Steamed to Death Read Online Free Page B

Marriage isn’t always easy.”
    Gigi’s ears perked up. Alice’s daughter had been married only a few months. Was trouble afoot already?
    “Are they not getting along?”
    “No, according to Stacy, it’s not that. She feels like the magic has gone out of the relationship. I told her you can’t expect the honeymoon to last forever.”
    That’s for sure , Gigi thought. She and Ted had lasted almost eight years. Gigi had thought they were happy—she had been at least, but apparently Ted hadn’t felt the same way. No use thinking about that now.
    “But surely, it’s just talk. Maybe Stacy and Joe had an argument.”
    Alice shook her head so vehemently her gray curls bobbed up and down. “No. I wish that were the case. But Stacy mentioned”—she gulped and tears sprang into her eyes—“the d word.”
    “Oh no.” Gigi didn’t know what to say. “Is there someone else?” she asked tentatively.
    Alice shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She slid her knife through a new onion. “I think she’s looking for that courtship-and-honeymoon excitement. That’s not what marriage is all about.”
    “Hopefully these feelings will pass, and she’ll settle happily into married life.”
    Alice looked doubtful. “I hope so. I’m afraid Stacy is still a bit immature. Maybe she should have waited till she was a bit older—you know, after she saw a bit more of life—to get married.”
    • • •
    Lunchtime came and went, and Gigi was still working hard. Alice had already left for her part-time job at the police station. Gigi glanced at the clock. It was after two, and her stomach was reminding her that she hadn’t eaten anything since a boiled egg and a cup of coffee early that morning. She found some bread in the refrigerator and a jar of peanut butter in the pantry and slapped together a hasty sandwich. The old proverb about the shoemaker’s children going barefoot popped into her head as she munched and cooked.
    By three o’clock Gigi had things well enough under control that she felt she could afford to take a break. She whistled for Reggie, who was asleep under the kitchen table, and together they climbed the back stairs to the third floor. Sienna’s makeshift office was at the top of the stairs, and Gigi realized she hadn’t seen her since the day before.
    Gigi stuck her head around the door of Sienna’s office. It was empty. It didn’t look as if Sienna had been in at all—the desk chair with the special backrest Sienna had ordered was pushed in tidily. The top of the desk was clear of papers, and the trash can was empty. Gigi put her hand on the green-shaded banker’s lamp, and it was cool. That was odd. Perhaps Sienna had had to go into New York for the day?
    Gigi turned around and was about to leave when she noticed a folded newspaper on top of the filing cabinet. Perhaps she would take it to read while she took her break. She tucked it under her arm, shooed Reggie out from under the desk where he was busy spelunking and went down the hall toward her room.
    Gigi collapsed on the bed and leaned against the pillows, Reggie stretched out next to her sighing deeply, as if to say It’s about time . Never mind that he’d already spent the whole morning sleeping in one area of the kitchen or another.
    Gigi unfurled the paper, glanced at the seventy-two-point-type headline and began to read. Her eyes were starting to droop, and she was about to put down the paper when something on the New York Post ’s infamous “Page Six” caught her eye.
    “No!” She sat bolt upright.
    The grainy black-and-white photograph explained everything. No wonder Sienna had threatened to murder Felicity!

Chapter 3
    Gigi read the bold, dark headline. “Felicity Davenport Holed Up in Her Connecticut Home with New Man . ” The black-and-white photograph accompanying the article was slightly blurry, but there was no mistaking the handsome, shirtless man. It was Sienna’s husband, Oliver.
    No wonder Sienna had been so