Dead in a Dumpster
B.L. Blair
Mystery / Romance
Date Published: September 23, 2014
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Synopsis
“I
found the body on December 1st. It was a
horrible way to end an already terrible day.”
When
Leah Norwood finds the body of Isabel Meeks in the dumpster behind her store,
she never imagined the police would consider her a suspect. Sure, she didn’t
liked Isabel, but then again, neither did anyone else. Isabel had a
condescending attitude and a bad reputation. As manager of the antique store,
Patina, she had made a lot of enemies.
There
is Patina’s assistant manager, the handsome and charming Trent. Isabel was
blackmailing him. There is Patina’s owner, the aloof and influential Anthony
Thorpe. Isabel was smuggling drugs
through his store. And there is the entire drug dealing Cantono family. Isabel
had lost a box containing heroin from one of their shipments. That is just to
name a few and didn’t even include the stranger who was seen arguing with
Isabel just hours before her death.
The
police have too many suspects and too many soft alibis. Leah needs to prove to
the sexy new chief of police that she had nothing to do with Isabel’s death.
Leah
loves a good mystery. Can she find the killer before the police charge her with
murder?
Excerpt
“Leah.”
I
turned around and saw Griggs standing near one of the displays toward the back
of the store. He gave me a lazy
smile. My heartbeat sped up a little. Olivia was right as usual. I was attracted to him. I didn’t really know what, if anything, I
would do about that. Alexander Griggs
was very different from the men I usually dated, and I seriously doubted he was
interested in me. Griggs seemed like the
type of man who dated blonde, willowy, sophisticated women. In other words, not me.
“Are
you ready to leave?” he asked me.
I
nodded, rose from the chair, and headed toward him. I moved the attraction issue to the back of
my mind. Once the police solved Isabel’s
murder, I would seldom see Griggs anymore so there was no point in trying to
decide a course of action. He was
staring at one of the displays with a slight smile on his face. I followed his gaze trying to determine what
had captured his attention. Was there
something wrong? Had I missed something?
“What
is it?” I asked when I reached him.
He
turned and looked at me. He nodded
toward the display. The look on his face
made me light-headed. His mouth curled
into a sensual smile, the indentation growing deeper. “At least now I know why you smell like
strawberries.”
I
tore my gaze from him and looked at the display. It was the fragrance that Olivia had created
for me, Leah's Strawberry Essence. I
tried not to blush but felt my face heat up.
He laughed softly.
“Come
on. I'll drive you home. There is nothing more we can do here. Ross and Bottoms have finished dusting for
prints. We have to wait to see if there
is a match before we can proceed.”
The
other officers were waiting outside, and once we left the building, Bottoms
started boarding up the door. Griggs led
me back to his SUV. We waited in the car
until they had finished securing the store.
The officer with Bottoms, whom I assumed was Ross, came over to the car.
Griggs
headed back to my apartment. We didn’t
talk on the way. I was suddenly
exhausted. I hadn’t slept well the last
two nights, and it was now close to midnight.
I really wasn’t much of a night owl and found it difficult to keep my
eyes open. I was now very glad that
Griggs was driving.
He
pulled up in front of the complex. I
opened my door and step out onto the sidewalk.
I was surprised when Griggs turned off the car and opened his door as
well. “You don’t have to get out.”
“I
need to check your place,” he told me.
“What? Why?” I asked.
“Because
someone broke into your store looking for something in those boxes. We both know it was the heroin. They didn’t find it. Or at least not all of it. If it was someone who is familiar with your
habits, then they may come looking here.”
“Oh,”
I said in a small voice. Of course, the
drug dealers would want their drugs back.
I suddenly wished I had my gun.
“I
have asked Reddish to tell the press that we have found the heroin. But it may take a few hours for that to get
out. So I am going to check your
apartment to make sure that no one is in there, and Cisneros and Albright are
on guard duty.”
He
pointed to the police car parked near my stairwell. I hadn’t noticed it when we pulled up. I looked at Griggs. His face was serious and determined. If he thought I was going to argue, he was
crazy. Besides, I was too tired to argue
anyway.
“Thanks,”
I said and led him up the stairs. Griggs
had me wait outside while he checked the apartment. When he said it was all clear, I went
in. I stood in the doorway. It looked just like I had left it.
“Make
sure you lock the door, and if you hear anything out of the ordinary, call
911,” Griggs said as he walked over to me.
“By tomorrow, everyone should know that we have the drugs, and no one
should be after you. Call me if you have
any questions.”
“I
will,” I told him. “Thanks again.”
When
he didn’t say anything, I looked up. He
was watching me. His bright green eyes
held me in place as they swept across my face.
“I
like strawberries,” he said softly. He
leaned forward just a touch, and I thought for a moment that he was going to
kiss me. My heart started to pound, and
my palms began to sweat. My breath
caught in my throat, and I swayed toward him, just a little, but he quickly
moved past me out the door.
“Don’t
leave town,” he ordered as he headed down the stairs.
About the
Author
B.
L. Blair writes simple and sweet romance and mystery/romance stories. Like most authors, she has been writing most
of her life and has dozens of books started.
She just needs the time to finish them.
She
is the author of the Holton Romance Series and the Leah Norwood Mysteries. She enjoys reading books, writing books, and
traveling wherever and as often as time and money allows. She is currently working on her latest book
set in Texas, where she lives with her family.
Author
Links
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