Diamonds and Disguises, a Presley Thurman Mystery: First Chapter Friday
Chapter 1
I stood in the middle of Silk, an upscale women’s boutique that was all mine. Well, mine and my creditors’. I was thrilled to see it busy already, seeing as I’d opened the doors just thirty minutes ago. This was the kind of business I wanted to see every day. This was my first day back after being on vacation and, while it had been hard for me to leave, it was clear Molly, my manager, had done fine without me. In fact, I felt a little pang of fear that maybe Silk was thriving because I wasn’t there. Maybe Molly was better at running the business. But wasn’t that how it should be? As an entrepreneur, you were supposed to hire people who were skilled in the areas you weren’t, so you could focus more on what you were good at. I was good at ordering the product and the marketing. At least, I felt like I was good at it. The part I didn’t love was the actual selling. I wasn’t as confident as I needed to be to persuade people to buy. I was so relieved when I’d finally felt business was successful enough that I could hire someone to take that over for me. So I should be grateful, not fearful.
My name is Presley Thurman, and I’m a thirty-something redhead, lover of food, wine, cheese, and true crime TV. Since I’d taken over Silk, my life had seen many changes. For a start, Silk was now turning a profit. Katy, my best friend, had breathed a sigh of relief and announced I didn’t need her to hold my hand anymore, as I’d earned my business owner stripes. She’d gone back home to sort out the next chapter of her life, after making me promise to visit. Jared, my housemate of years and years, had decided to move in with his boyfriend, leaving me with an almost empty home. But it wasn’t entirely empty as Cooper, my boyfriend, had finally decided the time was right to make the move to Chicago to live with me. Bella, my mastiff, was undeniably thrilled to have access to Cooper whenever she wanted, and I was thrilled to have another person to take her for walks. Especially in the dead of winter. Although he was still traveling, at least now his home base was not in a different town and we were able to spend time together almost every day.
The road to restoring Silk to its former glory hadn’t been easy. For every step forward, I’d taken two—or ten, it seemed sometimes—steps back. But right before my vacation in Wisconsin, I’d started to see glimpses that I might not work myself to death and end up bankrupt, having invested my life savings in something I ended up failing at.
Now that I could see that the store had survived without me, I was even more excited to dive back in and focus on building Silk up for the holiday season, which was the busiest and the best opportunity to grow the business.
Distraction free, I knew I could accomplish my goals.
Molly arrived for her shift, spotted me, and ran over to give me a big hug.
“You’re back! Are you refreshed? Did you get to relax? You look amazing in those wide-leg pants. I’m so glad you’re back,” she said in a rush, without giving me time to answer any of her questions.
But that was Molly’s personality. She was super upbeat and talkative, which made her a great salesperson. She also had an amazing eye for what would look good on someone, even if it didn’t seem so on the rack. Once she got the customer to try the garment on, it always worked. It was a gift, really. One I definitely didn’t have, although I did enjoy trying to get it right.
I was always afraid the customer wouldn’t look good in what I picked out and would run screaming from the store, telling all their friends, and no one would come in ever again. So I was hesitant, and that wasn’t a good quality when trying to convince someone to buy from you.
Especially at what our clothes cost.
I’d even had nightmares about it happening. People running away screaming, that is. Katy told me I was being overly dramatic when I’d shared my dreams with her once. Nightmares or not, when I’d finally felt I had the cash flow to hire someone to focus on sales, I had jumped at it. It caused a whole new host of reasons for sleepless nights, but it was worth it. Without Molly, I couldn’t have taken a vacation. Even though it hadn’t all been relaxing and lounging on the beach as I’d planned, it had been nice to get away. And even better to be back. I’d missed this place.
“I see the new wrap dresses came in.”
I looked at how well one of my fall buys fit Molly. Though everything looked good on her, and luckily she came from a wealthy family and could afford the clothes at Silk. Even though I offered them to all employees at cost, they were still pricey. She was blue eyed, tall, toned and blond, with natural highlights from the sun. She had a body I would kill for… but not enough to give up my lattes.
“Yep. They came in on Tuesday and we’ve already sold a few, even though it’s still hot out. The fit is amazing, and they aren’t too heavy, so they’re a good transition piece.”
Summer was hot and a miserable time to be in the city, but retail always pushed the seasons. It was one thing I’d always found a little annoying about the industry. All the items I’d bought for the fall collection would be here before the weather was cool enough to wear long sleeves and sweaters. Just like all the summer stuff came in when snow was on the ground and the lake effect weather had us all freezing. When I’d ordered the wrap dresses, I knew they’d look good with either sandals or boots. They were a good way to integrate seasons.
I was on my way to the backroom to get some coffee when I heard a blood-curdling scream coming from the sales floor. What the heck? I ran out, and all I could see was a group of customers huddled in a group, looking down at something. I glanced around for Molly and saw her staring at the same spot with a horrified look on her face.
I got closer and, when I saw what they were looking at, I was sure my face shared the same horrified expression. One of the customers was sprawled on the floor, unconscious.
“Did anyone call 911?” I asked. “Or feel for a pulse?” Why was everyone just looking at her, I wondered.
