Peril for Your Thoughts (Mind Reader Mystery) (23 page)

“On
that note, I’m headed to bed. Big day tomorrow with the reopening of my shop.
You better be there.”

“I
wouldn’t miss it.”

“Don’t
stay up too late.” She saluted me, then took her wine and headed into her
bedroom.

“Hello,
Detective,” I said through the phone. “This really isn’t a good time.”

“Why?
Got a hot date?” he ground out. “It sure didn’t take you long.”

I
frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“After
all Jaz has been through, I can’t believe you’re getting involved in online
dating.”

“
Boomer
.” I scowled.

“Worse!
I had to hear about it from my mother. But hey, I have no say, right? You made
it perfectly clear earlier there is no us. I wish you both the best of luck,”
he grumbled and then hung up.

I
scoffed. He had some nerve. The next time I talked to him I was going to give
him a piece of my mind.

The
phone rang again, and I snatched it from its cradle without even looking. “You stubborn,
hotheaded mule! You have
got
to stop
jumping to conclusions and making false assumptions.”

“I
take it I can assume you have
not
finished your book of designs then, even though tomorrow is your deadline,”
Natasha Newlander said over the line with obvious displeasure.

I
gasped.
Fantastic
. My life wasn’t the
only thing that was a mess. My career was in jeopardy of ending before it even
had a chance to get started. “I am
so
sorry, Ms. Newlander. I thought you were someone else.”

“I
should hope so, Ms. Ballas, otherwise I would have no choice but to draw the
conclusion that you are highly unprofessional.”

“I
can assure you, Ms. Newlander, I am as professional as they come.”

“Wonderful.
Then I can count on your book being finished tomorrow, right on schedule. No
excuses.” She hung up.

Don’t stay up too late
, Jaz had said?
Ha! That was a joke. Looks like I wouldn’t be getting sleep any time soon
since the day from hell had just turned into a night in purgatory.

“You stealing,
conniving witch!” Anastasia Stewart screeched the next morning at Jaz’s grand
reopening of Full Disclosure. It was a bright sunny morning, and unusually warm
outside, and Jaz’s boutique had never looked better. Not to mention it was
packed with patrons from Clearwater and several towns beyond.

“What?”
Jaz feigned innocence, yet oozed confidence. “You don’t like my fabulous
finds?”

“Those
are not meant for spring.” Ana stabbed her finger in the direction of Jaz’s
front window display. “Now what am I supposed to do?”

“Not
my problem.” Jaz leaned forward and emphasized each word with a hard edge. “You
should have thought of that before you messed with me.”

“Those
are
my
finds for summer, and you know
it. Not to mention, it’s not even summer yet. What kind of businesswoman are
you?”

“I
don’t know any such thing, and take a look around, honey. I’d say I’m a great
businesswoman judging by this lovely crowd. Besides, didn’t you get the memo?
Spring is so yesterday.” Jaz turned to the growing number of people. “Step
right up, everyone, and get your steamy summer steals. The heat is on, folks.”

“You’re
right. The heat
is
on,” Ana spat out,
looking on the verge of hysteria. “And you’re going to burn in hell for what
you did.”

“After
you, darling.” Jaz bowed gracefully, looking calm, cool, and collected. “Fortunately
for me, I don’t burn. In fact, I like it hot.” She let her gaze run over Ana’s
fair skin. “Something tells me you’re the one who’s going to get burned.”

Ana
stomped her foot and let out a garbled yell, which drew several disapproving
stares. She took a deep breath and composed herself, smoothing back her hair, and
then turned and headed toward the door. Suddenly, she jerked to a stop before a
gloating Johnny Hogan.

“You
did this,” she said to him on the verge of tears.

“You
know what they say about payback,” he replied with relish.

“It’s
over between us forever now.”

“Babe,
you weren’t that good anyway,” he said, then saluted Mrs. Flannigan and walked
out the door with a jovial bounce to his step.

Ana
gasped, losing her composure once more as she shrieked, “You mean you were in
on this too?” She gaped at Lois in shock.

“What
can I say? I’m on a fixed income, and Ms. Alvarez had a better offer.” Lois
shrugged and then went on to looking through the sale racks, turning her back
on Ana.

I
watched Ana leave Full Disclosure, looking disheveled, dazed, and confused.
Then I turned to Jaz, who looked fabulous, sharp, and satisfied.

“What
just happened here?” I asked.

“A
little known thing called revenge.”

“But
how?”

