Bad Boy Mystery Boxed Set (6 in 1): Dark and Crazy Mystery and Billionaire Stories (BBW Cozy Mystery Bad Boy Billionaire Romantic Suspense Series)

by Oscar Watson

  The phone rang again. She flipped it off. She walked into the bathroom on trembling legs. Her hair was still mostly wild and swirling so she fluffed it a bit, sprayed a bit more hairspray on it and called it done. She washed off the smudged and smeared mascara and then with more than a hint of defiance she brushed on several new coats. She flicked the deep red lipstick over her lips and grabbed her purse and out the door she went.

  Kate was nearly to the office when she spotted the most gorgeous red dress in the window of the boutique downtown. She had never once ventured in there because she was afraid that the sales girls would treat her poorly and she would leave empty handed and feeling bad. Squaring her shoulders she breezed in and asked about the dress in the window. When the sales girl started to mention the price she sighed and said “My dear girl, I did not ask for the price, now did I?”

  Twenty minutes later she left with the dress plus a new pair of killer boots that she insisted on wearing out. Finally she made it to the office. Doug was livid, marching up and down in his cubicle/office like a man gone crazy. She could see him before she opened the door and smiled a little. She could not wait to tell that miserable little pissant of a man where to stick his crappy job.

  Heads turned as soon as the door opened and Kate Plain breezed in on a plume of sultry perfume, confidence and just the slightest hint of alcohol. She strolled to her desk on boots that were obviously out of character for her and picked up the one and only personal effect she had there, that awful, plain brown coffee mug that she drank her weak coffee from every morning. She was still holding it when Doug stormed over to her and demanded to know what in the world she was thinking.

  Actually what he said was “What is the meaning of this, Missy?” and that is what caused everything that had been Kate Plain to wither and die and the new and improved Kate or Sadie to be more exact took over once and for all.

  “Name’s not Missy, Dougie. But, then you know that, don’t you. You are just playing some power trippin’ game right now. That make you feel manly, Dougie? Shouting at women in your poorly tailored, knock off suit and stomping around in your cubicle that you keep insisting on calling an office? If we can see over your walls, Doug it’s a cubicle!”

  No one had ever heard Kate Plain say more than a few words without threatening to throw up let alone shout. And of course, no one had ever dared to speak to Doug this way, ever. It was delicious and it was exciting. All eyes were on her and she knew it. Funny, at this same time yesterday knowing that everyone was looking at her would have caused Kate to run and hide or vomit and faint. Now she was relishing the attention.

  Doug stammered and tried to regain control of the situation but it was way beyond too far gone for that. He had zero hope as Kate geared up for even more. “I just signed a contract, Dougie. A contract that is more than I make in 2 years here so I don’t think I need any of your nonsense today. I’m feeling a little under the weather and I am going home.”

  “A little hungover is more like it.” He smirked.

  “Oh yes. That is it! I am hungover! Oooh, what a crime! An adult woman went out and had some wine and then had some champagne to toast a business deal. Why don’t we lock me right on up!”

  “I think that maybe you should go home then. Perhaps tomorrow you will be back to your old self.”

  “Old self?” The fire blazing in Kate’s eyes made Doug take a giant step backwards. “I can assure you that I will never be my old self ever again. I can also assure you that I will not be back here tomorrow or the next day or the day after that. Your job, Doug? You can cram it.” With that she tossed the brown mug into the trash can where it shattered, the sound echoing in the shocked hush of the room.

  That silence hung over the room even after the sound of the killer boots faded away once and for all.

  Chapter Eight: An Unexpected Family Reunion

  Kate stopped for a very strong coffee and was met with many appreciative glances. She paid little attention to that. She sped to her apartment where she planned to slip out of the killer but killing her boots and into a hot tub where she would consider what had just happened in her otherwise boring and humdrum life. She swung open the door to her apartment and found clothing strewn everywhere. For a moment she thought she had been robbed but then she smelled Estee Lauder perfume and heard the unmistakable sounds of someone trying in vain to hit a note that was well beyond their reach. Elyse. This was going to cause a problem.

