Read Online Death of A High Maintenance Blonde (Jubilant Falls Series Book 5) by Debra Gaskill - Free Book Online Page B

Charisma Prentiss was married to the French journalist Jean Paul Lemarnier. A suicide bomber killed him. I think you’re his widow, the wire service reporter who no one has seen since a big story she wrote was found to be incorrect.”
    “That so?” I looked down at my notebook, staring at my hand and willing it not to shake as I wrote. “What brings you to Jubilant Falls?”
    “I’m doing research on some of journalism’s more well-known falls from grace. Charisma Prentiss’s story was the first one I thought of.”
    Tears welled up in my eyes and I blinked them back. “That so?” I repeated without looking up. In my former life, I would have punched him.
    “Yes. I’d like to sit down with you and talk about your experiences sometime.”
    “Again, Dr. Huffinger, I’m not who you think I am. My husband died in a car crash, along with my parents. I was injured, but I am not, nor have I ever been, who you think I am. Excuse me, I have a story to complete.”
    I turned on my heel, put on a brave face and walked back toward Mrs. Jepson. Maybe, as her world was crumbling around her, she’d be willing to talk to me. If I didn’t talk to somebody about what was going on now, I knew I’d see that bomb explode again in my sleep and my world would do the same.
    *****
    An hour later, the story was done and I was downloading photos from my camera when Addison rushed in.
    “Holy shit,” she said, sliding into her seat at the copy editing station. A newly extinguished cigarette was between two fingers of her left hand and she smelled of cigarette smoke.
    “I saw Gary McGinnis at the fire,” I began. “He said there was a homicide?”
    “Yeah.” Addison slipped the cigarette between her lips without lighting it and fired up her computer. I don’t think she heard me. “Of all the people on this earth…”
    One of the things I was rapidly learning about my boss was that she truly was a reporter in an editor’s body. If she had a chance to go chase a story, she’d take it in a heartbeat.
    “I’m really sorry I didn’t go after it when he came and got me…”
    Addison looked up at me. “What? You think I’m pissed?”
    “Well, yeah.”
    “Good God! You were at the fire! Don’t worry about it!” She began scrolling down her computer’s screen. Apparently finding what she wanted, Addison lay the cold cigarette down on the desk beside her.
    I relaxed. “So what happened with the homicide?”
    Before she could answer, my phone rang and I picked up the handset.
    “Newsroom, Charisma,” I said automatically.
    “Miss Prentiss, this is Dr. Huffinger again—”
    “Don’t call me that!” I screamed into the phone. “Don’t call me here ever again! Do you hear me? That person is gone forever!”
    Addison stared at me as I slammed the phone down and burst into sobs.
     

 
    Chapter 10 Leland
     
    I ended the cell phone call and walked back to the Red Cross van, where a grandmotherly volunteer in a red vest was assembling the displaced, checking off names on a clipboard.
    Rooms had been secured for us at one of the hotels on the outskirts of Jubilant Falls, she said.
    “I need to stay close,” I told her. “I’ll go ahead and find my own room downtown. I’ve got a rental car. I’m fine.”
    She nodded and scratched my name off her list.
    I hadn’t unpacked a whole lot, so as we rushed to evacuate, it was easy to grab my small suitcase and lap top computer and run outside. After I got outside, I stashed them safely in the car trunk.
    The only thing I’d lost was my bathroom stuff: a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and a pair of scissors to trim my beard. It wouldn’t be any big deal to find replacements. I hoped it would be as easy to find a room at the Holiday Inn. Staying downtown would enable me to keep an eye on the woman who called herself Charisma Lemarnier.
    Despite what she said, I didn’t believe Charisma Prentiss was gone forever. I’d found her. I was going to get her to talk to me,