“Remember
when you saw Johnny sneak into the back room of Ana’s shop and then emerge,
shoving something in his back pocket?”

“Yeah.”

“Well,
early on I figured out that Mrs. Flannigan was the mole.”

“Wait,
what?” Now it was my turn to gape at her. “Mousy little old Mrs. Flannigan?”

“Michael
Flannigan’s pub does okay, but not well enough to support his wife’s shopping
addiction. Lois has been a regular since I opened my place. She knew the ins
and the outs and was even privy to a lot of information I would never trust
anyone else with. I knew she wouldn’t jump ship without just cause. Meaning
someone had paid her enough to make it worth her while.”

“Talk
about no loyalty. I can’t believe she would do that to you.”

Jaz
shrugged. “I can. Fashion tends to make people a little crazy, if you haven’t
noticed by now. Anyway, I confronted her, and she crumbled. She’s really not a
bad person, she just can’t resist a good sale. I knew Ana would figure it out
if Lois tried to turn the tables on her, but I also knew Johnny was just as
angry with me as he was with Ana. Whereas Lois can be very charming when she
wants to.”

“What
did you do?”

“I
got Fickle Flannigan to get Johnny to sneak into Ana’s back room and discover
her fabulous finds for the summer. Then he leaked them to her, which she in
turn gave to me.”

“I
can’t believe he agreed to that.”

“Everyone
has a price, chica. His was revenge and enough money to get the hell out of
town.”

“He’s
moving?”

“He’s
loading his moving van later today.”

“Can’t
say I’m sorry to see him go,” I said. “Maybe you and Maria can finally move on
then.”

“That’s
wishful thinking, doll.”

“Stranger
things have happened.”

“Ain’t
that the truth?” Jaz snorted.

“There
you are,” a familiar female voice said from behind me.

I
swallowed hard and turned around with dread. “Natasha, how wonderful to see you
again,” I lied.

“Likewise.”
She shook my hand.
If I have to stay in
this godforsaken town one more day, I will lose my mind. I have a lot riding on
this book. It had better be good
. She let go of my hand, thank goodness,
because she was freaking me out. “Now that it’s been two weeks, time’s up. I am
excited to see your book of designs.”

My
stomach turned over. What if she didn’t like it? What if none of them did and
they changed their minds? I’d stayed up all night working on my book until
finally, blessedly, I’d finished. But now I was second-guessing myself. What if
it wasn’t any good? Lord knew I’d had enough distractions lately with trying to
solve a murder and dealing with Detective Dreamy. I hadn’t exactly been focused
on work to say the least.

“Ms.
Ballas, did you hear me? I asked where the book is.” She looked at her watch.

Based on her thoughts, I was sure
she’d already booked her ticket on the next train out of here.

“I’m sorry. My mind has been a bit
scattered lately.” I regretted the words immediately.

She frowned. “I hope that isn’t
reflected in your work. You only get one shot at this, Kalli. You can’t afford
to blow it.”

Gee,
no pressure
! I smiled, hiding my fears and putting on my game face. “No
worries, Natasha. I’m confident you’ll like what I’ve come up with.”

“It’s Ms. Newlander,” she said
matter-of-factly, implying she was allowed to be informal but I hadn’t earned
that right yet. “When can I see it?”

“How about an hour from now? I can’t
just leave Jaz hanging. I’ll meet you at my house.”

“Your house. One hour. No later.”
She gave me a pointed stare. “Some of us have other things to do than wait
around. Understood?”

“Perfectly.” I waited until Natasha
disappeared out of sight, and then decided I had to leave Full Disclosure and
head for home, even if it disappointed Jaz. I needed that precious hour to put
the finishing touches on my book. Yes, it was finished, but Lord only knew what
I’d drawn in my delirium last night.

Thirty minutes
later, I’d managed to sneak away from Jaz and head back to my house early. I
went to my bedroom and pulled out the book from my hiding spot in a secret
compartment beneath the floorboards of the old house. I’d grown up in a family
of nosy Greeks, and the only way to truly keep things private was to find a
hiding place. Some habits died hard. Even though I lived with Jaz, and I was
pretty sure my designs were safe, I still continued to hide them. I was
superstitious that way. Didn’t want anyone to see the finished product before
it was truly finished, for fear of jinxing it.

Sitting
down, I was a little afraid to look at what I’d done. Opening the cover, I
began to turn the pages with surprise and satisfaction. They were good. I could
feel it in my gut. Just a few more tweaks, and it would be ready. I pulled out
my pencil when I heard the unmistakable sounds of footsteps out in the living
room.

