Roxy Reinhardt Mysteries Box Set
Page 1
The Roxy Reinhardt Mysteries
BOOKS 1-3
Alison Golden
Honey Broussard
Contents
FREE PREQUELS
PRAISE FOR THE ROXY REINHARDT MYSTERY SERIES
MARDI GRAS MADNESS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
NEW ORLEANS NIGHTMARE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
LOUISIANA LIES
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
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BOOKS IN THE ROXY REINHARDT SERIES
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PRAISE FOR THE ROXY REINHARDT MYSTERY SERIES
“Louisiana Lies was awesome!”
“The story was brilliantly plotted out and wonderfully written, you could barely wait to turn the pages to see where the tale would take you next.”
“Excellent story, very clever.”
“I read your book until the wee hours last night.... couldn't put it down!!”
“All the food made me very hungry and really wanting to visit New Orleans!”
“Absolutely loved it!!!”
“You've done a great job. Truly. This one shines.”
“I just want you to know how much I like Roxy. She makes me smile.”
“Loved the book, looking forward to the next installment. I think you've got a winner!”
“I like Roxy and her new friends and look forward to more books including them.”
“Love Roxy’s posse.”
“What a great book!”
“Loved it!”
“Excellent characterization.”
“I need to tell you that you have a winner here.”
“I’m enjoying this new series immensely. Congratulations on the start of another great series.”
“Loved your new series!”
“The story was fantastic!”
“Storyline and character development is easy flowing, interesting, and really holds the reader’s interest. Overall a great new series to look forward to!”
“Loved the book, looking forward to the next installment. I think you've got a winner!”
MARDI GRAS MADNESS
BOOK ONE
CHAPTER ONE
“WHAT IS WRONG with you?” the man said.
Roxy Reinhardt blinked over and over trying to get her view of the world to clear. As it was, everything looked blurry with unshed tears. The call center desks looked warped as the fluid in her eyes distorted everything, stretching out desks and squeezing people until it all looked as wrong as it felt. Please don’t let me cry…please don’t let me cry.
“Sir,” Roxy said, praying her voice wouldn’t shake, “I have to remind you to remain non-abusive in your interactions with customer service.” She adjusted her headset and swallowed hard. “It would be easier for us to troubleshoot your washing machine problems if you were a little calmer.”
“I am calm!” the man at the other end of the line shouted, adding a strong curse word for good measure.
“Okay,” said Roxy, just about holding it together enough that her voice didn’t tremble. “Just a second, please.” She hit the “Hold” button and exhaled deeply trying to calm herself. What she didn’t expect was a little sob to come out, too.
Jade had heard and turned around with a nasty gleeful look on her face. “Are you crying, Roxy?” she asked, her eyes shining. Straightening up in her seat, Roxy tucked her blonde flyaways behind her ears.
“No,” Roxy said quickly. Some days this job felt so much like high school. It was as though bullies picked on her, sneered at her, and followed her around. She always seemed to have to “protect” herself from Jade, as well as Chloe, the girl in front who was mercifully taking what seemed to be a long, drawn-out technical call.
Roxy tried to take no notice. All she wanted to do was go to the office each morning, work hard, save her money, go home and spend the evening snuggling on the couch with her boyfriend Ryan and fluffy white princess cat Nefertiti. Was that too much to ask?
Apparently it was, as Jade and Chloe always seemed to have something smart and cutting to say. In Chloe’s case, it was often clothed as a “compliment.”
“Oh, Roxy, your hair looks nice today. At least, it looks so much better than it did yesterday,” or “Oh, Roxy, I wish I had a figure like yours. All the men chase after me because of my curves, and it’s just so annoying.”
Roxy was short, only five-feet-two. She had a slim, small-boned figure with which she was mostly at peace. But she was frequently carded and even mistaken for her boyfriend’s much younger sister, despite being 24.
Roxy was generally secure enough in herself to recognize these young women, her co-workers, as insecure and rude and their “compliments” as silliness. However, today she wasn’t able to just let their comments roll off her back quite so easily. She took a deep breath. In truth it felt like everything in her life was falling apart, and she had no clue how to patch it back together again.
Always one to try and look on the bright side, at times like these she would tell herself, “At least I still have my savings.” Having grown up in a semi-rural, impoverished home in Ohio, this money that she had put aside was very important to her. The cushion of money made her feel so safe.
Roxy didn’t make all that much as a call center customer service rep, but she religiously transferred a couple hundred dollars into her savings account each month. It meant bringing in sandwiches and coffee in a flask instead of buying them from the store next door like everyone else, but it was worth it for the glorious feeling of security. Heck, it meant coming to her miserable call center job day in and day out, but if that’s what it took, that’s what it took. She would pay the price of 50 percent boredom, 50 percent stress for the peace of mind she felt when she checked her bank balance—something she did at least once a day. Seeing that dollar amount next to her name was thrilling to Roxy.
But not even her nest egg could save her from her other Big Problem.
Ryan, her tall, dark, six-foot-five boyfriend, was slipping away. No, he was wrenching himself away. No matter what Roxy did, he kept getting ruder and more distant—saying more and more hurtful things as the days went by. It wasn’t his raised voice that hurt her so much; it was the look in his eyes. All the warmth had gone. He looked through her like she was a complete stranger.
