Diamonds & Disguises

by Laina Turner

  “It was no joke. Solange, the former owner of Silk, hated this woman. Her former best friend. Eva, I think her name is.”

  “Should we go check them out if they’re a threat?”

  “Absolutely.”

  We crossed the street to the store which unfortunately was closed, so instead we peered in the windows.

  “They’ve got nice stuff. Though ours is better,” Molly said.

  “Agreed.” I saw the door to the back start to open and went to grab Molly’s arm to pull her away so we didn’t get caught peeping. But then the person came through the door and I was rooted to the spot, jaw dropping. “What the hell?”

  Molly looked at me. “What’s wrong?”

  “That’s the guy who mugged me.” I banged on the window to get his attention and he looked up, realized it was me, and got a shocked look on his face that I’m sure matched mine.

  I walked to the door and banged again. “Open up or I’ll call the police,” I said loudly, causing a couple walking past to look at me strangely.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea, Pres?”

  I was mad and not thinking if this was a good idea. I banged again and repeated my ultimatum, holding up my phone and hitting the numbers nine one one. Of course I wasn’t going to call the emergency line for this but he didn’t know that and I hoped he didn’t call my bluff.

  He seemed frozen to the spot, but just when I started to think he was calling my bluff he walked over and unlocked the door.

  I started to walk in a Molly grabbed me.

  “What are you doing? This could be dangerous.”

  “It’s fine. Look at him.”

  He looked absolutely terrified, which was why I felt comfortable confronting him. I didn’t feel in any danger.

  “See if I ever take a trip with you again,” she muttered, but followed me in.

  For a few moments we all just stared at each other and he was white as a sheet.

  Finally, he spoke, “I can explain.”

  “Oh? You have a logical explanation to why you mugged me and then showed up in my parking garage and tried to scare me?”

  “Well, uh…” He swallowed and fell silent again.

  “You have one minute to explain to me why I shouldn’t call the police right now to arrest you,” I said firmly.

  “I-I just wanted to scare you. I only used your credit card once to make it look like a real mugging.”

  “But why? Who put you up to this?”

  “Ava...”

  Ah. Her name wasn’t Eva, it was Ava. I was close.

  “I don’t understand. Why would you want to scare me?”

  “Leigh promised her the business for the zoo gala and then, at the last minute, gave it to you.”

  Wouldn’t it make more sense for Ava to be mad at Leigh, not me? It wasn’t my fault Leigh changed her mind. Though, why did she change her mind?

  “Why would you commit a crime for your employer?” I asked.

  “She’s my mother.”

  Molly and I looked at each other and I knew we were both shocked at this.

  “Are you the one who canceled the mask order?” Molly asked.

  He nodded. “I didn’t want to invade your privacy but Ava, Mother, insisted I look at your email for anything that could ruin you. The confirmation for the order was at the top. I swear I didn’t go through any of your other personal information.

  Funny. I felt he was telling the truth.

  “Can I have my laptop and wallet back?”

  He looked scared at this. I almost felt sorry for him. His mother sounded like a piece of work.

  “Don’t make this worse for yourself. Give me back my stuff.”

  He sighed. “OK.” He turned to go to the back of the store. Molly and I started to follow him.

  “What are you doing? Only employees are allowed back here.”

  I gave him a look that said are you kidding me? “Listen, pal. I want my stuff and I’m not letting you out of my sight to sneak out the back door or something.”

  “There isn’t a back door.”

  I rolled my eyes. This guy didn’t have it all together. I didn’t say anything else. Just followed him to the back where my bag was sitting.

  “Here,” he said, handing it to me.

  I looked through it and it seemed to all be there. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said stiffly.

  Molly and I walked back out of the store before she said, “Are you really going to let him get away with this?”

  “Of course not. But I wanted my stuff. I’ll call the police when I get home and let them know where they can find him. And his mother.”

  “I might need another gelato after this,” Molly said.

  Chapter 29

  “Presley? It’s Stacey. Stacey Milford.”

  “Hi,” I said slowly, wondering why she was calling.

  “I think I found what you were looking for.”

  “Really?” I immediately perked up.

  “Can you meet me?”

  “Of course. Where?”

  She rattled off a wine bar I knew well that wasn’t far from here and we agreed to meet at four. I looked at the clock and it was only one. I needed to get ready for the gala, but I’d still have plenty of time. I could only hope it was information that might point out who resented Susan most.

