were in use. A guy about her age in black khaki pants and a white polo shirt rolled a dolly full of folded tables into a room by the front door. She followed him.
“Hey!” She waved her hand as she called out.
He looked her up and down, and then grinned. “Yeah?”
“Is there, like, an office around here?” Her voice had instantly gone valley girl on her, and she wanted to bite her tongue off. Instead, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and hated herself a little more. She wasn’t trying to look like an idiot, but she was sure managing to like a pro.
“Like a business office?” The guy frowned.
‘”Yeah, like that.” She smiled and tilted her head. She straightened it up with a jerk. She would swear off coffee forever if she couldn’t pull herself together.
“I dunno.” He leaned on the handle of his dolly. “I’m just here to set up for the model railroad convention. But I’m off in half an hour.” He lifted his eyebrows and gave a kind of bro nod.
“Bummer.” She shrugged and left.
While this convention facility wasn’t the great big one with the pointy towers, it was still big enough that Jane was lost within minutes.
Jane was about to give up and take the first exit she could find, when she ran into an older man wearing a vacuum backpack and headphones.
She got as close as she could and tapped his shoulder.
He shut off his vacuum. “Can I help you?” He had a kind smile and a bushy mustache.
Jane smiled and wrung her hands. The obnoxious valley girl seemed to have been replaced by a simpering child. She tried to pull herself together again. Square her shoulders and all that. Detective. She was a professional detective. “Yes, thank you.” She was still grinning, but at least she wasn’t rubbing the toe of one shoe with the other. She had both feet firmly on the ground like an adult. “I’m looking for the security office.”
The man nodded towards the elevator. “Gotta git
Similar Books
