Mystral Murder (Julie O'Hara Mystery Series) Read Online Free Page B

way regular guests get a lobster that size,” Dale said.
    “And it was sweet,” Cathy added. “I’m sure it was from New England.”
    How could you tell? Julie thought. You just moved it around your plate, along with the rest of your food. You’re too thin. You’ve had your eyelids done and your upper lip. Are you afraid of age, afraid of losing Gill, or both?
    Julie sighed. Cathy’s insecurity was screaming at her.
    Julie was so tired.  Earlier, at the seminar, she had answered Cathy Byrne honestly. She couldn’t “turn it off”, couldn’t stop reading people.  And watching this particular group interact with each other was exhausting.
    Worse, Joe had been dancing with Adrienne half the night, until she finally got the message that Julie was pissed and left.
    “Joe, let’s go. It’s late.”
    “It’s not late! C’mon, loosen up, babe.”
    “Joe. Look, I’m not kidding. I’m tired and I want to go, now .”
    “Well, I don’t. Nobody else is leaving.”
    “What?!  Fine.  Fine . Stay here then. I’m going back to the room.”
    “Fine with me,” he said with a drunken grin, “I’ll see you later.”
    * * * * *
     
     
    CHAPTER 8
    J ulie threw her slim beaded evening bag on the dresser. I’ll be damned if I’ll be here when he gets back! That drunken sonofabitch isn’t climbing in bed with me tonight. She picked up the phone and called the service desk.
    “Hi. This is Julie O’Hara, Deck 10, 1272. I wonder if you might have a single room available?  My partner seems to be coming down with something and I don’t want to catch it,” she said, kicking off her shoes and slipping out of her dress.
    Her face fell. “Are you sure? I don’t care how small it is or where it is. Please look again; I’d be fine with an inside cabin.” She scrunched the phone between her left shoulder and her ear while she hung up her dress. She was stretching the phone cord and the handset pulled away. She caught it with her left hand.
    “What? What did you say? Nothing at all?”
    She sighed and said, “I see. Fully booked. Okay, thank you.”
    Julie plopped in a chair in her underwear. Her arms were crossed and she stared straight ahead, her heels tapping a furious tattoo.  I won’t stay here. I won’t.
    She looked up. I’ll sleep in the spa. I’ll find one of those double chaises with a mat.
    She found a pair of black Capri pants, a white tee shirt and an oversize crew neck sweater and put them on, along with her flats. She stuck her card key in her pocket and left.
    A moment later, she re-opened the door and went into the bathroom, to her cosmetic case. Where are they, s he thought, rummaging around in it. One package was for motion sickness. Not that. There it is. Ambien. Thank God I got this prescription; I’d never get any sleep tonight without it.
    She slipped the pills in her pocket and hurried away.
    ***
     
    “Where’s Julie?” Adrienne asked.
    “She left,” Joe said.  “She’s a party-pooper. Dale left, too. Went to the Casino.”
    “Damn. I brought her book,” she said with a dopey smile. “I wanted her to sign it.”
    “More like you wanted to make peace with her,” Cathy said.
    “Want to dance?” Joe asked, oblivious to Cathy’s comment.
    “Sure,” Adrienne said, looking around the room. “Why not?”
    When the bartender announced last call, Gill and Cathy declined and left Adrienne and Joe to party on.  By two o’clock the band had been gone for some time and they were the only stragglers remaining in the faux-candlelit nightclub. The bartender, who’d had enough of them, finally turned the lights full on.  Joe squinted, grabbed Adrienne’s hand and led her out the door. “Let’s go talk somewhere else.”
    “Talk” the bartender, Gabe, would later characterize as “drunken ragtime”.
    * * * * *
     
     
    CHAPTER 9
    J ulie had gotten off the elevator on Deck 11 - the Lido Deck - and walked through the deserted pool area. The expanse of empty white deck chairs