AllFreeNovel
Share Us
?“I need to speak to you, Jon,” Winsley insisted.
?“Can we talk as we walk, Winsley?” Jon offered, and he was off in the direction of the convention room with Ms. Cunningham right on his heels.
?“I want to know when Randall will be here,” Winsley commanded as they wandered off.
?“Oh, Mr. Watkins,” Candy called.
?I turned to look at the blonde. As she handed me a business card, she touched my shoulder to draw near and whisper in my ear, “My cell number is on the back.”
?I turned the card over and hand-scribed was a ten-digit number with a little heart drawn at the end. “I see.”
?“If you have some free time today, you should take a look at the Marketplace.”
?I smiled. “I looked in. Seems impressive.”
?“If you do, make sure you have your badge on. You can go to any of the lectures or presentations—it’s an all-access pass.”
?“That’s great.” I attempted a joke, “Is it any help with women?”
?She giggled again. “You don’t need any help. But you call me if you need anything. And I mean…anything…at all.”
?She took one perfectly manicured finger—red nail polish, of course—and put it under my chin.
?I was sure I turned beet red, which amused Candy even more. She leaned forward and put her lips to my ear.
?“I just loved your book, Adventure Of The Wailing Banshee,” she murmured. “You captured the Holmes and Watson relationship so well.”
?My smile faded, though my embarrassment did not.
?“Thank you,” I blurted and waved my plastic key. “See you later…uh…Candy.”
?I walked away.
?The title she named surprised me. It was indeed a very good Holmes book. I know, I’d read it.
?But I didn’t write it.
?Sheryl Homes did.
4. First Edition
Sheryl Homes
?I arrived at the Hilton on that spring day, stopped out on Avenue of the Americas to look up at the imposing structure, with my small wheeled suitcase by my feet.
? The subway ride uptown had been no problem, but now I stopped and drew a deep breath knowing what I was about to face.
?It would be an entire day of “friends of Randall,” which meant having to face my ex-husband and his snide comments, seeing people who would do the same, and the pièce de résistance: talking to the annoying blonde bimbo he’d brought into my bed.
?I would be a perfect lady and not rip her dyed hair from her head one strand at a time. That would be, of course, after I lifted her in the air and body-slammed her onto the concrete floor.
?It was nice to know that I was perfectly under control!
?I let go of my homicidal longings and went into the building, knowing exactly where I was going. I had helped arrange the location and I was quite familiar with how the hotel ran conventions. I also had the foresight to get my packet of information ahead of time, and all that was needed was a quick stop at the main desk to pick up my room keys, which I did.
?As I rode up the escalator to the mezzanine level, I swept the crowd that was milling about so I would be on guard if approached by friend or foe.
?And my eyes fell on a good-looking man.
