Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 09 - Romance & Revenge Page 16
“I don’t know, but I’ll find out,” he said, getting up and walking to the door. I heard him open the door and then voices. It sounded like he was talking to John.
I was right, as they both came into the kitchen.
“Hi, John! Help yourself to a donut,” I said.
“No, thank you. I’m sorry for coming in unannounced, but I thought you would probably want this news. I just left the police station.”
“What did they say?”
“It was Glenda who was using my dad’s credentials and she was stealing.”
“How?” Jared asked.
“She was invoicing clients small amounts for extra fees. It was clients we had a history with, so they didn’t even question it.”
“But how did she get the money?” I asked. “Wouldn’t the checks have had the company name on it?”
“Yes, they would, and did. She set up a business with the same name in Florida. She then set up a bank account and then on the bill had a different address, so it went to her P.O. Box in Florida. Because these were long-term clients, they didn’t pay attention and just paid it. She kept the amounts low so no one would notice, and no one probably would have, at least for a while, had it not been for what you uncovered. I can’t thank you enough, Presley.”
“It was all of us.”
“So what’s going to happen to her now?” Jared asked.
“Back to work as usual for us. The police have been contacted here and in Florida and we will be filing charges against Glenda. Theft and mail fraud are just two I know right now. My dad is going to be crushed when he finds this out. He had such trust in her.” John shook his head sadly.
“What about Becky?” I asked.
“After what Glenda told them about Peter, the cops picked him up and he confessed to killing Becky with some of her dead grandmother’s insulin. Apparently, Peter had helped Becky clean out her house when she died and stole it. Who knows why, but poor Becky.”
We all sat in silence because it was a tragedy. For greed to overcome basic human decency.
“Are you happy you can go back to work tomorrow, Jared,” Katy said.
“Relieved is more like it.”
“Speaking of work, I don’t want to take up any more of your time. I just wanted to tell you the news in person. See you at work tomorrow, Jared,” John said.
“Don’t remind me,” he grumbled good-naturedly.
“I’ll let myself out. Have a great New Year!”
“Thanks, John,” we all said.
“I have an announcement to make.”
They all looked at me and I was excited to share this news. It was the one thing I had filled Cooper in on and got his opinion on last night. I don’t think we slept at all between the talking, and other things, but I wasn’t tired. I was too excited to be tired. Cooper and I had some things to work out still but I wasn’t worried anymore.
“Don’t keep us in suspense. Spill it,” said Katy.
“I’m going to take James up on his offer. I am going to call him this morning. If everything checks out, I will soon be the proud owner of one slightly failing retail boutique,” I said, unable to contain my grin
“Oh, Presley! That’s wonderful!” Katy exclaimed, jumping up to hug me.
“What finally convinced you?” Jared asked.
“Cooper did. He said the same things you both said and I think it finally sunk in. I would be crazy not to try.”
“Sure, listen to him not us,” Katy teased.
“I still think you should move here and help me,” I told her.
Katy smiled. “Well, now that I know you’re all in, I will really think about it.”
“Anyone up for a celebratory Law and Order marathon on A&E?” Jared said, walking into the living room.
“I’m in!” I said.
Sitting on the couch next to Cooper with my head on his shoulder, I thought what a great start the year was already off to.
Things were back on track with the man I love. I had a new business venture. Life was good. I wondered what else the New Year had in store for me.
The End
See what’s in store for Presley in her new venture as a business owner in Accessories & Alibis.
Presley buys failing retail boutique, Silk, and on the first day of business ownership the store manager Roxanne is arrested for murdering her boyfriend. Roxanne insists she’s innocent and asks for Presley’s help.
Presley believes her and tries to help while getting the boutique up and running just to find out someone has been paying themselves from company funds? Who is stealing from Silk and is there more to Rod and Roxanne’s relationship than meets the eye?
If you loved this book, I know you’ll enjoy the rest of my novels. Scroll through the titles below, or check out my website at http://www.lainaturner.com. If you sign up for my mailing list you will receive a free book! Thank you for reading!
Stilettos & Scoundrels
Presley tells her boss what he can do with her job in HR and embarks on a new career as a freelance journalist. What seems like a simple interview with a Senator turns to murder when the day after her interview the Senator turns up dead. Does the fact that Presley was one of the last people to see him alive make her a suspect? Her ex-boyfriend Cooper, who was in charge of the Senators security, might think so. Presley is determined to clear her name but can she do it and resist Cooper’s charms?
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Necklaces & Nooses
When Presley’s boss is found hanging she thinks its suicide until the police discover its homicide. Who would want to kill a boutique owner? Presley’s not sure but she’s determined to find out. The cute detective assigned to the case makes it all the more exciting.
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Handbags & Hooligans
Presley went to Vegas to watch her friend Anna get married and the event turned into solving the mystery of her brother’s girlfriend disappearance. But Ashley wasn’t exactly the schoolteacher she appeared to be. Who was she and was she kidnapped?
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And the holiday short…Mistletoe & Murder
In this holiday short story, Presley goes home for Christmas expecting it to be a relaxing holiday until her old boyfriend, Brian, asks for her help finding out who has been stealing from him and it turns from theft to murder. Why would anyone want to kill Tommy and what was he hiding?
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Gems & Gunshots
Presley heads to San Diego to hang out with Cooper and enjoy the great west coast weather. She didn’t expect that while hanging out at the local coffee shop she would be a witness to a robbery and murder at Gemstone’s Unlimited. Much to Cooper’s dismay Presley feels compelled to investigate. She discovers that not only was the storeowner a womanizer but also was filing false insurance claims for diamonds that weren’t really stolen. Was that why he was being blackmailed? Was that why someone robbed his store? Presley’s determined to find out!
