Read Online Duffel Bags And Drownings by Dorothy Howell - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Dorothy Howell
Tags: Mystery & Crime
Ads: Link
you want the costume?” Tanner asked.
“Wear it to the event,” I said, and left.
* * *
As soon as I arrived at L.A. Affairs and walked down the hallway toward my office,
I spotted Kayla. Her gaze homed in on me like a couple of line-of-sight laser beams.
“Run!” she exclaimed.
I went into total panic mode.
Oh my God, were Detectives Elliston and Grayson here? Were they waiting for me? Did
they intend to arrest me?
Kayla rushed to me, grabbed my arm, and pulled me into the photocopy room. She slammed
the door and fell back against it.
“You’ve got to keep out of sight,” she told me, in a low voice. “Don’t let Edie and
Priscilla know you’re in the office.”
I went into total double-panic mode.
Edie and Priscilla must have finished their review of each planner’s workload and
decided to let someone go—and it was me. Oh my God, they were going to fire me?
Kayla opened the door a crack, peeked out, then turned to me again.
“It’s worse than we thought,” she said.
Yikes! Did that mean Edie and Priscilla had decided to fire several people?
“It’s the Daughters of the Southland,” Kayla told me.
Okay, now I was really confused.
“Who are they?” I asked.
“Some organization of old ladies who like to make everybody’s life miserable. Every
year they come to us to plan their annual luncheon,” Kayla said, her voice rising
slightly. “And they’re horrible. Terrible. Absolutely awful.”
She must have read my what-the-heck-look because she kept talking.
“The Daughters of the Southland are old. I mean, really old, like in their fifties
and sixties—some of them are even older,” Kayla said. “And every one of them is cranky
and crabby. They can’t agree on anything. They’re always changing their minds, calling
us, wanting this, wanting that. Then, another one of them will call and insist on
something totally different. They bicker and argue and make life hell for whoever
is planning their event. It’s so bad nobody here wants to work with them.”
“That’s what Edie and Priscilla have been doing behind closed doors?” I asked.
“Yes,” Kayla said. “They know none of us can stand to be in the same room with those
crazy old ladies, so now they’re forcing somebody to take on the event.”
Oh my God. This was almost worse than thinking Edie and Priscilla were going to fire
me—or that Detectives Elliston and Grayson were going to arrest me.
“Who are they assigning the event to?” I asked.
“I haven’t heard,” Kayla said. “Just try to avoid Edie and Priscilla.”
“No problem,” I said.
Kayla opened the door, checked the hallway, and we both hurried to our offices.
Since I didn’t want to run the risk that Edie or Priscilla might spot me in the hallway
or breakroom and assign me to that dreadful event, I was forced to stay in my office
and do actual work.
I still hadn’t heard back from Jack Bishop. I needed to find out why I’d seen his
Land Rover in the surveillance video outside Cady Faye Catering twice, around the
time of Jeri’s murder. Of course, I knew there could be for a perfectly innocent reason
or perhaps just a coincidence, but I doubted it. I called him again and left another
message.
The afternoon dragged on. I only got through it by focusing on meeting tonight with
Marcie at The Grove, one of our favorite shopping centers, to hunt down the new Flirtatious
satchel. Shortly before my official quitting time—okay, really it was 45 minutes early—I
shifted into stealth-mode and left the office undetected.
On the drive, I couldn’t help thinking that with the two extra-large servers off my
list, I was getting low on murder suspects. I pulled into the parking garage and circled
up to the third level, then swung into a spot near the elevators.
Marcie was going to meet me at Nordstrom, but I wanted to take another shot at talking
to Jack Bishop before we began our Flirtatious
“Wear it to the event,” I said, and left.
* * *
As soon as I arrived at L.A. Affairs and walked down the hallway toward my office,
I spotted Kayla. Her gaze homed in on me like a couple of line-of-sight laser beams.
“Run!” she exclaimed.
I went into total panic mode.
Oh my God, were Detectives Elliston and Grayson here? Were they waiting for me? Did
they intend to arrest me?
Kayla rushed to me, grabbed my arm, and pulled me into the photocopy room. She slammed
the door and fell back against it.
“You’ve got to keep out of sight,” she told me, in a low voice. “Don’t let Edie and
Priscilla know you’re in the office.”
I went into total double-panic mode.
Edie and Priscilla must have finished their review of each planner’s workload and
decided to let someone go—and it was me. Oh my God, they were going to fire me?
Kayla opened the door a crack, peeked out, then turned to me again.
“It’s worse than we thought,” she said.
Yikes! Did that mean Edie and Priscilla had decided to fire several people?
“It’s the Daughters of the Southland,” Kayla told me.
Okay, now I was really confused.
“Who are they?” I asked.
“Some organization of old ladies who like to make everybody’s life miserable. Every
year they come to us to plan their annual luncheon,” Kayla said, her voice rising
slightly. “And they’re horrible. Terrible. Absolutely awful.”
She must have read my what-the-heck-look because she kept talking.
“The Daughters of the Southland are old. I mean, really old, like in their fifties
and sixties—some of them are even older,” Kayla said. “And every one of them is cranky
and crabby. They can’t agree on anything. They’re always changing their minds, calling
us, wanting this, wanting that. Then, another one of them will call and insist on
something totally different. They bicker and argue and make life hell for whoever
is planning their event. It’s so bad nobody here wants to work with them.”
“That’s what Edie and Priscilla have been doing behind closed doors?” I asked.
“Yes,” Kayla said. “They know none of us can stand to be in the same room with those
crazy old ladies, so now they’re forcing somebody to take on the event.”
Oh my God. This was almost worse than thinking Edie and Priscilla were going to fire
me—or that Detectives Elliston and Grayson were going to arrest me.
“Who are they assigning the event to?” I asked.
“I haven’t heard,” Kayla said. “Just try to avoid Edie and Priscilla.”
“No problem,” I said.
Kayla opened the door, checked the hallway, and we both hurried to our offices.
Since I didn’t want to run the risk that Edie or Priscilla might spot me in the hallway
or breakroom and assign me to that dreadful event, I was forced to stay in my office
and do actual work.
I still hadn’t heard back from Jack Bishop. I needed to find out why I’d seen his
Land Rover in the surveillance video outside Cady Faye Catering twice, around the
time of Jeri’s murder. Of course, I knew there could be for a perfectly innocent reason
or perhaps just a coincidence, but I doubted it. I called him again and left another
message.
The afternoon dragged on. I only got through it by focusing on meeting tonight with
Marcie at The Grove, one of our favorite shopping centers, to hunt down the new Flirtatious
satchel. Shortly before my official quitting time—okay, really it was 45 minutes early—I
shifted into stealth-mode and left the office undetected.
On the drive, I couldn’t help thinking that with the two extra-large servers off my
list, I was getting low on murder suspects. I pulled into the parking garage and circled
up to the third level, then swung into a spot near the elevators.
Marcie was going to meet me at Nordstrom, but I wanted to take another shot at talking
to Jack Bishop before we began our Flirtatious
Similar Books
