4 Pageant and Poison Read Online Free

slightly. Lately, he seemed very defensive about his cases.
    “What , are you afraid I'll solve it for you?” she teased him playfully.
    Nick was silent on the other end of the line.
    “Nick?” Bekki laughed as she sat up in the tub. “Is that it?”
    “Not exactly,” Nick replied with a sigh. “The truth is, Agent Fox knows about you being involved in previous cases and she was adamant about me not sharing any information on this one with you,” he explained hesitantly.
    “Oh,” Bekki tried not to feel hurt by his words, but she was. “All you had to do was tell me.”
    “I'm sorry Bekki,” Nick said quietly. “It isn't that I don't respect your insight or your intelligence, but this is a really sensitive case, and Agent Fox has her reasons.”
    “Well, I'm too busy for your little crime anyway,” Bekki said jokingly. “I'm in the big city now.”
    “Al l right,” Nick chuckled lightly. “Just don't forget to come home.”
    “I won't,” Bekki promised him in a serious tone.
    “I love you, Bekki,” Nick said calmly into the phone. The words still made Bekki's skin tingle. She couldn't help but smile when she heard them. Nick didn't wait for her reply, he knew better, he just hung up the phone. Bekki set her phone down on the floor beside the tub and sank back down into the bubbling water. She closed her eyes against all of her concerns and let the warm water melt everything but peace away.

Chapter Three
     
    The next morning Bekki arrived at the convention center where the pageant was being held. There were already plenty of cars in the parking lot. The first couple of days would be rehearsals as well as grooming of the contestants. Bekki opened the door to step inside and found a man in uniform standing beside it with a clipboard in his hand.
    “Name?” he asked. Bekki was surprised to see such high security .
    “I'm a stylist for Rafael Alonzo,” Bekki began to explain, but before she could finish Rafael came walking up to her. He was dressed as flamboyantly as usual with a thick, white faux fur coat and huge, dark sunglasses framed by white, sparkling plastic. He wore tight, dark blue jeans and pointed, black dress shoes. His main goal was never to conform, and he was very successful at it.
    “Bekki, Bekki, Bekki, look at you!” he said with a disappointed shake of his head. Bekki grimaced as she knew that her department store dress was not something he approved of. But she hadn’t felt like digging out her designer clothes from the back of her closet. Besides, not having them with her meant she had even more of an excuse to go shopping.
    “Relax, I'm going to find some new clothes later,” Bekki laughed lightly. She had learned never to take Rafael's insults too seriously.
    “Well, I guess I'll just have to tolerate the tackiness for today,” Rafael sighed dramatically. “Hurry up now, there's a lot going on,” he called out as he led her down the hallway to the main staging area. What looked like a normal convention center was transformed when she stepped backstage.
    All the glitz and glamor of the pageant, from the sparkle of the ever present glitter in gowns, in curtains, in the twinkling show lights, to the nearly blinding shine of the lip gloss that absolutely everyone was wearing, left Bekki feeling a little overwhelmed. As she closed her eyes momentarily while she tried to calm her nerves, memories flooded her mind. She had been one of the stylists that was in demand when it came to fashion shows and beauty pageants. She knew how to do big makeup, and big hair, without it actually looking gaudy and overdone. Her clients would insist that Bekki knew just how to make them beautiful. She appreciated the adoration of her clients, but always attributed their beauty to themselves.
    “I can't create what isn't there to start with,” was her usual mantra. Now with her feet once more solidly planted on the sparkle covered floor of the backstage area, she knew she had a long week ahead