All Sales Fatal by Laura Disilverio

Author:Laura Disilverio [DiSilverio, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, General
ISBN: 9781101580707
Google: mk4P65wqBd8C
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2012-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

Lily-scented perfume assailed me as I crossed into Nordstrom. A half dozen cosmetics counters lay in front of me, laden with face products worth as much as the annual budget of a midsized city. Dodging a woman who wanted to spritz me with the perfume, I caught up with a clerk and asked if she’d seen a dark-haired teen in a hurry. She pointed wordlessly toward the lingerie department. I knew an exit door was on the far side of the bras and pajamas, so I zipped along as quickly as I could. The Segway gave me a little extra height as I scanned the department, able to see over the revolving racks and displays. One middle-aged woman examined undergarments with enough support to hold up the Brooklyn Bridge. No teenager. Damn. She must have made it to the parking lot.

I cut diagonally through lingerie and out the row of glass doors leading to the parking lot. Looking both ways, I didn’t see anyone who resembled the girl I was following. Possibly she was already in her car, if she had one. Or… I spun the Segway and returned to the dressing room between lingerie and women’s evening wear. It was the only one on the route the clerk had indicated the girl had taken. There was no attendant in sight, so I dismounted and walked through an open doorway. A chime sounded. The dressing room doors, unfortunately, went to the floor, so I couldn’t peer beneath them and figure out which ones were occupied.

“Eloísa?” I called softly. I began to walk the length of the dressing room, toward a three-way mirror at the end. Doors lined both sides of the narrow hall. Rustling sounds and the clink of hangers came from behind several of them. With a sigh, I turned the handle on the first door. Empty. Ditto for the second and third doors. The fourth room held a skinny woman who clutched a gray chiffon gown to her chest when she spotted me.

“Sorry,” I apologized.

“Well! Cameras in here to prevent shoplifting are bad enough, but this is ridiculous,” the woman said as I closed the door.

The next two doors yielded nothing but piles of discarded clothes on the floor and slung on the bench. A woman carrying an armload of bathing suits and resort wear emerged from the next door before I reached it, stepping past me with a muttered, “Excuse me.” I envied her the cruise I imagined she was shopping for. Hesitating at the final door, marked with a “Handicapped” placard, I heard nothing from within. My fingers closed over the handle, and I eased the door open an inch. It promptly slammed shut, clearly propelled by a well-placed kick or shoulder.

“Eloísa,” I said, “this is crazy. I just want to talk with you for a couple of minutes. About Celio. You’re not in trouble.”

“I’m not?” The door muffled the voice, but I heard tension and doubt.

“Absolutely not,” I said. “I’m trying to figure out what happened to Celio.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.