by Pat Amsden
She let go of Tanya who reeled out of the way saying, "he doesn't look so good," while Maxine loosened his shirt in a desperate attempt to make him feel better. But even as 911 was called and Dr. Matthews knelt down beside her, to help in any way he could, it was all too obvious Ron Vandemeer was on his last legs. Within minutes he was dead.
Watching as officers clad in white suits complete with white head gear that completely covered their head to avoid any possible contamination and clear plastic masks, inspired fear in the party guests who'd been told to remain in the small waiting area just before Olde Towne. They murmured amongst themselves.
Maxine stood to one side her arms crossed as her fingers dug into them shivering in horror at what had just happened. She watched as Ron's body was put into a body bag and zipped up, the ambulance drivers wheeling it out on the stretcher.
Tracey Vandemeer's high pitched wail filled the building and tore at her soul. A family friend led her to a side-room with the help of a police officer as the wails turned into sobbing. How could an evening that had started with such promise have gone so terribly wrong?
Party guests pointed in Maxine's direction. People she'd grown up with, known her entire life, even if only by sight, now pointed at her and whispered. She heard the words poison and murder. It wasn't possible. She knew that.
She felt as if she was shrinking down, her heart collapsing in on itself as she watched all the food she'd made bagged up and taken away. As police officers dressed in Haz Mat suits carried out all her cooking supplies
Heath joined her. "He probably died of a heart attack. Or maybe a brain aneurysm" he said, giving her a weak smile. Six feet two, with spiked brown hair and a tattoo on his arm, he was fresh out of cooking school, full of enthusiasm and a zest for life.
She gave him a stricken look. "That's still horrible."
He sighed, looking her straight in the eyes. "You didn't cause this. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it."
"I know," she whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek. "But I can't help feeling awful about...about," she gestured towards Olde Towne, to all the party guests, "this!"
Before she had a chance to say anything more her sometimes boyfriend , detective Patrick Shannon from Victoria PD arrived with his partner.
"I know you're not responsible for this," he said, looking at her with those blue, blue eyes that had once so charmed her. "But we have to cover all our bases, dot all our T's. We're questioning everyone."
"I understand," she said bravely. She just wished it didn't feel as the eyes of everyone in the room followed her as he led her into a small room to interview her.
"We'll be testing the chocolates and wine," he said. "No choice really. And we've advised everyone that if they have any concerns about their health they need to get it checked out."
She gave a small cry.
"It's just precautionary," he said, clearly uncomfortable. "I mean I know you would never," His words were cut off as she gave a strangled cry.
"You know I wouldn't," Just the thought she might have contributed in any way to the death of another made her sick to her stomach. She looked at him in horror.
He sighed "Is there anything you did differently tonight? Did you have anything out on the counter while you were making the chocolates, something that might have..."
"You know I wouldn't be that careless," she said angrily. My kitchen and equipment are spotless. And we all follow Food Safe precautions!"
"We have to examine all the possibilities," he said evenly.
"I know," she said brokenly.
Lost In Vegas
Lost In Vegas is romantic suspense with a twist of humor.
Available through Amazon – Ebook format only at this time
Amazon.com
5 Star - Mimi Barbour. It's a winner! What a wonderful story with believable characters and lots of conflict. Treat yourself!
4 Star - Jo-Ann Carson A Sweet Funny Romance Set in Vegas. Amsden delivers an entertaining read in her latest book, Lost In Vegas. The warm and funny banter between the hero and heroine heats up the page.
5 Star - Tiffany Kept Me Hooked. From the moment they meet it all gets very interesting and there's something to keep you on edge and interested from then on, especially right at the end.
Excerpt
Lips, lips pressing down on hers. Kate's eyes fluttered open and she found herself looking into soft, brown eyes that were liquid pools of concern. Kind eyes. Without thinking her arms went up around his and she found herself responding to him. Applause burst out from the bystanders around her.
"Stop!" she cried. At least she tried to stop him but she couldn't get the words out as his mouth descended upon hers. She pushed him away opening her eyes once more. "Just, just," she struggled to say something and burst into tears...
"It's OK," her rescuer said reassuringly putting a strong arm around her. "You're going to be fine. An ambulance is on the way."
"No," she shook her head desperately. "That's the last thing I want."
"Really, it's all right," her tormenter said.
"But I don't want to be saved!"