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Get the first 5 Presley Books PLUS the short story A Day in the Life of Trixie Pristine in the Presley Thurman boxed set.
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Tiaras & Texans
Presley wins a bet and thinks she finally is going to get a chance to work with Cooper and show her she’s got the potential to be a good security detail for his company. She is miffed when she finds out her first assignment is to protect a bunch of self absorbed beauty queens at a Texas pageant. It soon becomes a more interesting gig than she thought, much to her delight and Cooper’s dismay, when one of the beauty queens turns up dead and the fierce competition leave the door wide open to suspects.
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Cupids & Crooks
A trip to an all-inclusive resort in Cabo San Lucas. No work and all play was all that was on her mind until well renowned Mexican soap opera star, Lucia Vegas, turned up dead in the hotel pool. Accident it was not and Presley couldn’t help but wonder what had happened. Then she met reporter, Belinda, who told her the theory tha
t Lucia was just one of a string of murders targeting young actresses. Vacation or not, Presley had to find the murderer!
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Vows & Victims
Back in Alkon for her best friends wedding, Presley shaded her eyes with her hands and leaned against the front window to eliminate glare so she could see in better. She looked around and could see Katy had replaced the tile colors with a softer blue, which gave the salon a much lighter feel than it had before. As she looked around she saw a mannequin sitting, or rather slumped over in one of the hair styling chairs. Why would Katy have a mannequin in there? Or was it a mannequin? She squinted to see better and almost wished She hadn’t. Holy crap, that was most certainly not a mannequin. Presley reached for her phone thinking where were the odds this would happen to her twice. She had just found a dead body.
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Romance & Revenge
Coming out summer 2014
Someone is trying to sabotage the company Presley’s best friend Jared works for by leaking company documents to other firms who are then upstaging their presentations. To take her mind off Cooper, Presley tries to help the owner figure out who wants to ruin the company but it’s not really working.
Presley and Cooper are on a break or are they broken up? It was never really clarified and she just found out he’s in town and he hasn’t called. Is he avoiding her? What does that mean?
Are they done for good?
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Accessories & Alibis
Coming out summer 2014
Presley buys a failing retail boutique, Silk, and on the first day of business ownership the store manager Roxanne is arrested for murdering her boyfriend. Roxanne insists she’s innocent and asks for Presley’s help.
Presley believes her and tries to help while getting the boutique up and running just to find out someone has been paying themselves from company funds? Who is stealing from Silk and is there more to Rod and Roxanne’s relationship than meets the eye?
If you enjoy reading about Presley’s adventures then you won’t want to miss reading about Trixie Pristine and her friends Berklie and Sophie in A Day in the Life of Trixie Pristine and Books Aren’t Just for Reading.
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A Day in the Life of Trixie Pristine
In this short story prequel, Trixie and her friends Berklie and Sophie, considered themselves typical thirty something females until someone turned up murdered in their newly opened bookstore/wine bar. They thought they would be living out their dream in their new shop not trying to catch a killer. Who killed Sylvia and why? Or was one of them the intended target?
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Books Aren’t Just for Reading
Trixie and her friends, Berklie and Sophie, are excited about the opening of Read/Wine their new business venture of a bookstore/wine bar. All is going well until they happen to find a dead body in the shop and that wasn’t part of the business plan. All signs pointed to Berklie since it was her ex-husband’s lover who was murdered. Trixie knew Berklie hadn’t murdered Sylvia so who did?
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Cupcakes Aren’t Just for Eating
Trixie, Berklie, and Sophie are enjoying the success of their bookstore/coffee shop/wine bar, Read-Wine, and planning for Sophie’s upcoming wedding when they start receiving hang up calls. At first they chalk it up to a wrong number but soon the caller reveals himself. It’s Stephen making good on his threat. He wants his money back. The fact that the police confiscated it doesn’t matter to him. He wants it back and has given them a deadline. A deadline they need to meet before anyone else ends up dead.
Finding out Sophie’s fiancé isn’t who he says he is a shock but his alter ego might come in handy getting Stephen to leave them alone. But with this much money at stake will he? Or are they in danger?
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Get the first three Trixie books PLUS Athena’s Holiday as a boxed set.
Read the first book in the new Athena Parks series.
Athena’s Holiday
Meet Athena Parks, thirty something law professor who on a whim invites a guy she just met, Tristan West, home with her for the holidays. As crazy as it might seem she was willing to risk him being an ax murder in order to have a buffer between her and her mom. They had that kind of relationship.
Things were going well and she couldn’t deny there was chemistry between them. Maybe this was a sign she had finally found a good guy. Until her uncle Peter recognized Tristan. Who wasn’t Tristan at all. Who was he?
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Next in the series, Athena’s Law, due out 2014.
Athena Parks, law professor, has accepted a one year teaching contract at Hartford Law in Louisville, Ky to replace professor, Bill Peterson, who was taking a leave to defend embezzler, Randall Whittier. What should have been a quiet summer teaching summer school took a turn for the opposite when Athena found Bill murdered in his office.
Was Bill killed to keep him from defending Randall or was there something else at play here?
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Check out my website at www.lainaturner.com, sign up for my mailing list (and get a free short story), or download my iPhone app, Laina Turner, to be updated on upcoming books and events.