Kyra Davis - Passion, Betrayal And Killer Highlights

“Mmm, I don’t know about that.” I sat down opposite her on my love seat and Mary Ann quickly took her place by my side. “When Leah told me he was leaving her and Jack for his mistress, who just happens to be twenty-one years old, I entertained some pretty violent thoughts.”

“Yeah, but you’re always entertaining violent thoughts. You write murder mysteries, for Christ sake.”

“That’s not fair,” Mary Ann said. “You don’t have to be a violent person to write about murder. I work at the Lancôme counter and I don’t think about makeup all the time. I’m not even wearing any now.”

I looked at her flawless porcelain complexion and tried to suppress my jealously.

“And I doubt Marcus thinks about hair all the time,” Mary Ann continued, “and you work…” Her voice trailed off.

Dena was the sole proprietor of Guilty Pleasures, an establishment she affectionately referred to as an erotic boutique, and if there was ever a woman who brought her work home with her, it was Dena.

Dena smiled at her cousin mischievously and Mary Ann rolled her eyes. “Not everyone’s you.”

Dena shrugged and ran her fingers through her cropped hair. “Do the police suspect Leah?”

I nodded. “But she didn’t do it.”

“Of course, she didn’t.” Mary Ann used her hand to make little soothing circles on my back. “Anyone who’s ever met Leah would know she’s not capable of hurting anyone. The poor thing must be devastated by all this.”

“She’s not at her best,” I admitted.

“Is there anything I can do?” Mary Ann asked.

“No—wait, that’s not true.” I shifted my position so I was facing her. “Leah wants to make sure her mourning attire is appropriate in a W magazine kind of way.”

Mary Ann nodded encouragingly. “There are a few recently widowed women who I work on at Neiman. Of course I only do their makeup, but I always take note of what they’re wearing.”

“Jesus, is fashion really Leah’s biggest concern?” Dena asked. “What about her kid?”

“Trust me, Jack is always a concern.” I took a long sip of my drink. “In fact, she and Jack will be staying with me for the next few days.”

Mary Ann gasped and Dena’s tan complexion got almost as white as her cousin’s.

I ran a jagged fingernail around the rim of my mug. “It’s not as bad as all that. I can deal with Jack.”

“Of course you can,” Mary Ann said. “You do still have rental insurance, right?”

“And smoke detectors,” Dena chimed in. “You’re going to need lots of smoke detectors.”

“He’s eighteen months old. He’s not going to be setting fire to the apartment.” I glanced nervously at the smoke detector in the living room. When was the last time I checked the battery on that thing?

I heard the sound of a key jiggling in the lock and then Leah burst in with Jack in her arms. Despite my concerns I felt a little tug at my heart. Cuddled up against his mother Jack looked like a little cherub. If he didn’t have the temperament of a Tasmanian devil he’d be irresistible.

“Have you listened to the radio?” she asked, skipping the formality of a greeting.

“Not today but—”

“There was this woman on the air and she was talking about me!” Jack squirmed in her arms and she placed him on the ground. “She was talking about how my new status as a suspect is a perfect example of how underprivileged women of color still have to struggle to be seen as contributing citizens rather than potential criminals. Underprivileged, Sophie! I have never been less than upper middle class in my life, and this woman has me sounding like some kind of black, blue-collar soccer mom!”

Dena put her cola can on the coffee table. “I don’t think she was trying to make you look like a soccer mom…welfare mom, maybe.”

“This is all Cheryl’s fault!”

“Ah.” I brought my fingers to my temples. “So you know about her comments to Channel Two.”

“Yes, I know! And the sad part is I don’t even think she’s a racist. She just knew this was her one and only chance at grabbing her fifteen minutes of fame. After all, it’s not like she could ever make it as an actress. The senior citizen who fell and couldn’t get back up was a better thespian than she is. Cheryl’s only talent is making other people’s lives miserable. That and her obnoxious ability to quote from Entertainment Weekly.”

Mary Ann blinked. “I’ve never met Cheryl. Is she into celebrities?”

“Oh, she’s way beyond that,” Leah said. “They need to make up a new word for what Cheryl is.”

“That’s the understatement of the century. I don’t think there’s an E! Television show that she hasn’t seen or an Us magazine she hasn’t read five times over,” Leah explained.

“That’s why she got a job at Hotel Gatsby. She read some article about how Gatsby hotels are always filled with young A-list celebrities, so when they opened one in San Francisco she rushed over and strong-armed some unwitting HR girl into letting her work the front desk.”

Dena rolled her head toward her right shoulder in an effort to stretch her neck. “I thought Cheryl worked at the Ritz.”

“She did, but that didn’t stop her from accepting a few graveyard shifts at Gatsby,” Leah said. “Never mind the fact that the Ritz has a policy against working at another hotel while working for them. The management at the Ritz just found out last week and terminated her employment.” Leah allowed herself a brief moment of smug satisfaction before continuing her tirade. “I suppose she’ll go to full-time at the Gatsby now. But it gives you an idea of what kind of woman she is. I mean really, what kind of person is that disrespectful of the Ritz-Carlton?”

Jack toddled over to Mary Ann and she bent over to kiss him on the forehead, then quickly withdrew her head as she caught a whiff of his current odor. “Oh,” she said in a nasal voice that implied that she was holding her breath. “Does he have a poopy diaper?”

“Of course he has a poopy diaper. Do you think my son smells like this all the time?”

Leah strode forward and reached for Jack, but Mary Ann picked him up before she had a chance. “You seem a little stressed,” Mary Ann said, blatantly understating the situation. “Why don’t you sit down and relax and I’ll change Jack.”

“You’d do that?” Leah’s expression softened.

“Of course. You’ve been through so much. This is the least I can do.”

“Thank you.” Leah’s mouth relaxed into a genuine smile. “I’m sorry I snapped, but I’m just at the end of my rope.”

“Any of us would be,” Mary Ann said reassuringly.

Jack pointed to Mr. Katz, who was busy grooming himself. “Kitty lick.”

“Yes, that’s what cats do when they’re dirty,” Mary Ann explained as she carried him down the hall. “I guess you both need a little cleaning.”

Leah waited until Mary Ann had disappeared into the bathroom before turning her attention to Dena. “I haven’t seen you for a while,” she said coolly. “Sophie tells me you’re dating a vampire.”

“He’s not a vampire,” Dena said with a yawn. “He just wants to become one. Anyway, I broke up with him last week.”

“What?” I scooted forward. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s no biggie. He was getting a little too…” Dena waved her hand in the air as if trying to physically grab the word that was eluding her.

“Intense?” I volunteered.

“Insane?” Leah pitched in.

“Conventional,” Dena finished. “When I first met him he was so dark and mysterious, but then he got a job at the Gap and it was bye-bye gothic, hello ‘Songs by Your Favorite Artists.’”

Leah shook her head. “Do you ever get tired of being a freak?”