Pink Balloons and Other Deadly Things (Mystery Series - Book One) by Nancy Tesler Read Free Book Online Page A

rhythm. “No.”
    “Had to work, huh?”
    “I'll tell Richard you were looking for him when he calls in.”
    I made believe I hadn't heard the implied dismissal. “Yeah, thanks.”
    “Anything else you want?”
    I tried to lean back on the shovel chair and almost fell off. I could see Dot enjoying my discomfort and had an almost irresistible urge to grab that keyboard and smack her over the head. “Come to think of it, there is. Where were you Saturday afternoon?”
    “At my sister's the entire weekend. I have an airtight alibi. How about you?”
    I never said Dot was a dope. Maybe she’d persuaded her sister to cover for her so she could hang this murder on me. Killing the proverbial two birds with one stone.
    My brow misted with real perspiration. “I don’t need an alibi. Rich is out of my life. Erica wasn’t worth killing.”
    “Spoken like a true woman scorned.” Her fingers resumed their fandango. “You know, one of the perks for me from your impending divorce is that I don't have to be polite to you anymore. So why don't you piss off?”
    Religious conversion notwithstanding, I also never said she was a lady. Suddenly I didn't see any percentage in my remaining one. All the repugnance I'd felt watching her fawn over Rich, having to pretend I didn’t notice her “office wife” act, exploded like a geyser erupting. I flew across the room, leaned across her desk, my face two inches from hers. “You sick, deluded fool!” I hissed. “What do you think you’re playing at?”
    Taken aback by my ferocity, she recoiled. “Get away from me or I’ll call Security.”
    “Go ahead! See if Gus’ll throw me out!”
    She started to get up but I trapped her between her chair and the computer table. “You think I haven't noticed your cutesy little wifey-game all these years, haven’t guessed you saw yourself honeymooning in Europe, dining at Le Cirque, hostessing all those lavish little soirees for the company clients?”
    “You’re crazy!”
    “Not crazy. Mad. But I’m going to do you a favor and give you some good advice. Get a life, because it’s never gonna happen. Rich uses you like he uses everyone, and he'll dump you like he did me when he doesn't need you anymore. So I wouldn't put a deposit on that wedding dress just yet.”
    Her face went ashen. I'd shocked her speechless. I actually felt a little ashamed but decided to take advantage of her temporary paralysis. I strode determinedly toward Rich's door.
    “I’m going to make a call from this office. See that I’m not disturbed.”
    I slammed the door behind me and locked it. There was dead silence in the other room. Either I’d caused a heart attack, or she was calling Gus. My money was on the latter, so my search time would be limited.
    What first caught my eye nearly sent me into cardiac arrest. On the wall opposite Rich’s massive oak and ebony desk was a life-size photograph of Erica. I recognized it as a blowup of a lipstick ad she'd done when she worked for him as a model before she was promoted to marketing director. She was wearing a pink-flowered low-cut dress, her assets displayed as though she were selling her wares instead of the company’s. I had the chilling feeling those calculating ice-blue eyes were following me as I moved around the room.
    I forced myself to focus on Rich's desk. Not one picture, not even of his children. It was clean except for a Lucite desk set. A Lucite desk set. What had become of the leather set Dot had given him for his birthday? I could imagine her reaction when she’d realized her gift had become a casualty of Erica-mania. Brushing past a white damask silk sofa--as out of place in an office as a polar bear in the tropics--I hurried to the desk and riffled through the top drawer. Business cards, some envelopes, pens, all what you’d expect. Quickly I searched the other drawers. Nothing helpful. I wondered if there was a safe. Where would Rich keep the company books? What should I look for if I