AHMM, May 2012 by Dell Magazine Authors

Author:Dell Magazine Authors
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery/Crime
Publisher: Dell Magazines

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Fiction: FASHIONED FOR MURDER

by Shauna Washington

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Art by Cat Scott

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I'd been waiting for the gates to open and allow me in for what seemed like forever and wondering where the hell Bill, the always friendly security guard, was. I had already put in the four-digit code to call my client's house, but nobody answered. Finally, I relented and began digging through my purse to find my BlackBerry so I could see if I had the resident gate code somewhere in my client list. It had taken me a long time to get a client in this posh community, and I wasn't about to let a closed gate keep me out.

Just as I found my BlackBerry, the exit on the other side started to swing open. Never one to let opportunity slip through my fingers, I quickly maneuvered my BMW X5 to the other side of the gate shack and waited as a green Crown Vic with tinted windows shot through the opening. I couldn't see who was driving, and didn't care. I whisked inside the gated community before the gate could swing back.

As I was driving up the entrance road I saw Bill trotting back toward the gate and waved. He didn't wave back. I wondered what his problem was but kept my mind on the task: I had to drop off my latest purchases for the Rosenettes and, more importantly, get paid so that my credit card balance wouldn't go into maximum overdrive.

I always worry about things like gates not opening and my credit taking a nosedive due to a wealthy client putting a stop payment on one of their checks. Luckily, the Rosenettes were longtime clients and were always prompt in paying me—sometimes Ms. Rosenette would even toss in a couture outfit for me along the way. Perks of the job. My anxiety today was due in part to the slight discomfort I felt whenever I entered ritzy places like Lake of the Desert. It was one of the most exclusive areas of unincorporated Las Vegas, or as most people called it, the place where the real rich people lived. As a fashion stylist to the rich and famous, I was technically the hired help, but unlike my ancestors, I didn't have to go to the back door.

I drove my car up the hill toward the Rosenettes's house. It was all severe angles and large windows reflecting the desert sun. Of course, the windows were mirrored glass to kept the rays out, but I wondered what their air-conditioning bill must have been like.

Not that it mattered. If you could afford to live in a place like this you didn't worry about light bills. But my middle-class upbringing was popping up again. I made a mental note to put it away when I talked to Ms. Rosenette about the plans I'd drawn up for her daughter's upcoming wedding during our weekly meeting. That's what I do: plan and shop for rich people, even the so-called rich folk wannabes.

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