Books by Dorothy Howell
HANDBAGS AND HOMICIDE
PURSES AND POISON
Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation
PURSES and POISON
Dorothy Howell
To David, Stacy, Judy, and Seth
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is extremely grateful for the wit, wisdom, knowledge, and support of many people. Some of them are David Howell, Judith Howell, Stacy Howell, Seth Branstetter, Martha Cooper, Candace Craven, Lynn Gardner, Ellie Kay, Diana Killian, Kelly Mays, Bonnie Stone, Tanya Stowe, and Willian F. Wu, Ph.D. Many thanks to Evan Marshall of the Evan Marshall Agency, and to John Scognamiglio and the hardworking team at Kensington Publishing for all their support.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 1
“I’m in love,” I swore.
“You’re in heat,” Marcie replied.
My best friend, Marcie Hanover, and I were at the South Coast Plaza, one of L.A.’s trendiest shopping centers, and I was within seconds of performing a carnal act on a display case.
“Forget it, Haley,” Marcie told me.
“But it’s a Judith Leiber,” I said, caressing the glass case with my palms. Inside was the most gorgeous evening bag I’d ever laid eyes on—and I’ve seen a lot of bags. Marcie has, too. We readily admit to our handbag addiction.
In fact, over the last couple of months the two of us had moved beyond being compulsive, crazed, white twenty-somethings obsessed with designer purses. We were no longer simply handbag whores. Now we were handbag whore businesswomen.
Or trying to be.
“You can’t get that bag,” Marcie insisted, gesturing at the display case.
“Austrian crystals,” I said—actually, I think I moaned—“elegantly handcrafted.”
“No.”
“It’s got a satin lining.”
“Walk away from the case, Haley.”
“And comes in a gorgeous box.”
“Step back. Now.”
“With a keepsake bag!”
“It’s two thousand dollars!”
Best friends can really spoil a mood sometimes.
Marcie was right, though. Marcie is almost always right. I couldn’t get the bag—right now, anyway—thanks to the new direction my life had taken.
Only a couple of months ago I, Haley Randolph, with my dark hair worthy of a salon-shampoo print-ad in Vogue, my long pageant legs, and my beauty-queen genes—even though they’re mostly recessive—had figured everything out. And not only did I know what I wanted, but I also knew how to get it. Yeah, yeah, I knew I was twenty-four now. A huge chunk of my life was gone already. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that I was going for it.
Marcie and I left the store and moved through the mall with the rest of the late morning crowd. That gorgeous evening bag had taken possession of my brain; I’d probably lie awake all night figuring a way to get it.
“Are we still going to that new club tomorrow night?” Marcie asked.
Hearing about an opportunity to party snapped me out of my Judith Leiber stupor.
“Yeah, sure,” I said.
“No homework this weekend?” Marcie asked.
Damn. Homework. I’d forgotten about it. Again.
In a startling moment of clarity worthy of a Lifetime Channel movie, I’d made the decision to forgo my career, such as it was, in accounting, and blow off a move to San Francisco to pursue a higher education. I’d wanted a real career, a profession. Something of substance, importance, where I could have a positive impact on the lives of others—plus, make a lot of money and buy great handbags, of course.
I still didn’t know exactly what sort of position that would be, and didn’t really care, as long as I could be the person in charge and everybody else had to do what I said.
Businesses wouldn’t let you make the big decisions, take over, and run things unless you had credentials—go figure—so I was now pursuing my bachelor’s degree. The college counselor, who was obviously overdue for a stint in rehab, thought that because I had every weekday free, I should take a full load. That’s six classes, or something.
But I didn’t want to overwhelm myself by taking on too much, so I cut my schedule down a little. The classes I picked were tough, though. Both of them.
So far, college seemed a lot like high school, so I didn’t understand what the fuss was all about. Plus, the instructors were taking themselves way too seriously. They expected us to complete every single assignment and actually pay attention in class. I was just there to complete the course; they seemed to think I wanted to learn something.
I wasn’t worried about my grades. English was easy—all I’d done so far was copy stuff off the Internet—and I’d be able to keep up the good grades in Health, as long as that girl who sat in front of me didn’t start covering her paper.
Marcie and I left the mall and said good-bye in the parking lot, and I took the freeway to Santa Clarita, a really great upscale area about thirty minutes north of Los Angeles. I had an apartment there, which was terrific, and a job there that wasn’t. But that’s okay, because I was on my path toward a highly successful future…somewhere, doing something.
Holt’s Department Store was seven minutes from my place—six, if I ran the light at the corner. It was a midrange store that sold clothing and shoes for the whole family, jewelry, accessories, and housewares, mostly.
The corporate buyer in charge of the clothing ought to be taken out behind one of the stores and beaten—or worse, be forced to wear Holt’s clothing. Believe me, no one lies awake at night plotting a way to purchase anything on our racks.
I had started working there last fall just before Thanksgiving as a salesclerk. It was supposed to be through the holidays, but then all sorts of crap happened. I ended up