  It was four thirty and I was on my second glass of wine and still no Stacey. I’d called twice and it went straight to voicemail both times. I’d texted several times to no response. As five drew near and I was about to give up because I didn’t want to be late for the gala, a woman came up to me.

  “Are you Presley Thurman?” she asked. She looked to be in her mid-twenties and had on a Michael Kors sheath dress in pink. She looked harmless so even though I had no idea why some strange women would know my name I didn’t think I needed to hide.

  “Yes. Do I know you?”

  “I’m a friend of Stacey’s. She wanted me to give this to you.” She handed me a thin eight by ten manila envelope.

  “What is this? Where is Stacey?”

  “She had to go out of town, and I have no idea what this is. She just made me promise to find you here and hand it to you. Have a good day.” She turned on her heel and walked out. I sat there speechless, wondering what this was all about. Where was Stacey?

  I slowly opened the envelope, saw a slim leather journal in there and pulled it out. On the cover of the journal was a yellow post-it.

  I found this, and I think it’s all you need to identify my mother’s killer. I need to get away. Thank you for caring.

  Her note made me worry about her. She was so young to go through something like this. I could understand her needing to get away. I could only hope she was safe.

  I opened the journal and starting reading. It read like an actual journal, only instead of writing down things you were grateful for or affirmations she documented her affairs and how much money she felt she could get from the wives of the men she had affairs with to keep it quiet. It looked as if her sole purpose of sleeping with these men was extortion. Bess, Kitty, Theresa, Leigh, and several other women’s husbands on the gala committee were in there. She actually targeted the couples with the most to lose and she chronicled in great detail their deep secrets they would pay to keep hidden. How had Susan even become privy to these secrets? Then I saw one name I didn’t expect. The women in the wife column was not his wife and all of a sudden a few things made sense. I think I knew who the killer was.

  Chapter 30

  I walked into the Alexander Ballroom where the zoo gala was being held and I was blown away by the beautiful decorations and all these people with their over the top masks. It was surreal. It looked like something out of a movie. I was thrilled it had turned out this way.

  I looked at my phone for the millionth time, but Willie still hadn’t texted me back. I’d tried contacting him several times since reading the journal, telling him to call me.

  I went over t
o the bar and got a glass of wine to calm my nerves and looked around to see if Andrea was here. Everyone had masks on, so it was almost impossible to tell who was who. If the situation had been different being unrecognizable would have been fun.

  I scanned the room looking for characteristics that might help me when I saw two women arguing across the room. One of them was Leigh. She had the same body language as she’d had at the fundraiser for Michael Panning. But who was she arguing with? I started to walk in that direction when I saw Leigh reach into her purse and pull something out. I couldn’t see what it was. The stupid mask I wore made it a little hard to see, but whatever it was persuaded the other woman to start walking to a doorway. She opened the door and stepped through and Leigh followed her looking over her shoulder quickly, I’m sure to see if anyone saw them. She didn’t seem to notice me, and I stood still until she turned back around. I had a bad feeling about this, and I ran to the door. Well as much as one can run in heels and a tight dress.

  I went through the doorway and Leigh and the other woman were standing a few feet away with their masks off, arguing. I slipped mine off and approached them. They finally noticed me.

  “What are you doing here?” Leigh snarled.

  “I was about to ask you the same question.”

  “This is a private matter between me and Rachel.”

  So, this was Rachel. “Mrs. Panning, are you OK?”

  “Don’t you call her Mrs. Panning. She doesn’t deserve it.”

  I looked down and finally saw what Leigh was holding. It was a syringe.

  “Leigh, this isn’t a good idea. If you kill Rachel the same way you killed Susan the police will know it’s you.”

  “Don’t talk to me about good ideas. Susan wanted to ruin my life. She deserved to die. And once I get Rachel out of the way nothing will stand between me and Michael. He loves me, and we want to be together.”

  “Leigh,” I said again calmly. “This isn’t the way to handle it.”

  “Yes, it is!” she screamed and raised the syringe up, starting to bring it down on Rachel’s arm. I pushed Rachel out of the way and knocked the syringe out of Leigh’s hand. She scrambled to get it, but I pushed her hard and she fell to the ground. I grabbed it off the floor and smashed the needle in the wall.

  Leigh got up and tried to take the broken syringe out of my hands.

  “You must give me the syringe, or you’ll be responsible for ruining my life!” she screamed.

  Didn’t she realize she was doing a good job of that all on her own?

  The door burst open and Willie ran through with two police officers and several partygoers on his heels, including Michael Panning who ran to his wife. He tried to take her in his arms, and she pushed him away as the police subdued Leigh and Willie came over to me.

