Elaine Viets & Victoria Laurie, Nancy Martin, Denise Swanson - Drop-Dead Blonde (v5.0) (pdf) by Unknown (best classic books .TXT) 📗

but without a face to go by, she couldn't be sure. Something had struck her about last night's comic, but she couldn't quite remem- ber what it was. What had she noticed that made him stick out?

The fire chief interrupted her rumination by holding out his hand to Simon and saying, ``Mr. Reid, good news. There's no sign of a fire anywhere in the building.''

Simon shook the chief's hand, and asked, ``What caused the alarm to go off?''

``As far as we can tell, it was triggered in the upstairs apartment. It looks as if someone burned something in a 206 Denise Swanson wastebasket up there and didn't quite put it out.'' The chief took off his helmet and scratched his head. ``You've got a very sensitive smoke-detection system, and the smoldering paper would have been enough to set it off.''

``That's strange.'' Simon wrinkled his brow. ``My mother lives in that apartment, and she was down in the bowling alley.'' He turned to Bunny. ``Did you go back upstairs for anything?''

``No. I haven't been in my apartment since six, when I changed clothes for tonight's contest.'' Bunny smoothed the pristine white embroidered jeans that clung to her like the peel on a banana. The matching shirt had a mesh vee down the front that reached nearly to her waist.

Skye noticed that the fire chief could barely take his eyes from Bunny's silicone valley, which made her aware of her own less-than-attractive appearance. She wore the same clothes she had put on to come to work at noon--black jeans and an emerald-green turtleneck that matched her eyes. They were both covered with smudges and stains from helping people exit the building in an orderly fashion. How had Bunny remained so spotless?

``Who else has a key to your apartment, Mrs. Reid?'' The fire chief withdrew a small notebook from an inside pocket.

``Please, call me Bunny. `Mrs. Reid' makes me feel so old.''

``I'd be honored.''

Skye hadn't noticed Charlie join the group until she heard him clear his throat and saw him frown at the chief, who ignored him. Skye made a face. She knew Charlie and Bunny had dated back in November, when the redhead had first arrived in town, but she thought that was over. Had they started up again?

The chief repeated his question. ``So, Bunny, who else has a key to your apartment?''

``Let's see.'' Bunny tapped her cheek with a red-tipped nail. ``Sonny Boy.''

``That would be Mr. Reid?''

Simon nodded brusquely and frowned at his mother.

``Were you in the apartment tonight?''

``No.''

``Anyone else, Bunny?'' the chief probed. DEAD BLONDES TELL NO TALES 207

Bunny was silent, as was Simon, so Skye suggested, ``How about Ruby?''

``What about Ruby?'' The blonde had sidled up next to Charlie, and was looking him over appreciatively.

``I thought you might have a key to Bunny's apartment, since you're staying with her,'' Skye explained. ``The fire chief wants to know who has one.''

``Yes, Bunny gave me a spare.'' Ruby turned her atten- tion to the chief, laying a hand on his arm. ``I hope that doesn't mean you think I deliberately set the fire. I'd be ever so upset if you thought badly of me.''

It was hard to tell, since the chief's face was deeply tanned, but Skye could swear he blushed.

``No,'' he stammered, ``of course not. It looks like an accident. Maybe you burned something in the wastebasket earlier and didn't realize it was still smoldering?''

A strange expression crossed Ruby's face, but she quickly rearranged her features and produced a single tear. ``Oh, my, I'm so sorry. I didn't think. How awful of me to abuse Bunny's hospitality like that.'' She clutched the chief's hand. ``I was paying bills and I wanted to destroy the in- voices. You know, they keep warning and warning you about identity theft, so I burned them. I was sure the fire was out. I can't believe I was that careless.''

The chief put his free arm around Ruby's shoulders. ``Don't you worry about it, ma'am. No harm done. My boys needed the practice anyway.'' He turned to Simon. ``I'm sure you agree, Reid, that accidents happen.''

Simon glanced from his mother to the blonde cuddling in the chief's arms, and shrugged. ``Can't argue with that. Some things are inevitable.'' Chapter 8

Nip It in the Blonde ``Trust Bunny to have an alarming finish for something as tame as a trivia game,'' Simon commented to Skye as she drove them toward her cottage.

After the fire chief had finished talking to them, Simon had gone home to drop off his car. Skye had followed a few minutes later and picked him up.

Six months ago, Skye and Simon had finally taken the big step and spent the night together. Since then, continu- ing the intimate side of their relationship without the whole town finding out that they were sleeping together had been a challenge.

Despite the casual attitude toward sex that Hollywood portrayed in the movies, small-town Scumble River took a dim view of its unmarried citizens hopping in and out of bed with one another. Not that the town singles didn't have premarital sex; they just had to be a lot more discreet than if they lived in Chicago.

This posed a bigger problem for Skye and Simon than most, because both their jobs put them in the public eye. In addition, each drove extremely distinctive cars, and Skye's mother worked as a police dispatcher--the officer on patrol would definitely tell her if he saw Simon's Lexus parked at Skye's cottage all night.

Now, as Skye maneuvered the Bel Air into her driveway, she wondered if Simon's staying over was a good idea. It had been a long day, and she felt anything but attractive in her dirty clothes with her hair morphed from its usual smooth curtain into a mass of wild curls.

She planned her strategy as she fitted