Sleepless in Las Vegas by Colleen Collins

Author:Colleen Collins [Collins, Colleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-25T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

THE NEXT DAY, Saturday, Val started getting ready for that night’s supper at noon. After she tried on half a dozen dresses and modeled them for Jaz and Char, the group consensus was the vintage black-and-white polka-dot dress with a white satin sash.

Afterward, she joined Jaz to watch Chinatown, a ‘70s film noir about a private eye investigating an adultery case who stumbles upon a murder, gets his nose sliced open and discovers the dark, sordid family secret that forever ruined the love of his life.

After that, Val decided to head in to work, where private eyes led much calmer lives. For the most part.

As she walked into Diamond Investigations, the grandfather clock was chiming four. To her surprise, Hearsay ran up to greet her, his tail wagging.

“Hey, there, sweet thang, is your daddy home?”

She headed down the hallway with Hearsay trotting next to her. The connecting door was open, but no lights were on in his office.

She liked the open door, but it didn’t seem like Drake to leave it this way. Did he forget to close it—or could it be possible the man was starting to let down his guard and let her inside? His office, of course.

“Drake, you there?” she called.

Silence.

She craned her neck and peered through the window that offered a view of his parking space. No pickup.

“Well, sugar,” she said to Hearsay, “looks like we’re on our own.”

A few minutes later, he had settled on the bed, still next to her desk, where he gnawed on a chicken squeaky toy, which from the bright color and lack of missing parts appeared to be new.

Val watered the plant in Jayne’s office, checked the fish, then called the repair shop and learned her Toyota would be ready by Wednesday. The incessant squeak-squeak-squeak of Hearsay’s toy was a bit unnerving, but she figured either she’d grow used to it, the dog would fall asleep, or she’d bribe it away from him.

After that, she was sliding several manuals on private investigations into the bookcase when she accidentally bumped against the case. The figurine of two birds toppled from the top shelf, bounced off her shoulder and would have smashed onto the floor if she hadn’t miraculously caught it.

Her heart pounding, she held the crystal object in her trembling hands while catching her breath. Hearsay, alerted to the near emergency, abandoned the rubber chicken and stood next to her, his ears perked.

“This needs to be in a safer place,” she said to him.

After carefully setting it on her desk next to the fragrant roses, which smelled even sweeter than yesterday, Val watched Hearsay return to his bed and the chicken. She then focused her attention on the crystal birds and thought about Jayne. After getting all emotional on yesterday’s call, maybe it would reassure her boss if Val dropped her an email, told her everything was going well.

Moments later, she was tapping on the keyboard.

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