Fanny Packs and Foul Play (A Haley Randolph Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page B

he
said.
    Catch me? What the heck was he talking about?
Why would he—
    Oh, crap.
    He was the Mr. Douglas who’d been calling—and
I’d been avoiding like the zombie apocalypse—and now he’d showed up
here at the office. I’d suspected he wanted me to stage an event
for his wife or girlfriend—men never come in here for any other
reason—and now I knew I’d been right.
    To make matters worse he was really hot
looking, so his girlfriend was probably gorgeous. They, no doubt,
had a fabulous life and were going someplace romantic for
Thanksgiving—not stuck at their mom’s house with boring relatives
and probably friends they didn’t even know, like I was.
    How the heck was I supposed to be a nicer
person when these annoying things kept happening?
    I channeled my pageant-mom’s
I-can-look-pleasant-even-though-that-ugly-girl-on-the-end-won-first-place,
and said, “I’ll have one of our other planners help with your
event, Mr. Douglas. I can’t take on another client right now.”
    “I’m not a client,” he said. “I’m an attorney
and I need to speak with you.”
    Yikes! Was I being sued?
    My entire life flashed through my head. Had I
done something suit-worthy? Well, yeah, probably—but I was sure I’d
covered all of that up really well.
    Then Veronica Spencer-Taft flew into my mind.
Was this something to do with her death?
    “I’m with the firm of Schrader, Vaughn, and
Pickett,” Liam explained. “We represent L.A. Affairs.”
    Oh, crap.
    “Let’s sit down,” Liam said.
    I took the power seat behind the desk and he
returned to the visitor’s chair in front of it. He was definitely
in attorney-mode, serious and grim—which was kind of hot—as he took
his cell phone from the pocket of his jacket and pushed a few
buttons.
    “A suit has been brought against L.A. Affairs
by one of your clients,” he said, consulting his phone. He looked
up at me. “It’s alleged that an assault took place at the
event.”
    An assault?
    I had no idea what he was talking about.
    “A sexual assault,” Liam said.
    Oh my God, how horrible. I sank back in my
chair, stunned and repulsed.
    Something like that had happened at an event
I’d planned? Had I missed the need for sufficient security? Was
there something I could have done to prevent such a heinous
act?
    Liam consulted his notes on his cell phone
again. “This occurred approximately one month ago. Do you recall
the event?”
    “I have no idea,” I told him. “No idea at
all. I didn’t know anything like this took place. Why didn’t anyone
say something sooner?”
    “The pregnancy was only recently discovered,”
Liam said.
    I felt ill—like I might really be sick.
    “Do you have notes on the event that you
could consult?” Liam asked.
    “Of course. Anything I can do to help,” I
said. “What was the occasion? Whose event was it?”
    He glanced at his cell phone again. “It was a
birthday party at the client’s home in Pasadena, hosted by Fritz
Amos and Max Sheldon. Do you recognize those names?”
    The event sprang into my head
immediately.
    “Sure, they were two really nice guys,” I
said, as the details of the party formed in my head. “But it was
all men. No women. And it wasn’t some wild occasion. It was an
afternoon birthday party for their—”
    Oh my God. It was a party for their dog.
Their dog.
    “You call two dogs humping in somebody’s
backyard a sexual assault?” I demanded.
    Liam looked up at me
    “Is this your idea of a joke?” I slammed my
fists on the desk and shot to my feet. “What kind of a sick twist
are you?”
    He drew back and looked slightly concerned
for his safety. Obviously, he hadn’t expected this response from
me—which made me even madder.
    “I sat here riddled with guilt, sickened by
the idea, and all along this supposed assault involved a dog?”
    I’m pretty sure I shouted that.
    “And you knew it?”
    I definitely yelled that.
    Liam continued to gaze at me, but he didn’t
look angry or upset.