5 Conditioner and a Corpse by Cindy Bell Read Free Book Online

was shaking as she grasped the card. When the bell over the door of the salon rang, signaling the departure of the three men, Sammy hurried over to Bekki.
    “ What was that about?” she asked with confusion. Bekki's lips trembled slightly as she held the card so tightly in her hand that her fingertips lost all color.
    “ I think he killed Jasmine.”
    “ Are you sure?” Sammy asked fearfully. “How can you know for sure? Why would he kill his own employee?”
    “ I don't know,” Bekki admitted as her chest tightened with fury. She was certain she had just cut the hair of the man who had taken the life of her friend. “But I know he saw Jasmine. He had to have seen her after she left here and before she was killed.”
    “ How do you know?” Sammy pressed and stepped up to the front door. She turned the lock on it. “That's it, I'm canceling at least the morning appointments.”
    Bekki only nodded distractedly as she dialed Nick's number on her phone.
    Nick answered on the first ring. “Hello?”
    “ Nick, I think I just met Jasmine's killer,” Bekki said all at once.
    “ Bekki are you in danger?” Nick asked with urgency.
    “ No, no, I'm fine,” she promised him and then sighed. “Listen, can you just meet me at the salon?”
    “ Sure. I'll be there in two minutes,” he assured her. When Bekki hung up the phone Sammy was tightening all of the blinds.
    “ It's okay, Sammy,” Bekki said with a shake of her head. “They're not coming back here. Not with a squad car parked out front,” she tilted her head towards the police car that had just parked in front of the salon. Nick jumped out of the passenger side, leaving another uniformed officer to stand watch outside the salon. Bekki quickly unlocked the door for Nick and he rushed inside.
    “ What happened, are you okay?” he asked as he looked into her eyes.
    “ I'm fine,” Bekki spread out her arms to show him she had no injuries. “Listen, I have to tell you…”
    “ Bekki, I asked you, no I flat out told you, to stay away from this case,” Nick reminded her, his expression just on the edge of fuming. “You have no idea who you're dealing with.”
    “ Uh, I think we kind of do,” Sammy offered quietly as she peeked out through the blinds.
    “ What do you mean?” Nick asked.
    “ If you'd let me tell you,” Bekki insisted impatiently.
    “ Okay, I'm listening,” Nick sighed and swept his hands across his face to calm himself down.
    “ Jeff Barnes, the owner of Electrify, the company that Jasmine was working for came in here just before. He claimed he was also looking for the supplies that Jasmine had, which are still missing. He said he wanted to handle the case personally because he cared about what happened to Jasmine,” she paused a moment and Nick nodded.
    “ Yes, we knew he was in town. We called him to ask him some questions and he was already headed here. It's a bit strange, but not unheard of,” he shrugged slightly.
    “ Well, you should have seen the men he was with,” Sammy said with a shake of her head. “They looked like the guys that came here the other morning, like they were straight out of one of those mafia movies.”
    “ Really?” Nick said with a little more interest.
    “ Yes, he said they were his bodyguards,” Bekki continued to explain.
    “ Well, that's possible, too,” Nick nodded and then frowned. “So why do you think you met the killer?”
    “ I think the killer is Jeff Barnes,” Bekki said sternly.
    “ The owner of the company?” Nick hesitated as he considered this. “But why would he kill Jasmine? And if he planned to, why wait until she was here to do it?”
    “ He was very concerned about her supplies,” Bekki pointed out with a frown. “Maybe that had something to do with it.”
    “ Maybe,” Nick said slowly and then shook his head again. “None of the pieces of this fit together. Jasmine doesn't have any connections with the criminal whose plate we ran or the guys that came for the