The group just sort of stared at me in shock. I’d left my cell in the office with my stuff, so I rushed over to the cash stand, picked up the phone and dialed emergency services.
I told the dispatcher the situation and the store’s address and then hung up and went back to the woman sprawled out between the rack of dresses and the linen shorts. I pushed my way through the crowd to reach her, knelt and checked to see if she was still breathing. Please let her still be breathing. I pressed my ear close to her face and heard shallow breaths. They weren’t regular, or at least it didn’t sound like it to me, though all I knew about medical stuff was from watching Grey’s Anatomy. At least she was breathing, which caused me to breathe a sigh of relief. I rolled her over to her side, even though I doubted she was in danger of vomiting. But it was the only emergency procedure I knew how to do.
No one said a word for the few minutes it took before we heard sirens getting closer and saw flashing lights through the front windows.
I heard the voices of the paramedics asking people to move and then two men kneeled next to me and all but pushed me out of the way.
Fine with me, I thought, and stood up, letting the professionals take over.
Molly came over and grabbed my arm. She still looked terrified, and I mentally crossed my fingers that this incident wouldn’t scare her away. I didn’t want to lose her, although I felt selfish for even thinking that.
“Is she going to be all right?” Molly said, her voice shaking.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine. Probably low blood sugar or something. You know how these women are. Black coffee for breakfast and lettuce for lunch,” I whispered, trying to lighten the mood.
Molly gave a small smile.
“Why don’t you bring out the coffee cart and see if these ladies want coffee?” I said, thinking it might be a good way to distract her and the customers in the store from what was happening.
Molly nodded and walked to the back to get it.
“Ladies, we will be bringing out coffee and pastries in just a moment. If you’d back up and give the emergency personnel some room, I’m sure they’d appreciate it.”
The ladies backed up a little, but they were all enthralled, it seemed, with what was going on. A couple of them looked a little guilty, as if they felt like they shouldn’t be staring.
It only took a few more moments until the paramedics had the woman loaded on a stretcher and into the ambulance.
As they were pulling away, I saw a cop car pull up and two officers get out. They walked in and I went to greet them.
“Are you the one who called 911?” one of them asked.
“Yes. I’m the owner here. My name is Presley Thurman.”
“I’m Detective Thomas and this is Detective Mills. We’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“Sure. Want to come back to the office where there’s a little more privacy?” And where we don’t have an audience, I thought. I didn’t want to give these women another free show.
“No, this is fine. Officer Mills, why don’t you go get statements from those ladies?” He nodded to the coffee cart, where the majority of the women were standing.
While Detective Mills walked away, Detective Thomas started talking.
“Now, what can you tell me about what happened?” he said.
“Nothing, really. I wasn’t out here when it happened, and I don’t even know who she is. I’m not sure she’s been in before. Hey, Molly,” I called to get her attention from the coffee cart, where she was serving the ladies who were talking to the other officer.
She looked up.
“Can you come over here and answer a few questions?”
She walked over, trembling. I was curious as to why she seemed so nervous, but then thought maybe I was the one desensitized, since I’d dealt with police so many times before. This was a traumatic experience.
“It’s okay,” I tried to put her at ease. “They just want to know if you saw anything.”
“Sure,” she said softly. “I showed her the new wrap dresses and she suddenly turned pale. She seemed like she couldn’t breathe. Then she passed out and fell to the floor. I tried to catch her, but I think she might have hit her head. I’m sorry, I was just so caught off guard.”
“No one is blaming you. It’s fine,” I reassured her.
He made a few notes, then looked back up. “Has she been in before? Do you know her?”
Molly shook her head nervously. “She said this was her first time in.”
“Okay. Thank you. I think we’ve got everything.”
“Are you all right?” I asked when they left.
Molly looked pale and I could see beads of sweat on her upper lip, but that was to be expected after what had happened.
“Yeah. Just a little freaked out, I guess. Do you think she’s going to be okay?”
“I don’t know, Molly, but I hope so.”
“Do you think he was cute?”
“Who?”
“That Detective Thomas.”
I thought that seemed like an odd thing to focus on, but she wasn’t wrong. “Yes.”
Detective Thomas was tall, well over six feet, with dark brown hair and very green eyes. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, though it was hard to tell a person’s age these days. If he were in the store under different circumstances, he might be a perfect guy for Molly. She’d shared with me that she had gone through a bad breakup about a year ago and had been reluctant to date since then. They would look good together.
“Though now might not be the best time to ask him out on a date.”
Molly’s head reared back. “I wasn’t going to ask him out.”
Then why mention he was cute? I was confused. Maybe she was in shock and didn’t realize what she was saying.
“Do you want to go home?” I asked. “I can handle it today.”
“No. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, but if you change your mind, let me know.”
“I will, but I think I’d rather stay busy.”
After a couple of hours, things settled back down to normal and it almost seemed like this morning had never happened. I let Molly leave a little early because we generally didn’t have many customers the hour before closing and I could tell she was still rattled. At closing time I was up at the front, counting down the drawer, when I heard a knock on the glass of the front door. I looked up and it was Detective Thomas again. He looked grim, his mouth set in a hard line. My heart started pounding. I had a feeling this wasn’t a social visit.
Happy reading,
Laina
