Bargain Hunting Read Online Free PDF

hurry in four-and-a-half-inch Coach Bethanie heels.
    Back in my office, I tried Liam’s cell. No answer. Then I tried my house phone and got the same result. I was torn between concern and irritation. He could have left or he could be lying on my floor in a puddle of blood. I checked my functional-but-not-Rolex watch. I had a meeting with Ellen and then an hour to drive out to Indiantown for round seven with Sleepy and Wanda Jean. Ellen would freak if I blew off the meeting, so I needed a plan.
    I called Liv, since she had the most fluid schedule.
    “Hi, Fin.”
    I’d ease into the favor. “Hi. How was your date?”
    “We ended up at the Blue Martini. The third wheel hooked up with some girl at the bar, so it worked out.”
    “Did you pay?”
    “I can’t believe you’re asking me that.”
    I smiled. “That would be a yes. Any chance you could do me a favor?”
    “After you blew me off yesterday?”
    “I blew you off because I didn’t want to have dinner with a friend of garage boy. A date with an unemployed young-twentyish guy isn’t a date. It’s more like babysitting.”
    “FYI, Kevin has a job.”
    “Doing what?”
    “He’s a waiter.”
    “Sounds like my dream man.”
    “I didn’t ask you to marry him. It was just dinner.”
    “With a twenty-year-old? More like dinner and a grope.”
    “And you called for a favor?” Liv asked with amusement in her tone.
    “Any chance you can swing by my house and check on things?”
    “Check on what?”
    “Liam came over last night and he was . . . sick. I just want to know he’s okay.”
    “The man you swear you don’t want to date came over for chicken soup. Which, by the way, you don’t know how to make.”
    I sighed. “Could you just do it, please? There’s a key taped to the potted palm out back by the sliders.”
    “That’s a safe system. What about the alarm?”
    “Don’t worry. I didn’t turn it on.”
    “Another brilliant safety feature. Especially when your contractor has a criminal record as long as my arm.”
    “He has two arrests,” I said, defending him. “Please?”
    “Sure. I’ll go now, then I’ll call you in a bit.”
    “Thank you.”
    I tried Liam’s cell and my home phone and still nothing. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, but I was stuck. Hopefully Liv would call me back before my meeting with Ellen. Liv was a pretty take-charge kind of person, which is how she’d turned her small party-planning business into the premier event organizer for all the movers and shakers on Palm Beach and the surrounding areas. A major plus for me and my friends. She often slipped us into parties to mingle with the famous, rich, and über rich.
    I gathered up my ever-growing Egghardt file and pulled on a sweater to cover my bare arms. My St. John’s blue crepe dress with a wide scooped neck was no match for the billowing cold of the air conditioner.
    Ellen Lieberman had done a one-eighty on me after I’d basically saved her from the clutches of a killer. Along the way I’d learned her deepest, darkest secret, and to my credit, I’d kept her confidence. Well, mostly. My BFF Becky knew because she’d been part of the kidnapping, but I did share the info with Liv and Jane just because it was such good dish. The only other person who knew was Liam, who I was still thinking might be passed out and bleeding profusely in my house. I flirted with the idea of calling an ambulance, but I wanted to respect Liam’sdesire not to have the gunshot reported. Something more had to be going on and I didn’t want to screw things up before I had the whole story.
    I went back up to the fourth floor, only this time the executive secretary was planted at her desk. She glanced up at me and asked, “How may I help you?”
    “I’m here to see Ellen.”
    She used the intercom to announce me, then gave me a nod of her head before I ventured down the hallway to Ellen’s office and conference room, hefty file tucked under my arm. I had hoped Liv would