Pumped for Murder by Elaine Viets Read Free Book Online Page A

the manager, he might be able to get her to listen.”
    “She seems to be taking it out on the free weights now,” Helen said. “It’s only six thirty-five in the morning and we’ve already had our first crisis.”
    “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Carla said.
    Fantastic Fitness quickly settled back into its regular routine. Men ran nowhere fast on treadmills. Women pumped iron. Helen heard the tock! of racquetballs hitting the walls.The workout music pounded. She hoped this distracting medley would shake her sadness. Watching Mark’s final birthday video last night had left her feeling depressed.
    So far, Helen had checked in three guests under Carla’s watchful eye. One of them was her client’s husband. Her face didn’t even twitch when Bryan Minars said his name. No wonder Shelby was upset that she wasn’t having sex with her man, Helen thought. Bryan looked rock hard, but his physique hadn’t crossed the line from Gibraltar to grotesque.
    He had other endearing qualities: His dark wavy hair formed a question-mark curl over his eyebrow. His trainer, Jan, was putting Bryan through his paces with the barbells. Jan was a fortysomething brunette. She had muscles but still looked softly pretty.
    “Come on,” Jan said to Bryan. “You can do it. One more dead lift and then you can do thirty minutes on the treadmill.” The trainer made it sound like that half-hour run would be relaxing.
    Carla caught Helen staring at Bryan. “He’s easy on the eyes, isn’t he?”
    “Definitely,” Helen said. “Does Bryan have a girlfriend?”
    “He doesn’t act like it. No woman’s dropped twenties on me to find out if he’s at the gym. His wife works out here, too.”
    Rats, Helen thought. I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.
    Suddenly, the tocking, clanking and humming seemed to stop. The gym doors whooshed open to reveal a goddess wearing two wellplaced scraps of spandex. The goddess wafted through the front door. Her hair was blond silk. Her breasts were twin cantaloupe halves. Her bottom was two honeydew globes.
    “That’s Paula,” Carla said. “Watch Paula’s suckers.”
    Paula paraded down the aisle of treadmills, each whirring machine topped by a sweating man. As Paula passed the men, they automatically sucked in their guts and kept running. Even Shelby’s husband pulled in his six-pack of muscle. Helen wondered if Paula was the reason Bryan was killing himself at the gym.
    “See how the dudes sucked in their guts when she walked by?” Carla said. “Watch what happens next.”
    Paula ignored the men. She made a left at the end of the treadmill aisle and turned into the hall to the women’s locker room. Once she was out of sight, the guts flopped back into place. Fat, red-faced men gave small, relieved sighs. The well-built ones like Bryan relaxed a bit.
    “I hope she has the same hypnotic effect on the judges at the upcoming East Coast Physique Championships,” Carla said. “Paula is training for the bikini competition.”
    “She doesn’t have muscles like Debbi,” Helen said.
    “She doesn’t need them,” Carla said. “Not with that body. The bikini contestants look like regular people.”
    Who stepped out of a centerfold, Helen thought.
    A trim fiftysomething woman with pretty gray hair waved to Carla and Helen as she headed out the door with a full gym bag.
    “Did you check in Evie this morning?” Carla asked.
    “Nope, just three guys.”
    “Hm,” Carla said. “I didn’t check her in, either. Must be something wrong with her card. Remind me to check it when she comes back. She usually works out in the morning and again before closing. Are you okay?”
    “Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”
    “Usually after a new receptionist encounters Debbi in one of her rages, she quits.”
    “I’ve seen worse,” Helen said. “I like it here. Might even work out on my break.”
    “That’s coming up,” Carla said. “You’ll get fifteen minutes. If you’re new to exercising, try riding the bike