Read Online Steamed to Death by Peg Cochran - Free Book Online

bar the sauna door.” She looked at Alice and Sienna and shivered.
    “That’s terrible,” Alice said, plunking down into the chaise and swinging her legs up. “Who would do such a thing?”
    Gigi glanced at Alice and frowned. “Maybe we ought to get—” She cut off abruptly when a noise made the three of them swivel toward the door.
    “Someone’s coming!”

Chapter 6
    Alice let out a tiny shriek and jumped up from the chaise. “Oh no, we’re busted.”
    The sound of footsteps echoed on the wooden back stairs.
    “Quick”—Gigi made a sweeping gesture with her arm—“let’s hide in the bathroom. At least we won’t be visible from the open bedroom door.”
    Together they beat a retreat toward the bathroom. Sienna promptly sat down on the wooden bench inside the sauna.
    “I don’t know how you can go in there.” Alice shivered.
    “I have no choice.” Sienna stuck her legs out in front of her. “My feet are killing me.”
    She was wearing a tunic-length sweater and black leggings, and the front of her top was stretched as far as it could go.
    “Another ten days.” She sighed. “Although I’ve been having contractions on and off, so perhaps it will be early.”
    “Sssh.” Gigi peeked around the edge of the door.
    “Is someone coming?” Alice whispered, drawing back farther into the bathroom.
    “It’s Derek,” Gigi said. She pulled her head back in suddenly and flattened herself against the wall behind the door.
    “What’s he doing?” Alice whispered.
    Gigi shrugged.
    They could hear him moving about in Felicity’s room, opening and closing closet doors and drawers.
    Very cautiously, Gigi peeked around the edge of the door.
    Derek had his back to her. Felicity’s jewelry box was sprawled open on her dresser, and Derek was sifting through the contents one by one, his dark head bent over the task. Gigi watched as he held up two gold chains, palmed them, then stuffed them into the pocket of his jeans.
    Gigi had to put her hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp of outrage. She knew that Derek sometimes raided Felicity’s purse for a few dollars in cash, but this was much worse—stealing from the dead.
    “What’s going on?” Alice hissed when she saw the look on Gigi’s face.
    Gigi shook her head and peeked around the door again. Derek had replaced the other items in the jewelry box and was putting it back inside Felicity’s lingerie drawer. Finally, he eased the drawer closed and sauntered out of the room, whistling softly under his breath.
    Gigi felt steam gathering in her head and let out a huge breath. “Well!”
    “Well, what?” Alice asked eagerly.
    Sienna stopped rotating her ankles and looked at Gigi expectantly.
    “That was Derek!” Gigi’s fists clenched involuntarily. “He stole some pieces from Felicity’s jewelry box.”
    Alice blew out a big breath, and her bangs flopped up and down. “Of all the nerve!”
    “Felicity regularly complained about his taking money from her wallet.” Sienna eased her way off the sauna bench with a hand to her back. “But I got the impression that she didn’t really mind. She rather overindulged him in my opinion.”
    Alice nodded. “Trying to make up to him for not being his real mother.”
    “What happened to his mother?” Gigi had opened the mirrored medicine cabinet and was staring in awe at the contents. It looked like the cosmetics counter at Macy’s.
    “According to Felicity, she was an incredibly selfish, high-powered surgeon who ran off to join Doctors Without Borders and serve the underprivileged in darkest Africa.” Sienna’s mouth curved into a smile. “Instead of staying in New York and making millions of dollars performing plastic surgery on the rich and famous.”
    “In a way, it was a bit selfish of her not to think of her son,” Alice put in.
    “True.” Sienna stretched her arms over her head and yawned. “But I gather Felicity has been trying to make it up to him ever since.” She glanced toward the