Not again
, I thought.

My
heart started pounding when I realized I’d forgotten to lock the front door. I
peeked my head out of my bedroom to see the huge and intimidating body
belonging to Baldy stepping inside my house and looking around. I gasped. I
couldn’t help myself. It was just enough noise to alert the intruder. His
intense gaze snapped to mine, and he started toward me, looking larger than
life and oh so scary.

I
slammed my bedroom door and leaned back against it, then realized I hadn’t seen
Prissy. I hoped she was okay. Maybe she had escaped outside.

“Ms.
Ballas, is that you?” he asked from outside my bedroom, sounding breathless
with excitement.

That
couldn’t be good, I thought. Clearing my throat, I tried to utter with bravery,
“Maybe, maybe not. Who wants to know?”

“You’re
a hard woman to track down,” he said with a voice way too deep to be safe.

“Who
says I want to be found?”

“Trust
me when I say I am very good at what I do. If you’ll just open up, I’ll—”

“Do
nothing,” said a rich smooth voice I’d know anywhere, followed by a whack and
then a thud. “No means no, pal. Or didn’t you get the memo? The lady already
has a date.”

“Detective
Stevens?” I asked through the door, afraid to hope.

“It’s
Nik, the idiot who always speaks before he thinks. I’m sorry for earlier, and
I’m here to answer your ad if you’ll have me.”

I
whipped open the door and threw myself into his big, strong arms. He smelled
amazing. I focused on that. It felt so good to go with my instincts instead of
thinking things through first, and I barely even squirmed this time.

Progress
, I smiled.

“Can
I take that as a yes?” he asked, his mouth pressed against my neck and his arms
holding me just as tight.
Please say yes.
I don’t think I can take another rejection
.

I
kissed him in response, surprising him, but when he started to respond, I
pulled away. “Hold that thought,” I said, repeating his words breathlessly with
a smile. “You have a murderer to arrest.” I stepped back.

He
blinked. “I do?”

I
pointed to Baldy. “Contrary to popular belief, he’s not my online date. Did you
honestly think I would risk the germs of meeting a man through one of those
websites?”

His
mouth twisted into a lopsided grin. “I thought it seemed far-fetched, but the
mamas were so positive.”

I
threw my hands up. “The mamas are crazy. We both know that.”

“True.
So who is this guy, then, anyway?”

“I’m
not sure, but I’m thinking he was an enemy of either Scott or Bobby. He killed
Scott and then tried to kill me because I was getting too close to the truth.
He said he was good at what he did. You just beat him at his own game before he
had a chance to do anything bad to me. I told you Maria was innocent. I think
we’ve finally caught the real killer.”

“I’ve
gotta hand it to you. I think you might be right.” Detective Stevens went to
work dragging Baldy out into the living room and handcuffing the man’s hands
behind his back. He was a big guy. It was only a matter of time before he woke
up with a whopper of a headache and royally pissed off after being knocked
unconscious.

He
began to stir when the doorbell rang, so the detective tended to him.

I
opened it and smiled wide, no longer nervous. “Natasha, it really is good to
see you this time.”

She
eyed me warily. “I’m glad, I guess.” Her gaze landed on Baldy, and her eyes
went wide. “What in the—”

“Don’t
worry about him. The detective’s here, so we’re safe. Let me just grab my book,
and you can be on your way.”

She
looked shaken and took a step back, but she shook off her nerves at my words.
“Okay, but hurry or I’ll miss my train.”

I
jogged to my bedroom and returned quickly with my book of designs. I handed her
the book, and she flipped through the pages. Her face transformed into one of pure
pleasure. “Well done, Ms. Ballas. These designs are fabulous. My employer will
be so pleased.”

“I’m
so glad you think Mr. Erickson will like them.”

“Natasha?”
a deep voice croaked hoarsely.

I
blinked and looked to the side. Baldy knew Natasha? He was staring at her like
he’d seen a ghost. “Wait,” I said. “You know her?”

“I
used to work with her at Interludes.”

“Let
me guess,” Nik said to him in disgust. “You’re a bitter ex-employee out to seek
revenge?”

“More
like the other way around,” the big man said, making eye contact with me. “My
name is Marcus Cantrell, and the reason I’ve been trying to find you is because
I’m your new PR person. Natasha Newlander was fired two weeks ago.”