– From The Little Book of Beauty Secrets by Mimi Morgan
After leaving Mercy Hospital, I drove home through a thick southern mist, the kind that clings to the car and makes you try your windshield wipers in vain. But at least the monsoons had lifted. The morning rush-hour traffic reminded me that it was still early in the day, which seemed oddly surprising; eons seemed to have passed since I′d been jolted awake by Roe′s telephone call.
Inside my kitchen I made a pot of coffee while mulling over what I′d learned about Jana′s husband, Gavin. Could he have arranged her death as some kind of hit for hire? As a reporter I′d covered plenty of stories where murder had been committed for much less gain than a two-million-dollar insurance policy. Especially if he′d known that she was planning to leave him, Gavin had plenty of motive to arrange her death.
I yearned to talk to Jonathan. He′d know instinctively whether there was any real cause for suspicion about Jana′s husband. Probably he′d tell me not to worry about it-that Luke was a great cop, and that the evidence would steer the investigation.
Before trying Jonathan, I put in a call to Evelyn and told her what had happened.
As soon as she recovered from the immediate shock about Jana′s murder, Evelyn promised to call our friends in the Durham area to give them the tragic news.
Except for Trish. I needed to call her myself.
During our last conversation, Jana had mentioned that she′d left her purse behind at Trish′s house on the night of the Newbodies meeting. I didn′t know whether she′d had a chance to reclaim the bag before the carjacking. It was a beat in the story that sounded off, like an engine misfiring a cylinder.
Evelyn, who′d put down the phone to print out her contact list, returned to the line.
″Oh, Kate,″ she said. ″Everyone in our group is going to be so incredibly devastated when they hear about Jana. And frightened.″
″By the carjacking, you mean?″
″By the fact that it′s happened again to our support group. Jana is the second member of the Newbodies to be killed.″
Chapter 12
What′s your Most Important Beauty Asset?
Believe it or not, self-confidence really is your most important beauty asset. If you doubt that fact, simply consider the career of Sarah Jessica Parker. On the power of sheer self-confidence, she packaged her crone′s nose and so-so features and somehow managed to convince the world that she is one of the great beauties of the ages.
So what′s the take-home lesson of Sarah Jessica
Parker for you? You have to really, really, really believe in
yourself. (Oh, plus you have to dress well and have a
lot of talent and work out constantly to get a killer bod.)
Say it with me, all together now: ″If Sarah Jessica can do it, so can I!″
– From The Little Book of Beauty Secrets by Mimi Morgan
″Someone else was killed?″ I asked Evelyn. ″Who? How come I never heard about it?″
″I didn′t know her,″ Evelyn replied. ″Her name was Anaïs Loring. She died last spring right before I joined the Newbodies. Anaïs was the group′s founder. Everyone said she was very charismatic.″
″Was it a carjacking?″
″No,″ she said. ″Anaïs was killed in a home-invasion robbery. There was lots of stuff stolen from her home, including her jewelry and credit cards. Anaïs was found shot dead in her kitchen. ″
The story rang a distant bell. I must have heard about the Anaïs Loring murder at the time. I′d have to look it up when I got back to the studio. Talk about being behind the times.
While I was thinking, Evelyn continued. ″The police never arrested anybody in Anaïs′s murder, ″ she said. ″And now Jana′s dead. And last week another woman in our group got her identity stolen. So I′m thinking-″
″Wait a second. Slow down, Evelyn,″ I said as her implication sunk in. ″You think the two murders-of Jana and Anaïs-are linked? A home invasion and a carjacking? And that the killings are connected somehow to the identity theft of another woman in the group?″
When Evelyn didn′t respond, I added, ″Iden tity theft usually happens when someone logs on to a bad Web site on the Internet. What makes you think it has anything to do with Jana? Or Anaïs?″
″I don′t know exactly,″ Evelyn admitted. ″But it feels like some evil karma is stalking the Newbodies. I′m even wondering if we should disband the group.″
When my conversation with Evelyn wrapped up, I punched in Jonathan′s number. I was already mentally rehearsing the message I wanted to leave, the precise words that would let him know how urgent it was that I speak to him right away.
Jonathan surprised me by picking up on the third ring.
″Hallo,″ he said.
″Hi, sweetie; it′s me.″
A slight pause. ″Of course. How′ve you been?″ Jonathan′s tone was stilted.
″Well, I just wanted to reach you in general,″ I began, thinking how lame my words sounded. ″And especially today, because something has happened.″
″Oh.″ Another weird pause. ″Kate, I′m sorry, but is it okay if I call you right back? I′m-″
From his end of the line I heard a strange noise. It sounded like the trilling sound a caged bird makes. Then there was a muffled sound, as if Jonathan was covering the receiver with his hand. Or maybe someone was trying to grab it from him.
″Is everything all right with you there?″ I asked, worried now. ″Is it your mother? Is she okay?″
″Mum′s fine. I′ve just been busy because some things came up. I′ll call you when I-″
Another sound of a struggle that ended in a peal of female laughter. Then a different voice came on the line. It was a woman′s voice.
″Katie, honey, Jonathan′s busy right now.″ She sounded extremely young, and she spoke with an Asian-sounding accent.
Then she added with a giggle, ″You′ve heard of me, right, Katie? My name is Gi. I′m Jonathan′s wife.″
My heart tumbled into my gut.
″But why don′t you call me Gigi?″ she continued. ″That′s what my Johnnie calls me.″
I tried to think of something to come back with. But I was completely speechless. I couldn′t even move my lips.
Meanwhile Gi-Gigi-continued speaking in a bright, oddly chipper tone: ″Ooh, did Johnnie forget to tell you he′s still married? His bad. I′ll spank him now for you, okay? He likes that. We′re fucking like love bunnies right now.″
In the background, Jonathan yelled, ″Cut it out, Gi. Damn you.″
Then he came back on the line, his voice urgent. ″Kate, let me explain. This is not what you-″
I couldn′t bear to hear anything more. There would be. No. More. Words.
I slammed down the receiver.
Chapter 13
Straighten out Your Eye Circles
Nothing says ″old and tired″ like dark circles underneath your eyes. While some of us have a genetic predisposition toward eye circles, there are remedies and concealment tricks galore.
Here are a few of my tried-and-true techniques:
• Get plenty of sleep. Too often, many of us get shortchanged on z′s. Make sure you get seven or eight hours of sleep on a regular basis.
• Don′t skip your exercise-poor circulation exacerbates circles.
• Drink lots of water-dehydration makes circles worse.
• Use a concealer with a pink tint to mask graytone circles.
• Stay moisturized-try rubbing a bit of almond oil under your eyes every night and every morning.
– From The Little Book of Beauty Secrets by Mimi Morgan