  “Katie!” Elyse said as she rounded the corner. “I know, I know. I am a slob and I promise I will pick everything up, I know what a neat freak you are. Wow, nice boots. Anyway I got your message and I would have called but I figured it would be easier if I just stopped by. So what’s going on?” she said in one long breath. She was typically Elyse, wearing tight black jeans and a top that barely grazed the waistband. Her hair was a wild cloud, swirling around her head and she looked like a cross between an angel and a super model. Kate usually had minor feelings of petty jealousy but for some reason her sister’s sudden appearance filled her with rage.

  “Elsye.” Her voice was calm, almost too calm. “I really did not expect to see you here. At all.”

  “Silly goose, Katie.” Elyse chirruped along as if her sister was not glaring at her. “You called about a zillion times, and so did Susie. You texted. You said you needed me and here I am.” Elyse finally looked serious for a moment. “What is going on?”

  “Susan.” Kate hissed.

  “What?” Elyse looked genuinely puzzled but for just for a split second. She had looked around the room and had focused on the cover of a magazine prominently featuring a dashing photo of Colton Pidcock. “Would you look at his hunk of man right here? What I could do to this guy…”

  “Stop it.” Katie was seething with rage now. “Just stop it. You are driving me crazy. You wrecked my apartment and now you are going to wreck everything. You have to go now.”

  “What?” Elsye squeaked. “What are you saying, Katie?”

  “My name is Kate. I am an adult. Adults do not go by Katie. And her name is not Susie. It’s Susan. We don’t call you Ellie anymore, do we?”

  Elyse started to answer but Kate was having none of it. She started toward her sister, years of misplaced jealousy, anger and other emotions suddenly bubbling up. Elyse raised her hands and that is when Kate could see that she was wearing a red lace bra. Her red lace bra! The very bra that she had saved in a drawer, unworn, uncreased, untainted for all of these years waiting for the perfect moment. She had planned to wear that bra on Friday night but here was selfish Elyse, the one who always got everything, no matter what it was and that was the last straw.

  The phone was ringing and ringing and ringing. Kate knew it was Susan and that if she did not answer her and quickly that she would hop in her car and drive right on over. That would not work for her at this moment so she pulled herself together as best she could and breathlessly answering the phone. She spoke briefly and rather tersely to her long time best friend and then turned the phone off. She had a long night of cleaning ahead of her and she wanted to get started right away.

  Chapter Nine: What the “Doorman” Notices

  Susan stewed for a little while and then let it go. She slept fitfully, convinced that there was something that was just not right going on with her friend. She had tried to play it off as too much to drink the night before and the excitement of getting an actual writing contract but that did nothing to ease her worried mind. She woke just before sunrise and sat at her table, sipping coffee and staring out of the window. By ten a.m. she was convinced that she needed to confront Kate in person so she showered and pulled on comfortable clothes before driving the few miles to her friend’s house. She greeted Dan the homeless fellow who called himself the Doorman as she usually did.

  “Miss Katie’s fancy sister came to visit but then she left real fast. Never have seen Miss Katie come back down though. You worried about her, Miss Susan? I am.” Dan was always polite and kind and he did genuinely take
an interest in the comings and goings of this building. He was this way with every resident but he seemed to be especially fond of Kate.

  “I’m sure that everything is okay, Dan. What time did Elyse come by? Do you know?”

  He shrugged his thin shoulders and smiled. “Well you know me. I always know. Even if I’m not here, I still know. You know?” He winked and forced a smile but anyone could see that his heart just was not in it. “She was here about 2 pm. Miss Kate wasn’t home but you know the fancy one has her own key after that last time. But, Miss Kate came home way faster than I would have expected. And you know, that Mr. Gallagher in 12? He said that he heard shouting coming from there. He said Miss Kate was mad! Can you imagine that?”

