Read Online Murder on a Silver Platter (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery Book 1) by Shawn Reilly Simmons - Free Book Online

like an action heroine or a video game character. She looked beautiful and confident in each picture.
    “Holly was an aspiring actress,” Joey said. “She was trying to break into the industry, going on auditions and sending these out.”
    “Wow. She was pretty,” Penelope said, feeling the familiar sadness pressing on her chest. “What was she doing on our street that night?”
    “That’s what I came to ask you. We found your address on a piece of paper in her pocket. She must have been on her way to see you.”
    “Me? Why?”
    “Maybe not you. Maybe she was trying to get Arlena’s attention, hoping to meet her to further her career ambitions.”
    “But knocking on our door in the middle of the night during a blizzard?”
    “I agree the timing doesn’t make sense. Where is Arlena? I didn’t see her sitting with the rest of the diners.”
    “Oh, she usually does. She likes to eat with everyone. But she and Sam asked to take lunch in her trailer so they could run some lines before their scene this afternoon.”
    “Run lines. Is that what the kids are calling it these days? They looked pretty cozy yesterday at the hospital.”
    Penelope blushed and picked up her phone to text Arlena, giving her a warning they were heading her way. “That’s what she said they were doing. I guess we’ll have to go see for ourselves.”
    “I guess we will,” Joey said, suppressing a smile.
    Penelope thought about what it would be like to run some lines of her own with Joey. Then her pink cheeks turned a deep red and she quickly hopped up from the table. “Let’s go,” she said, busying herself with clearing their lunch trays.

Chapter 9

      
    They heard the yelling from Arlena’s trailer before they got there.
    “You bastard! You know how much this means to me,” Arlena shouted.
    “But you don’t know what you want…or what being with you means to me,” Sam yelled back.
    Joey stopped abruptly and glanced at Penelope, a look of warning on his face. He stepped in front of her, putting his hand on her forearm to stop her. Her skin tingled under his touch. She nudged him with her shoulder and giggled.
    “What’s funny? Sounds like a domestic happening in there,” Joey said. “Those two having problems with each other?”
    “They’re running lines. They’re a troubled married couple in this movie, remember?”
    The yelling stopped and they climbed the little metal staircase to the trailer door. Joey glanced at Penelope and knocked on the door. “Hello? Miss Madison? It’s Detective Baglioni. I’m with Penelope.”
    They heard faint male and female mumbling and then a rustling from behind the door.
    “Just a minute…”
    Penelope looked away, avoiding eye contact with Joey. A few seconds later the door flew open and Arlena stood there, smiling, flushed and beautiful in a tank top and yoga pants, her feet bare.
    “Come in,” she said in the sexy version of her voice.
    “Thank you. Sorry to intrude,” Joey said, glancing around the trailer. “I know you’re working but we have some new information about the murdered girl. Hello again, Mr. Cavanaugh,” Joey said, nodding to Sam. He was sitting in the middle of Arlena’s white leather couch, his arms stretched open behind him, spanning the entire back of it.
    “Detective,” he said. Sam was shirtless and wore tight jeans that rode low on his hips, leaving little to the imagination. He had what they called six-pack abs, but they looked more like a ten or twelve pack. The man didn’t have an ounce of fat on him. Anywhere. And he looked tan, but not too tan, in the middle of New Jersey winter. His blond hair was spiked, like he’d just rolled out of bed, though it probably took a while to make it look like that. Kelley must’ve taken her time to get the artfully tossed, bed-head look for him.
    “I’ll get going so you guys can talk,” Sam said.
    “No, please stay. Anything the police have to say to me they can say in front of you,” Arlena