Contents - Prev | Next
The minute Kate walked into Pretenses, Margo scowled. "You look like death."
"Thanks. I want coffee." And a moment alone. She headed up the curving stairs to the second floor, found the pot already brewing.
She knew she hadn't slept more than three hours, not after poring over every detail in the report from the detective back east. And every detail had confirmed that she was the daughter of a thief.
It was all there—the evidence, the charges, the statements. And reading through those papers had killed the faint hope she'd hidden even from herself that it had all been some sort of mistake.
Instead, she had learned that her father had been out on bail at the time of the accident and had instructed his lawyer to accept the plea bargain he'd been offered. If he hadn't been killed that night on that icy stretch of road, he would have been in prison within the week.
Telling herself to accept it, to get on with her life, she drank her coffee hot and black. She needed to go back down, get to work. And face a friend who knew her too well to miss signs of stress.
Well, she thought, carrying her cup with her, she had other excuses for a poor night's sleep. And there was nothing to be gained by obsessing over facts that couldn't be changed. From this moment, Kate promised herself, she would cease to think about it.
"What's going on?" Margo demanded when Kate wound her way down the stairs. "I want an answer this time. You've been jumpy and out of sorts for weeks. And I swear you're losing weight with every breath. This has just gone on long enough, Kate."
"I'm fine. Tired." She shrugged. "A couple of accounts are giving me some problems. On top of that it's been a weird week." Kate opened the cash register, counted out the bills and coins for morning change. "Monday, that scum Thornhill came slinking into my office."
Margo turned from setting up the teapot. "I hope you kicked his ass right out again."
"I let him think we've made up. It was easier," she said before Margo could comment. "He's more likely to leave me alone now."
"You're not going to tell me that's what's keeping you up at night."
"It gave me some bad moments, okay?"
"Okay." Margo smiled in sympathy. "Men are pigs, and that one is a blue ribbon hog. Don't waste your beauty sleep on him, honey."
"Thanks. Anyway, that was only the first weird thing."
"The wacky life of a CPA."
"Wednesday, I got tossed this new account. Freeland. It's a petting zoo, kiddie park, museum. Very strange. I'm learning all about how much it costs to feed a baby llama."
Margo paused. "You lead such a fascinating life."
"You're telling me. Then yesterday, the partners all hud dled together for most of the afternoon. Even the secretaries were barred. Nobody has a clue, but the rumor is somebody's about to be canned or promoted." Kate shrugged and closed the cash register. "I've never seen them powwow like that. They had to make their own coffee."
"Stop the presses."
"Look, my little world has just as much intrigue and drama as anyone else's." She stepped back as Margo advanced on her. "What?"
"Just hold still." Grabbing Kate's lapel, Margo
pinned on a crescent-shaped brooch dangling with drops of amber. "Advertise the merchandise."
"It's got dead bugs in it."
Margo didn't bother to sigh. "Put some lipstick on, for God's sake. We open in ten minutes."
"I don't have any with me. And I'll tell you right now, I'm not going to work with you all day if you're going to be picking on me. I can sell, ring up, and box just fine without painting my face."
"Fine." Before Kate could evade her, Margo picked up an atomizer and spritzed her with perfume. "Advertise the merchandise," she repeated. "If anyone asks what you're wearing, it's Bella Donna's Savage."
Kate had just worked up a snarl when Laura burst in. "I thought I was going to be late. Ali had a hair emergency. I was afraid one of us would kill the other before it was over."
"She's getting more like Margo every day." Wishing it were coffee, Kate strolled over to pour herself tea and used it to wash down a palm full of pills she didn't want either of her friends to see. "I meant that in the worst possible way," she added.