"You're upset. That's understandable," her rescuer/tormenter said comfortingly. "You never expected to be hurt, to fall."
"Yes, yes I did," she said. "You weren't supposed to save me!"
The man frowned at her, lines creasing a smooth forehead. He looked like a grown up version of Ken come to life. Only Ken had brown hair and this guy had dirty blonde.
Oh lord, no wonder her life was such a mess. Here she was trying to kill herself and she was thinking about how her rescuer looked. She tried to stand up.
"I'm fine. You can all leave now." It might have been more convincing if her voice didn't wobble slightly. Throwing herself off Vegas's version of Venice's famous Rialto Bridge had seemed a good way to end it all. At three AM even the Venetian hotels' version of the famous bridge and square was decidedly deserted. Her actions, however, had drawn a surprising number of people out of thin air.
She looked at the assembled crowd in despair. It was a disparate group of late night revelers drawn together by tragedy averted, in this ersatz version of Venice. They wore everything from jeans and shorts to evening gowns and loads of bling. Vegas, at the best of times, was not a place that thrived on reality. And this was far from the best of times.
In fact it could safely be said to be the worst of times for her. And it was steadily getting worse. Although, how it could when you were trying to kill yourself in the first place was debatable. How pathetic that she couldn't even manage to do that properly?
The crowd shifted, murmuring amongst each other. Clearly they wanted to stay and see what unfolded. She felt tears coming to her eyes.
"Alright, the ambulance is on the way now. Everything's under control.
If you'd like to move along..." Look alike Ken spoke calmly, a voice of authority and listening to him the crowd exchanged glances, murmured to each other and began to disperse. She supposed she should be grateful. She wasn't.
Now that she looked more closely she could see her rescuer was not just a Good Samaritan come to her rescue, he wore a security guard uniform. "Let me get you a blanket."
"You don't have to."
He pulled a blanket out from a bag of supplies that had miraculously appeared on the ground before her. "I want to."
"I guess this type of thing happens all the time?"
"Not really," he said easily.
She felt herself start to shiver even as she protested that she really didn't need a blanket, didn't need any help.
"Of course not," he said lightly. "I can see everything is going perfectly for you."
She groaned. "You don't understand. I've messed up. I, everything I've ever done."
"So"
His calm, cool acceptance infuriated her. "I just thought it would be easier to end it. To – to..." Her legs wobbled like spaghetti. She started to shake even as he put the towel around her, drew her to his chest warm
ing her, comforting her. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. I just... " she broke down crying uncontrollably.
***
JT held her close, feeling unaccountably protective of her. Oh, not just in the line of duty protectiveness, not just bird with a broken wing protective. There was something about those big, moss-green eyes when she'd looked up at him, at the lost loneliness he saw in them. "It'll be alright," he murmured pulling her closer. "You'll see. Lots of people lose money in Vegas."
"It's not that," she protested. "I ..." once again she broke down into tears.
"The ambulance will be here any minute."
"No, no. You have to stop the ambulance," she said wildly.
"It's just a precaution," he said. "Routine."
"I can't afford it!"
"Your insurance will cover it."
"I don't have any," she said brokenly.
He shrugged. "A family member then."
She shivered. "There's no one else."
He looked at her more closely. True she was waterlogged and shivering but she didn't look like your average street person. Five foot nothing, with mahogany brown hair and feather light, even with clothes weighted down with water, she looked – like heaven to JT. Which he had to tell himself, was distinctly unprofessional. And he was a professional.
"I don't believe you," he said easily. "Besides it's nothing to worry about tonight. You'll see. In the morning everything will look better."
She looked at him doubtfully. "I suppose," she said sighing. "You must think I`m an idiot."
"Not at all," he said gallantly.
"So can you call off that ambulance?"
"Just give me a number I can call."
"Why," she said, looking up at him with the biggest moss-green eyes he`d ever seen. Momentarily he felt his heart jump in his chest and snuggled her closer.
"I need to make sure you`re OK...It`s my job."
***
"Oh."
Now what? She`d checked out of her hotel room. Her boyfriend had already abandoned her. She had no money. She tried batting her eyes at him. "You can trust me."
He shook his head. "I need more than that sugar."
She lost it then, crying uncontrollably. "OK, OK, I don`t have anywhere to go but running up a big hospital bill isn`t going to help anything. It`s just going to make everything worse. Ohhh..."