LITMIR.BIZ

      Claudia would have loved all the attention—if she hadn’t been dead, of course.

      Two police cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance were parked behind Holt’s, their lights flashing. Yellow crime scene tape was everywhere. Men and women in uniforms and plainclothes roamed in and out of the loading dock, talking into radios, on cell phones. Equipment was being hauled around.

      The caterer’s staff, the inventory team, the Holt’s store employees, and the teenage models were corralled inside the white latticework fence under the tent-top. Some of the teen girls were crying. I stood next to Jeanette near the curtained stage, away from the loading dock but close enough to see what was happening. We both sort of stood there, not talking to each other.

      I’d called Ty but he hadn’t picked up, so I left a message on his voice mail to call me right away. I hadn’t heard back from him.

      Jeanette gasped—I thought for a moment she’d caught the reflection of her dress in a car windshield somewhere—but realized she’d seen the homicide detectives pull up.

      Then I gasped, too. Oh my God. The same two detectives who’d been here the last time someone was murdered at Holt’s.

      Detective Madison grasped the door frame and, after a couple of tries, heaved himself out of the passenger seat. He’d lost more hair since the last time I saw him—I’d like to think I was responsible for that, in some small way—and leaned back slightly to offset his basketball belly.

      Beside him stood Detective Shuman. Young, kind of good looking, wearing a shirt and tie that didn’t quite go together.

      Shuman and I had history.

      Detective Madison spotted me. Fifty people in the crowd and it was me he homed in on. Great.

      “I knew I’d find you in the middle of this,” he said, looking delighted that he might have a second chance to pin a murder on me.

      “I thought you retired,” I said.

      He gave me a smug look, then walked toward the loading dock. Shuman held back.

      “We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” I said to him.

      He pressed his lips together—I know he wanted to smile—and said, “I’ll catch up with you later.”

      About a minute later, a Porsche 911 Turbo pulled up and Ty jumped out. Oh my God, he was so handsome. Tall, athletic build, light brown hair, gorgeous blue eyes. He dressed in the most incredible suits, and—and when did he get a Porsche?

      Never mind. No time for that now. I was going to have to tell him about Claudia. This would be a major moment in our relationship. How should I say it?

      Why can’t they cover something like this in that stupid health class I’m taking?

      Or maybe they did.

      Anyway, I had to handle this just right.

      I’d take him aside. Yes, of course, that would be perfect. Just the two of us, out of the glare of the public eye, so I could break the upsetting news in private. I’d take his hands, look deep into his eyes, and say that Claudia had passed—I’d leave out the big gash on her forehead, the blood, and the other gross-looking stuff on her face, and the part about her lying in the handicapped stall. He’d be stunned, of course. He’d grab me. Hold me. Cling tight to my warm, living body, thankful that I was here with him, sharing this difficult time, and—

      Wait. He walked right past me.

      “Ty?” I hurried to catch up as he strode toward the loading dock.

      He glanced at me, but kept going.

      “Ty, something happened. I need to tell you about—”

      “Sarah told me.”

      He kept going. I stopped and watched him disappear inside.

      Sarah told him? Sarah?

      I’d seen Jeanette on her cell phone earlier, so she probably notified somebody at the Holt’s corporate office. Sarah must have a network of spies in the building, feeding her information so she could be the first to tell Ty everything.

      See why I hate her?

      By the time the cops started interviewing the teenage models, their parents had shown up, brought to the store by frantic cell phone calls from the girls. There was a lot of hugging and crying.

      From what I overhead of their statements to the cops, none of the models had seen anything unusual, which didn’t surprise me. Teenage girls—particularly teenage models—don’t usually look at anything but a mirror.

      They all went home with their parents, since the RV Claudia had driven them to the store in couldn’t be moved, while the cops took statements from everyone else.

      Ty came down the loading dock steps looking grim. I didn’t know if the detectives let him see Claudia’s body, but I hoped not.

      I didn’t know how deeply involved he had been with Claudia. They’d dated, but I didn’t know for how long—swapping stories with your new boyfriend about former lovers wasn’t usually a good idea.

      Ty headed toward Jeanette and me. I walked forward and intercepted him.

      “I’m so sorry about Claudia,” I said.

      He looked at me and nodded.

      “Has somebody notified her family?” I asked.

      “They spoke with her mother.”

      I flashed on my mom answering the door at her house, seeing two policemen waiting, knowing. I didn’t like that mental picture. I shook it off.

      I didn’t know how things had been left between Ty and Claudia’s family after their breakup, but I couldn’t imagine that would be an issue at a time like this.

      “Do you think we should go see her mom?” I asked. “We could stop by the house and—”

      “I already phoned her.”

      Okay, that surprised me.

      “Well, then maybe we should—”

      I didn’t get to finish the sentence. Ty walked away. Again. He headed across the parking lot to where a Beemer had just pulled up. Sarah Covington got out.

      She looked fabulous, of course, in a Donna Karan business suit.

      I have on black pants and a white sweater.

      “Give me your keys.”

      Bella appeared next to me, holding out her hand. Beside her stood Sandy with a blender tucked under her arm.

      I glanced back at Sarah. She was talking and Ty had leaned down a little to hear her better.

      “You won something in the prize raffle,” Bella said. “I’ll put it in your car.”

      My spirits lifted a little. Wow, I’d won a prize? Something good had happened today?

      I pulled my keys from my pants pocket. “Is it cool?” I asked.

      “Did you forget where you’re working, all of a sudden?” Bella asked. “This is Holt’s.”

      I gasped. “Oh my God, it’s not clothes, is it?”

      Bella’s lips curled distastefully. “Let’s just say that skank ho Rita was jealous that she didn’t win it herself.”

      Could today get any worse?

      Bella took my keys and left.

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