  “Nope.” Susan was getting a very weird vibe all of a sudden now. “I’m going up, Dan. You are a good guy to keep an eye on everyone.”

  He shrugged again and then turned to greet the lady who was coming up the walk with an armload of groceries. Susan hurried down the hall to her best friend’s apartment still working over that nagging feeling in her stomach.

  She tapped at the door for the first time since they had met each other. This is silly, she told herself as she tried the knob. Maybe she had gone to work, she thought. She tapped a little louder and then fished her key out of her pocket. The door swung open and the smell of bleach nearly knocked her down. Everything was immaculately in place which was not unusual but Susan could not shake the feeling that there was something wrong here. She was glancing at the table when several things struck her. First, she noticed the little gash in the side of the table that looked fairly recent. Second, the little glass swan that usually held peppermint candies was gone. But the most shocking thing was the fact that there were no pictures of Elyse anywhere to be seen. Susan looked on the bookcase and the little table that sat along the far wall but all of the pictures of Miss Elyse Plain were gone.

  Filled with a sudden dread, she swallowed around a lump in her throat and called out. “Kate? You here?”

  “well of course I am.” Kate came out of the bedroom, in a walk that was far more confident and sexier than Susan had ever seen. She was wearing skin tight, black jeans and a top that barely grazed the waistband. Her hair was down and hanging around her face.

  “That’s a bit more makeup than you usually wear for work, girl.” Susan finally made herself say.

  Kate laughed, a sharp sound with absolutely no joy in it. “Work. I work from home now. My writing is my only job and it will pay me very well. Colton will see to that.”

  Susan’s brow crept up her forehead. “Colton?”

  Kate waved her off. “Colton Pidcock. We have a date on Friday. I guess we have more than books in common.”

  Susan smiled, a sad, sad smile. “Um, Kate… he met you dressed as a character. Is that what you are going to do on Friday? Are you going to go in a costume? Dressed as a character? Kate, how long do you think you could keep this up?

  Kate whirled around. “I am that character. I created everything about that woman. It’s not like I was completely fraudulent here. I was just a little more relaxed than I usually am.”

  “Kate! You dressed like Elyse and had to practice talking like this Sadie person for hours before you left that night! You, the real you is a painfully shy, creative and wonderful person who tries to blend in to the woodwork at parties. This person, whatever you are dressed like right now, is not even you. I don’t know what is going on with you but Kate. Come on! And now you are going to go out with this guy? Like on a date? What are you thinking?”

  Kate calmly went and opened the door. “I want you out. I don’t have time in my life for this type of negative energy. I have a book to write. I have a life to live. You are just jealous because a handsome man is interested in me and you can’t get any attention. It’s sad.”

  “Well alright. I’ll go. But listen here Kate or Sadie or whoever you think you are right now, one day you will need me and I will be there waiting to help you out. Just be careful.”

  “I’m not the one that people should worry about, not anymore.” And with that, Kate closed the door leaving her bewildered friend standing in the hallway.

  Chapter Ten: Colton Pidcock is a Mystery Best Left Unsolved

  Her life was completely changing and Kate could not be more pleased by this. She spent hours cleaning out her closet removing anything and everything that did not fit in with her new direction. She deleted every contact that had ever made her feel like a shadow person. She ignored phone calls from Susan who finally gave up trying altogether. She ignored phone calls from her mother and from her sister’s current roommate. She was far too busy to deal with any of them.

  Kate went to the salon and had her hair dyed a slightly brighter shade of red. She brought a long hank of hair with her, tied with a pretty bow to show the girl exactly what she wanted. They admired it and remarked about its quality. It could almost be real hair one of them had said. Yes, Kate had smiled. It could be.

  The last thing she did was buy a new lace bra and panty set- this time in a gorgeous green color. She could barely stop herself from touching the lace over and over. Once it was put in the bag she sighed and said “it will only be mine to wear” to no one in particular. She left it there, safe and sound until Friday night when she was dressing for her date.

