Dye by Cake by Janet Evans

Author:Janet Evans [Evans, Janet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
Publisher: Janet Evans
Published: 2015-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 5

“I have heard the most disappointing news,” came the voice from the other end of the line.

Julia cringed. Mr. Drake sounded really angry.

“It was a silly mistake, sir,” she said as a way of apology.

“An extremely stupid mistake that may cause a lot more damage to the both of us than you can ever hope to understand.” A big sigh. “You are trying my patience, Julia.”

“I’m really sorry, sir, I –“

“Don’t say sorry to me. Say sorry to them. All of them. The bride, her friend, her father, and the police. Do it and report to me. You’re on thin ice, Julia. Don’t make me mad.”

Julia gulped. “Alright, sir.”

“And to save face, you should finish the case even sooner. Show that you’re committed to helping these people.”

You're really committed to sweeping this under the rug, aren't you? she thought.

“I’ll do my best, sir.”

“Good. I want you to report that the case is closed by noon.”

“By noon, sir? But that’s barely eleven hours from now.”

“Do it, Julia. The more time passes, the less likely you can catch the culprit. Your job depends on this.”

And with that, the conversation ended.

Julia looked at it, crest-fallen. It was one in the morning, barely an hour since she had wrongly accused George of the crime. She supposed it was a good time to apologize to everyone individually.

The task wore her down. Melody was a bit nicer, but George, and especially Adam, were particularly harsh in criticizing her efforts to help. Adam even accused her of the crime and that she was merely looking for a scapegoat through a “fake investigation.” With everything that had happened within the last twenty-four hours (including the wedding preparations), Julia was very tired and heart-broken. She felt useless and wrong, and generally in the way of progress. She locked herself in her room and cried herself to sleep.

Her phone rang. It was Pam. She ended the call and put it on silent. The phone blinked again. Pam was calling back. She grumbled and threw it at the wall, hugging her pillows closer to herself. A few minutes later, Pam was banging on her door.

“Julia, wake up.” Pam shouted. “I know you’re in there. Let me in.”

Julia ignored her.

“I can hear you breathing from here.”

Julia shifted positions.

“Do you really want me to shout from here? Where everyone else can hear?”

“What do you want, Pam?” Julia groaned loudly.

“I need to talk to you. It’s seven am and I haven’t heard from you since midnight. Mr. Drake informed me of your new deadline. Why are you locking yourself up?”

“I’m useless. I can’t do anything right,” Julia moaned, tears dotting her pillow.

Pam quieted down. Julia heard some tinkering and Pam entered her room. She closed the door behind her and attacked Julia, bodily pulling her out of bed and trying to knock some sense into her.

“Stop moping about like a teenager, Julia,” Pam said. “You’re a grown woman. Stop this.”

Julia swatted Pam’s hands away. “Go away, Pam. There’s no way I can solve anything in such a short amount of time.

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.