Death of a Domestic Diva by Sharon Short

Author:Sharon Short
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins

10

“I want my papers back—now,” Tyra said. This was a side of Tyra I’d never expected to see. On television and in Paradise, Tyra had been, by turns, either truly charming or manipulatively charming—but always charming. Now, she was angry, her hands on her hips as she stood in my doorway. But beyond the glare of anger in her eyes, I saw something else. Fear. This sudden switch in Tyra’s emotions was scary, somehow, and I backed up.

Tyra scooted forward, matching me step for step. We did our Tyra-mad, Josie-nervous shuffle, all the way back to my couch. When I hit the couch, I went down hard, right on a spring that had long ago sprung. I winced.

With a sideways glance, I saw Owen tiptoeing off to the kitchen. I figured he was either going to call 9-1-1 or grab a skillet to whack Tyra over the head for me. My hero.

But then, suddenly, Tyra collapsed onto the floor, clasped her hands together in a prayerful pose, and as she stared up at me, started crying. Apparently, scared had won out.

“Ple-e-e-ase,” she wailed. “You have to give those papers back, Josie. Look, I’ll pay you for them. I’m begging you—”

I looked over at Owen, who was holding the phone near, but not quite to, his ear, as if he had frozen in mid-movement from shock at Tyra’s sudden mood change. I sighed and shook my head at him. Bringing the portable phone with him, Owen came into the living room, sat down next to me, and took my hand. I moved closer to him, partly to get my tailbone off the couch spring, and partly because I just wanted to be near him.

“I need those papers back,” Tyra went on. “You don’t understand how important they are! You have no idea how many lives will be affected—no, ruined!—if I don’t get them back!”

I had a pretty good idea that one life in particular would be ruined—hers. I also had a pretty good idea who had the papers, and it wasn’t me. It had to be the Crooks duo. Or . . . the thought gave me a sudden shiver . . . maybe Paige had taken them the night before, while she’d been in Billy’s old apartment adjusting Winnie’s decorating efforts to more closely match Tyra’s taste. I wasn’t sure which option would be worse.

In any case, Tyra’s belief that I had these papers seemed to give me some power over her. I guessed that they had something to do with the T-shirts and the forced labor camp.

“I’m open to negotiation, Tyra,” I said.

She snuffled, still prone on the floor.

“I can get your papers back,” I added, “but you have to promise me something first.”

“Anything! How does five thousand dollars sound?”

I stared at her. Five thousand dollars sounded like a lot of money.

Tyra took my silence as a challenge. “Okay, ten thousand, then? Or, look, I have this fur, a really nice one, mink, I could give you that and—and—” Tyra started yanking at the big diamond cluster ring she wore on her right hand.

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.