  “Are you OK?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. A little shaken, but fine. How did you know we were back here?”

  “When I got your message, I knew you would be here so came straight over. By the time I walked in people could hear Leigh screaming in the hallway. So, Leigh tried to kill Rachel but why? Just to get her husband. Then why kill Susan?”

  “It’s in her journal. Apparently, Michael also had an affair with Susan and told her about Leigh. Susan blackmailed Leigh and Leigh was furious Susan had slept with Michael. Susan wrote that Leigh had threatened her, but she didn’t take it seriously. Guess she should have.”

  “Yeah.”

  “But where did Leigh get the insulin?”

  “I’m sure we’ll find out.”

  “Looks like Michael is going to have to do a lot of making up,” I said and we both looked over to where he pleaded with Rachel about something. If she had any sense she’d kick him to the curb.

  The police walked a still screaming Leigh out through the venue and into a waiting cop car. Willie and I followed through the room and Bess came up to me. “Pretty exciting event. Coffee next week?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so.” And kept walking.

  “Are you ready to leave?” Willie asked.

  “Well, I don’t there’s much of a party to enjoy.”

  “Want to grab dinner then? Unless you have plans with Cooper.”

  “No.” I frowned. I hadn’t heard from Cooper since yesterday, which was unlike him. I assumed he’d got caught up with work, but I was starting to get worried.

  “Dinner sounds good. Let me just call Cooper.” I dialed his number half expecting to get voicemail but after a few rings, someone answered. But it wasn’t Cooper. “Jason? Why do you have Cooper’s phone?” Jason was Cooper’s assistant and Cooper trusted him implicitly, but he’d never answered Cooper’s phone before. My heart started pounding.

  “Pres, something is wrong. Cooper has missed three meetings today. I haven’t talked to him since last night and I just found his phone on the floor in his office.”

  The color drained from my face and I felt faint. “I’ll be right there.”

  “What’s wrong?” Willie said, looking at my terrified face.

  “Cooper’s missing.”

  * * *

  The End

  Download the first in the Read Wine Bookstore Cozy series: Friends & Foes.

  Download the first in the Spencer University Cozy series: Death by Suspenders.

  Thanks for Reading

  If you loved this book, I know you’ll enjoy the rest of my novels. Scroll through the titles below, or check out my website at Laina Turner. If you like fun, flirty, and sometimes mysterious books then take a minute to sign up for my mailing list and you will receive a FREE book!

  About the Author

  A little about me…

  * * *

  As a child, I thought I would either be a truck driver (thanks to Jerry Reed in Smokey and the Bandit) or work at Taco Bell (my favorite restaurant as a child). As I grew older, I realized my talents lay in academics and business and for the last several years have been a business consultant and college professor where I use the analytical side of my brain and not the side that makes up stories.

  Through all my career choices I continued to have a passion for writing. This stemmed from childhood where as an only child I developed a vivid imagination spending most of my time making things up and thinking the Incredible Hulk lived in my closet.

  Proud of my vast experiences in life from barrel racing to being on the dance team for a semi-pro basketball team to being a mom of 2 amazing kids, I tell my family and friends that no one is safe from their escapades slipping into my books.

  Taking the plunge to write books (cozy mysteries and chick lit) that I actually let people read in 2010, I have worked my way up to being a real author, having 5 fans (maybe 6 now).

  * * *

  You can also find me at:

  Also by Laina Turner Website

  The Presley Thurman Mysteries

  Promotions & Poisons

  Stilettos & Scoundrels

  Necklaces & Nooses

  Handbags & Hooligans

  Mistletoe & Murder

  Gems & Gunshots

  Tiaras & Texans

  Cupids & Crooks

  Vows & Victims

  Romance & Revenge

  Accessories & Alibis

  Bats & Bling

  Weddings & Weapons

  Diamonds & Disguises

  * * *

  Presley Thurman Boxed Set 1

  Presley Thurman Boxed Set 2

  * * *

  The Read Wine Bookstore Cozy Mysteries

  Booked for Murder

  Snowglobes and Secrets

  Cupcakes and Killers

  Wine and Revenge

  * * *

  The Spencer University Cozy Mysteries

  Death by Suspenders

  Textbook Murder

  Killer Classes

  * * *

  Sterling Towne Cozy Mystery

  Switched Up

  * * *

  A Moonshine Bay Clean Romance

  Finding Rachel FREE