Chapter 24 – Seduction

For several days, my employment at the Golden Touch continued without any incident that was worth remarking on. I had become part of the scenery; well, almost! Whatever secrets the place might contain, they were not ‘writ large’ upon the walls of that establishment. I would have to try my hardest to winkle them out whatever they were.

Chapter 22 – Girl talk

By the time we had finished work and closed up, the time was well into the small hours. I lingered over my final tasks to make sure that Connie and I would be the last to finish. Accordingly, when we got back to the dressing room to change out of our exotic costumes the others had already left.

Chapter 20 - Undercover

A few minutes later I was shown into Midas’s office. His lair was a plush affair strewn with furnishings as soft as the lighting.

Chapter 18 – False trail

The casino’s head honcho’s first words to me were more mundane than his air of dignity had led me to expect. “As I have heard, my dear, you have accumulated a nice little sum there.” Midas gestured towards my purse. “We always like to send our first-time customers away with smiles on their faces. What was your name again?”

“I hadn’t mentioned it, but it’s Jennifer… Jennifer Cartwright.”

Chapter 16 – The list

At the cursory glance which was all I had the opportunity to make I could see that there were no marks upon the dead woman’s face or arms and no sign of a struggle anywhere. She looked as peaceful as if she had indeed died naturally in her sleep, but there was no way anyone could be sure.

“How sad!” I exclaimed, and I meant it. In the brief interview I’d had with Flora her forthright personality had made a strong impression upon me. We would never continue that conversation now.

Chapter 14 – The intruder

By the time I had driven back to town, I was tired and in low spirits. To make any real kind of progress in unravelling the mystery of the PI’s death seemed to elude me as much as ever. I was tempted to go straight home and soak away my weariness in a steaming bubble bath, but I knew I ought to check in at the office first, for form’s sake if nothing else. When I did so I found my boss at his desk in a scholarly attitude. Had he not moved from his task all day?

Chapter 12 – The decoy

Chapter 10 – The cook

When I reached the office Guy was already there, engaged on his new case. I was not unduly surprised to find that he had anticipated the course of action I’d planned for mine.

Chapter 8 – Walk on by

Chapter 6 – Breaking ground

It was with some small sense of unease that I entered the Simpson mansion the next day. I knew that what I had to report would be unwelcome to my client’s ears and I was proved correct in that surmise. As soon as I told her, Gloria’s expression changed from the sunny smile that had welcomed me to a forbidding frown.

“What do you mean the licence number is untraceable?” she stormed. “This is hopeless. All your efforts have so far come to naught, except, no doubt, to leave me with a large bill.”

Chapter 4 – My first case

All too soon, the anticipated charms of my promised new lifestyle became tarnished. When, after several days more had passed, I found myself in Guy’s place of business for the first time, it would have been putting it mildly to say I was disappointed by the surroundings. I hadn’t expected the Ritz, but the building was ancient and its condition could best have been summed up as dilapidated. The furniture in the office itself evidently dated from another era, one long-bygone.

Chapter 2 – … and two steps back

Now that my cover had been blown, I desperately needed to disappear. My very life was under threat and any faith I’d had in the authorities’ ability to hide me had fallen to absolute zero. There was only one thing to do. I would have to take my survival into my own hands. Adopting a completely new identity was required, and the only way I could think to try which had any chance of succeeding was to create a female persona for myself, no matter how unwelcome that might be. Inwardly I was groaning “Not again!”

Precious Time - Part 3

Precious Time

A novella in three parts

By Erin G

Precious Time – Part 1

Spring was late that year in the burgeoning town in which I had arrived, somewhat precipitately, almost twelve months before. Through March and April, cold and snowy weather prevailed in the eastern two-thirds of the country, though warmer temperatures than usual were reported in most of the remaining states.

Diva in Disguise Chapter 19

After lunch I was engaged in doing the dishes after clearing away. I had been left alone to complete these chores as Madeleine had engaged my co-worker in other duties, a circumstance I found unamusing. After I’d finished, I tossed the dishtowel in the laundry basket and moodily marched upstairs to the maid’s room. I was at an all-time low. That dark cloud threatened to engulf me whichever way I turned.

Diva in Disguise Chapter 17

At the sound of those taunting words, I spun around incautiously to find Karen grinning at me. I had forgotten the tendency of the skirts I was wearing to fly outwards and upwards at the slightest provocation, and her grin broadened into a leer as I strove to calm my frothy layers and restore what little modesty remained to me.

Diva in Disguise Chapter 15

Diva in Disguise Chapter 13

Diva in Disguise Chapter 11

This photo-shoot was going to be a big mistake! A connection between Mistie and Jennifer appeared an inevitable result and that could only be a disaster for the former’s career. Apprehensively I awaited my impending downfall.

“Oh, yes?” I croaked, attempting to put on a brave face as I prepared myself to hear the coming revelation.

It didn’t materialise!

Instead Tam’s conjecture was baffling. “Vera Ralston!”

What was he talking about? I’d never heard of Vera whoever the woman was.

“Vera who?”

Diva in Disguise Chapter 9

Understandably, it was with a few misgivings that I set about readying myself for my first evening as a bar hostess. I had no real idea what that role might require of me. I’d made myself a light lunch, but I was too keyed up to have much appetite. All afternoon I was on tenterhooks, half-expecting the cop to show up. By the time I began my preparations for the evening ahead he still hadn’t done so. Perhaps I wouldn’t encounter the officer again.

Diva in Disguise Chapter 7

Diva in Disguise Chapter 5

Diva in Disguise Chapter 3

After Pete had gone, Alice left the little motel where they had been staying and moved in with me. My college friend offered to remain a further fortnight. Her stated intention was to help clear my mother’s house for sale, but while her practical assistance was welcome enough, just having her around was an emotional support I was most grateful to lean upon.

Diva in Disguise Chapter 1
On the day of the funeral, it rained. I awoke to the sound of it beating against my old bedroom window and the torrent didn’t let up all day. That was fine by me. I didn’t care if it never stopped. I just wished that a flood would sweep away everything I’d known in this town. Hope was at an end here, at least for me.