Her eyes welled up again.
She suddenly remembered her abusive customer at the end of the phone. She pressed the “Hold” button to go back to the call but got nothing but a beeeeeep on the other end. He’d already hung up. Roxy flopped her head forward into her hands and swallowed. She’d give anything not to cry here. Anything. The customer would call back and report her for leaving him on hold for so long, and her supervisor would dock her pay instantly, she just knew it.
Angela, her boss, was a cold, hard woman who prided herself on being “no-nonsense” with her employees, which in this case meant she was a real witch. Any little mistake, she docked pay. Didn’t meet your call target for the day? Docked pay. Got to your desk one minute late? Docked pay. If anyone got sick or pregnant, she treated them like they’d made a terrible, unworthy choice and were exaggerating their symptoms.
Roxy felt her phone vibrate in her bag. She knew it would be Ryan—he was the only one who called her. Preferring a quiet, almost silent life, she had very few friends, and her mom never called. She’d never met her father, so it couldn’t possibly be him. Roxy felt a huge urge to reach down and check her phone surreptitiously. Cell phones, however, were strictly forbidden in the office. Getting caught using it one time was a fineable offense. Twice? Termination of employment would be instantaneous.
Roxy valued her job too much to check her phone, but her mind ran wild trying to work out about what Ryan might have texted her. Was it a “Sorry for being a jerk, honey bun, let’s move on,” kind of text? Or, much more likely, a variation on “You’re so unambitious, and you’re holding my life back.” The latter seemed to be his latest complaint.
Roxy couldn’t ruminate for too long, however, because the phone on her desk rang again—a new customer service call to take. “Good afternoon, you’re through to Modal Appliances, Inc. My name’s Roxy. How may I help you today?”
CHAPTER TWO
“OH, HELLO,” THE voice of an elderly lady said. “I’ve just bought a new washing machine, and I can’t work out all these complicated buttons. Do you think you could help me with that?”
“Of course, ma’am,” Roxy said with a forced smile. “Do you know what model of machine you bought by any chance?”
“No, dear, I’m afraid I don’t.”
“No problem,” Roxy said. “Let me walk you through how to find that out. There’s a special sticker on the back of the machine.”
“Oh, thank you,” the old lady said. “That would be very kind of you, Roxy.”
“You’re so welcome.”
Roxy’s favorite calls were those where she could help people who were polite and respectful, even grateful, and she dared to believe that perhaps her day was looking up just the tiniest bit.
But then she caught sight of Angela, her supervisor, marching over. From where Roxy sat, it didn’t look like Angela was using her “We’re-Hitting-Targets-And-I’m-Giving-You-A-Huge-Bonus” walk. It was more like “I’m-On-The-Warpath-And-About-To-Give-You-Hell.” Angela’s eyes locked onto Roxy and didn’t leave her face.
Jade, even though she was on a call, noticed her storm by and turned to flash her eyes wide at Roxy, evidently delighted by the promise of impending drama. Roxy’s fingers began to shake ever so slightly as Angela came to a stop next to Roxy’s desk and towered over her, folding her arms. Roxy looked up, but Angela flapped at her dismissively, signaling that she should get back to the call.
Roxy pulled up the relevant manual on her screen and prepared to talk the elderly woman through the buttons on her machine. Roxy couldn’t concentrate what with Angela looming over her, however, and she made a couple of mistakes as she explained. She sputtered and wondered if Angela had noticed. What was she thinking? Of course, Angela had noticed.
“Thank you, dear,” the elderly woman said at the end of the call. “I think I understand now.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Roxy said. She tried to put good-natured friendliness into the call like she always did, but she was so anxious that it came out all rushed and a tad insincere. “If you have any more questions please feel free to call us again. Thank you for calling Modal Appliances, Inc. Have a nice day.” Roxy spun her chair around to face Angela.
Her supervisor launched into a lecture before Roxy even had the time to blink. “You do know I’ve just had some idiot yelling at me, telling me that you had hung up on him and that he was going to complain about Modal Appliances’ customer service to anyone who would listen because we don’t value our customers.”
“Oh…,” Roxy took a deep breath and looked up at Angela. She tried to meet her eyes, but it was hard. Angela’s gaze felt like a pair of lasers boring into her. “Well, I didn’t hang up on him. I just put him on hold for a moment, to...”
“To what?” Angela exploded!
“To collect myself,” Roxy bravely continued. She hated confrontation. “Because he was being abusive.”
“To collect yourself,” Angela said with a mocking smile. “Oh, well that’s just swell. Are you sure you’re cut out for this job, Roxy?”
Roxy felt a lump in her throat. It was such an unfair question. She had consistently met her targets and often had customers tell her how kind and helpful she was. An elderly gentleman had even once said that she had made his week. “Yes” was all Roxy could come out with.
Angela snorted. “Not convincing. Pack your stuff.”
“W…what?”
&nbs
p; “Take your bag and your lunchboxes and go,” Angela said, pointing toward the door at the end of the corridor between the cubicles.
“Go…you mean, like, forever?”
Angela was already walking away. “I haven’t decided yet. I’ll call you if I want you to come back.”
“But…” Roxy began. Angela was already too far away to hear her.