Diva 03 _ Diva Paints the Town, The by Krista Davis Read Free Book Online

closed.
    Dog-tired but giddily happy, I went upstairs and nestled in bed with Mochie.
    I woke to the sound of banging. Mochie stood on the bed, his tail raised in alarm. Disoriented, I sat up and looked at the clock. One thirty in the morning. Wishing I could ignore the noise and snuggle under my feather comforter, I flung my feet to the floor and blearily walked downstairs, the wood floor cold under my bare feet. The banging continued unabated, and I could hear Nina outside, screaming something incoherent.
    I swung the door open, and Nina burst into the foyer. “I’ve killed Kurt!”

FIVE

    From “THE GOOD LIFE” :
    Dear Sophie,
     

    I’m not very adventurous when it comes to decorating, so I went with beige walls in my dining room. But now I can’t find an area rug in the same color. Who would have thought there could be so many shades of beige?
     
—Beige Gal in Bayshore Gardens
     
    Dear Beige Gal,
     
    All colors, even beige, have undertones that can make it hard to find an exact match. Look for a complementary shade, perhaps a darker hue in the same family, or be bold and go for a contrast that will make your dining room pop!
     
—Sophie
    Unlike Natasha, Nina wasn’t a drama queen, so her words made me uneasy. “Calm down. What happened?”
    She paced the floor. “I need a Scotch. No! I have to keep my wits about me. The police will ask me all sorts of questions.”
    Now she really had me worried. “Where is Kurt?”
    Nina seized my arms. “I forgot! You have a key! We have to go now . Maybe it’s not too late.” Her voice droned off in a whine.
    I grabbed a coat and shoved my feet into flip-flops. “Where are we going?”
    “Mordecai’s house. Everything was going so well. We had drinks and a lovely dinner, and we laughed about old times.”
    I found the key to Mordecai’s house, locked my kitchen door, and we jogged out to the street.
    “Then he said we should come back to Mordecai’s to see if Emmaline came home, what with it being so cold and all. But when we got there—oh, Sophie—I guess he misinterpreted the evening, and he attacked me.”
    I caught a glimpse of her under the streetlight. I’d never seen her so distressed.
    “Honestly, he turned into this octopus and was just horrible, and he wouldn’t let me go. I just wanted to catch up with an old friend. I never meant to have an affair. So I pushed him to get away, and he fell and hit his head. I never should have left him, but I was so angry and upset.”
    We’d reached Mordecai’s front door, but I fumbled with the key and the unfamiliar lock in the dark.
    “Why did I leave?” she moaned. “I should have stayed to help him, but I ran out and fled for home. I was furious. Then I started to worry that he had been hurt, so I called his cell phone five times—he never answered. Of course, I figured he was pretty upset with me, and wasn’t taking my calls, so I went back over to Mordecai’s. But he wouldn’t come to the door. I tried looking in the windows, but it’s nearly impossible to see inside this house. I’m afraid he’s sprawled on the living room floor, bleeding to death.”
    The front door swung open, and I relaxed. “It never occurred to you that he could have just gotten into his car and driven home?”
    Nina swallowed hard. “Before I went to your house, his car was still parked where we left it.”
    We stepped inside, and heard the faint, hollow clank of metal.
    Nina placed her hand on my arm. “What was that?”
    Assorted lights were already on and nothing appeared amiss. I shrugged. “Kurt?” We headed straight for the living room, but there was no sign of him.
    “There”—Nina pointed at the fireplace—“right there is where he fell. He hit his head on those fancy fireplace thingies.”
    Gilt bronze andirons featuring lyres graced the fireplace and looked like they could be dangerous. Kurt was nowhere to be seen.
    “Kurt,” I yelled, “it’s Sophie.” Silence surrounded us. “I think he