A Bead in the Hand (Glass Bead Mystery Series Book 2) by Janice Peacock Read Free Book Online Page A

guard any day.
    “The study guides for the police academy final exams.”
    “You want to be a cop?” Why would anyone choose law enforcement as a career? I certainly wouldn’t. Of course, I played with fire for a living, so I wasn’t the best judge of good career choices.
    “It’s better than being a rent-a-cop,” he replied. And I agreed with him. If you’re going to look like a cop and act like one too, you might as well be a cop. “Besides, my acting career was going nowhere.”
    I couldn’t tell if he was serious. He sure was handsome enough to be a leading man.
    “Jax O’Connell,” I said, wiping any remaining chocolate from my hand before extending it. I definitely needed to read the handbook on interacting with people of the opposite sex, but Val didn’t need to tell me it was not good form to shake hands when you had melted chocolate on them.
    “I’m Ry—,” he said. “You already know my name. Nice to meet you,” Ryan said, shaking my hand and bowing slightly. Chivalry was not dead. “Looks like it’s eight o’clock.” And with that, Ryan opened the door to the ballroom and wished me a nice day.
    “Thanks, Ryan. Catch you later,” I said, lugging my bag of beads into the room.
    I was the first one in the ballroom. Clearly, Ryan had done an excellent job of keeping the bad guys out. Harnessing the power of positive thinking, I was determined that this would be a successful sale. People were going to buy all my stuff. And, I was going to ignore Saundra.
    I headed down the aisle toward my table. Something was wrong—my table was out of alignment. I was extra-sensitive about the location of each table, since Saundra and I had argued about it. The black velvet I had laid on the table had been pulled tight on one side, with an avalanche of earrings across it. Had I accidentally yanked my table covering when I was leaving in the dark? I hoped no one had helped themselves to items on my table during the chaos. Thankfully, my beads were in the room with me last night, but there was plenty left that could have been stolen.
    Saundra’s table was a complete mess, too. Her display racks were tipped on their sides, and brochures were scattered across the floor. I slipped around to the back of the tables. Beads were strewn everywhere. A silky burgundy table covering spilled off the back of Saundra’s table and onto the floor. The bead diva was going to explode when she arrived. Poor Miles would receive the brunt of her anger over the messy table.
    To avoid tripping on Saundra’s tablecloth, I folded it over the top of her table. As I pulled back the fabric, I saw them: purple high-heeled ankle boots. Saundra had been wearing boots like this the last time I had seen her.

SEVEN
    “SAUNDRA! SAUNDRA!” I yelled as I dove under the table, bringing the rest of the table covering and the contents of her table down with me. Saundra was lying flat on her back, staring upward. The mirror that had been between my table and hers was beneath her, shattered and bloody. I grabbed her hands and squeezed them.
    “Saundra!” I shouted as I shook her shoulders. “Wake up!” But I knew she wasn’t asleep. I pulled her onto my lap, holding her close, and checking for a pulse.
    “Help!” I yelled. Someone must have come into the ballroom after I did. They could help me. No one responded.
    “I’m going to give you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation now. Okay?” It seemed like I should ask for permission before clamping my lips onto someone else’s.
    How do I do this?
    I pinched her nose shut. I took a big breath, and exhaled into her mouth. It was cold and dry. I scrambled backward. There was no chance she was still alive.
    “HELP!” I screamed, hoping the security guard would hear me.
    Finally, Ryan came running.
    “Here!” I yelled. No matter how quickly he came, I knew there was nothing he could do to save her.
    Ryan finally found us and, in an extremely manly move, picked up the table that Saundra was under