Read Online MURDER ON A DESIGNER DIET by Shawn Reilly Simmons - Free Book Online Page A

we’re going to move forward.”
    â€œOf course you are—” Penelope protested.
    â€œExcept,” Joey cut her off, raising a finger in the air, “when you get a call from Max in the middle of the night, you jump out of bed and run to him. And dummy that I am, I follow right behind you.”
    â€œDon’t say that,” Penelope said quietly, flicking her eyes at the back of the cab driver’s head. Joey had turned away from her again. “I’m worried about Max, that’s all. If you could’ve heard how scared he sounded on the phone…I would try and help any of my friends in the same situation.”
    The tension in Joey’s shoulders relented slightly, but his anger was still putting a wall between them. Without looking at her he said, “I’m going to get my things from the room and head back to Jersey. I have to be in my boss’s office at noon to answer for all of this. You should stay, get some sleep.”
    Penelope reached up to place a hand on his shoulder and felt it stiffen beneath her touch.
    The cab stopped abruptly in front of the Tribeca Loft, and Joey and Penelope rode the elevator up to their room in silence. Once they were inside, Joey closed the bathroom door behind him and turned on the shower.
    Penelope picked up the phone on the bedside table and connected with room service, ordering breakfast for two and a pot of coffee. After she hung up, she laid down on the bed to rest her eyes.
    A loud knock on the door woke her and Penelope sat up on the bed, momentarily disoriented. She opened the door to a smiling room service waiter, his hands resting on a rolling cart topped with two silver cloches.
    â€œBreakfast, madam?” he said, smiling brightly.
    Penelope rubbed her eyes. “Yes, please come in.”
    He rolled the cart into the room and busied himself arranging the cloches on the table in front of the windows, setting out the coffee carafe and cups and placing the silverware down with a slight flourish. Penelope glanced at the bathroom and saw the door was open and the lights were off.
    â€œJoey?” Penelope asked, glancing around the room.
    The waiter finished setting the table and then looked at her expectantly, his hands tucked neatly behind his back.
    Penelope grabbed her handbag from the lounge chair and pulled a ten-dollar bill from it. “Here you go.”
    â€œThank you, madam. Enjoy,” he said, bowing quickly and leaving her alone in the room.
    Penelope looked around her and saw a stack of her clothes had been neatly folded in a pile on the opposite chair. And Joey’s overnight bag was gone.

Chapter 12

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    Penelope sat cross legged in one of the club chairs, slowly chewing a piece of bacon and staring out of the hotel window. She thought about the night before and how everything seemed to go from wonderful to so very wrong in such a short amount of time. She and Joey had taken a big step forward in their relationship during dinner at Luna, and then it felt like they took ten steps back in the cab this morning. This was their first fight, and it felt overwhelming when she thought about Max being in trouble too.
    Maybe the detective and Officer Gomez were right and she had misinterpreted the message from Max on her phone. But there was no mistaking the panic she heard in Max’s voice when she talked to him. She had no idea how to feel or what to do next. Penelope took a sip of lukewarm coffee from the dainty coffee cup and set it back down on its matching saucer, staring at the words Tribeca Loft etched in gold on the inner rim. She went to the bedside phone and called the front desk.
    â€œGood morning, how may I help you?” a young woman’s chipper voice answered.
    â€œHi, I was just wondering what time checkout is.”
    â€œOur standard checkout time is one o’clock. Will you be extending your stay past tomorrow?” Penelope could hear her tapping a keyboard over the