Swag Bags and Swindlers Read Online Free PDF

wise of her.
    I headed toward housewares, the somebody-please-kill-me-now department I was assigned to tonight, thinking that doing the orientation might be fun. Maybe I could liven things up a bit for the new employees.
    As I wound through the displays of vacuum cleaners, luggage, and small appliances, my cell phone in my pocket vibrated. We weren’t supposed to have our phones on the sales floor, but oh, well. I ducked behind a rack of hanging pots and pans and checked my ID screen. It was Detective Shuman calling.
    â€œAbout time,” I said when I answered.
    â€œMiss me?” he asked, and I heard playfulness in his voice.
    â€œI texted you hours ago.”
    â€œAnd you’ve been thinking about me all this time?” Shuman asked.
    â€œI’ve been annoyed with you all this time,” I told him.
    â€œNot what I was hoping for,” he said, and chuckled, “but I’ll take it.”
    I laughed, too. Shuman had that effect on me.
    â€œSo, are you psychic? Or did the Bat Signal flash a giant H in the sky over police headquarters today?” I asked. “How did you find out so fast that I was involved with another murder?”
    â€œYou’re involved in a murder?” Shuman asked.
    The playfulness was gone from his voice, which gave me a weird feeling.
    â€œYour text message,” I reminded him. “I shouldn’t talk to homicide detectives. Remember?”
    â€œWhat murder are you talking about?” he asked.
    Since Shuman was a homicide detective he’d probably been through a really long, tough day investigating the worst sort of crimes imaginable—possibly several of them, since he was calling so late. I decided I could cut him some slack.
    â€œThat guy at Hollywood Haven,” I explained. “Derrick Ellery. I was planning an event with him for the retirement home, and I found his body in his office today. He’d been murdered.”
    Shuman didn’t say anything.
    I didn’t like the sound of the silence. All sorts of horrible thoughts jammed my head.
    â€œThat’s what you texted me about, wasn’t it?” I asked.
    â€œNo,” Shuman said. “It was about your ex.”
    â€œTy?”
    A zillion horrible scenarios collided in my brain.
    Oh my God. Oh my God . Something had happened to Ty. Something horrible. He’d been injured. Maimed. Disfigured. He was in a coma, on life support, clinging to life by a frayed thread. Or—oh my God—had Ty been murdered?
    Ty might be dead? Dead? Gone? Forever?
    And all this time we could have been together, enjoying our lives, having fun, and now he might be dead? All because I’d gone along with his stupid idea to break up?
    My heart pounded. I felt light headed.
    â€œWhat happened ?”
    â€œTake it easy,” Shuman said.
    â€œTell me!”
    â€œTy’s okay,” Shuman said. “He’s not injured or ill. It’s nothing like that.”
    I gulped in big breaths. I had to calm down.
    I don’t really like being calm.
    But, I reminded myself, this kind of thing had happened once before, not long ago. I’d gotten a call from the hospital in Palmdale with the news that Ty had been involved in a car accident. I’d panicked and rushed to the emergency room only to find him sitting in the waiting room with a scratch on his cheek.
    I drew in another breath and let it out slowly. “Then what’s this about?” I asked.
    Shuman was quiet for a few seconds, then said, “Ty is a person of interest in a case I heard about.”
    A different sort of fear washed over me.
    â€œWhat—what kind of case?”
    â€œHomicide,” Shuman said. “Ty might have murdered someone.”

C HAPTER 4
    â€œA re you ready to party?” Mindy shouted as I walked into the office.
    I stopped in front of her desk. This morning I had on a totally awesome gray business suit that I’d paired with an equally awesome red Coach