  Her nails were freshly manicured. Her hair was an artful mess. She batted her eyes, not only to look coy but to keep the artificial ones from sticking together in dreadful clumps. She was starting to feel more and more like Sadie St. Clair and less and less like Kate Plain. She whisked down the hallway of her building and out the door leaving a cloud of perfume behind her. Dan, ever on duty coughed a little and then said “Going out Miss Elyse?”

  Kate whirled at him. “Dan, is it?”

  “Yes, m. I wonder if you have seen Kate around?”

  “Why no. Not at all. I think she has gone on a business retreat.” Kate laughed, a wicked sound and then hailed her cab and rode off, still laughing that Dan thought she was Elyse. That was certainly something.

  The cab pulled up in front of the swanky hotel that Colton Pidcock stayed in whenever he was in town. Kate paid the driver, lavishly tipping him. She strode up to the front desk and asked where she could find Colton Pidcock. Before the young lady could answer her a voice behind her said. “Right here.”

  Kate turned and gasped. He was better looking every time that she saw him. He was wearing a sweaty gray Tshirt and gray shorts. His hair was slicked back and his face was flushed. “You have to forgive me. I forgot all about our meeting tonight and hit the gym. A friend of mine and I were playing some racquetball. You play?”

  Kate was stuck on the whole “forgot” and “meeting” thing and only managed a shake of the head and a squeaky “no, I never tried”. She saw a spunky little blonde, bouncing along down the hallway then, wearing similar clothes as Colton and sweaty as well. His friend, no doubt. She felt her fists clench just a little bit.

  Kate was just about to suggest that they “meet” at another time when he laughed and patted her shoulder. “Let me just hop in the shower and put on some clean clothes. We could have drinks in the hotel bar and figure out where we should go from there, okay?”

  He didn’t give her any time to answer him before he was heading toward the elevators, directing the young lady at the front desk to take Kate to the bar and make sure she was comfortable.

  She slammed a whiskey, the alcohol burning the back of her throat. She ordered another but forced herself to sip it this time. no sense in getting good and drunk just yet. Look what had happened the last time she did that. Quitting her job, among other things. No. it wouldn’t do for her to get too carried away tonight.

  The table of business men behind her were pretty loud. They had already assessed all the women in the bar, Kate included, grossly referring to them as “talent”. Then one had mentioned Colton’s name and Kate was straining to hear what they were saying. She had only caught a few phrases, none of them partic
ularly flattering when the man himself strolled in. Kate was not at all shocked when the two men hurriedly paid their tab and left, quietly ducking out past Colton Pidcock.

  Chapter Eleven: The Harsh Realities of Life Catch Up to Kate Plain

  “I’m sure that you had other things to do on a Friday night, Ms. St. Clair so I will be as brief as possible. I had called the other day in hopes of confirming that the contract that you signed was agreeable to you. You see, I was a bit worried because it seemed like you were a little out of sorts the other night and I didn’t want to feel like I had taken advantage of you.”

  Kate felt like a complete moron. “No. The contract is perfectly acceptable. I just thought that we were going to maybe… celebrate.”

  He laughed, a bit more harshly than he maybe intended. “We had a bottle of champagne. That would have been all of the celebrating we needed at this point. I mean, you write me that best seller that I know you have in you and then we will paint the town red.”

  She gulped down her second whiskey and nodded. “That is exactly what I had hoped to hear. I also remembered that I had a previous engagement myself so if you don’t mind…”

  “Oh no. I knew that you would be busy, it being Friday and all. You are far too pretty to be sitting around doing nothing, am I right?”

  Kate nodded, words were failing her and she was pretty sure that if she opened her mouth she would either throw up or freak out. Maybe both. How could she have been this stupid? She stood, threw a twenty down on the table to pay for her drinks and then practically sprinted to the lobby. She ran to the corner and then stood there, gasping for breath.