“Oh,” Sarah said. There was nothing else to say. Helen didn’t mention that the stock market crash made it hard for her to pay her lawyer. That’s where most of her money went—to the man who abandoned her in court.
The two women watched a father and his son fly a dragon kite on the sand. Some college kids were playing Ultimate Loop Frisbee.
“So you owe this fabulous life on the beach to Krispy Kreme doughnuts?”
“That’s right,” Sarah said. They looked at the sea and sunset. The evening clouds were whipped-cream mounds tinged with lavender. The air smelled of salt and coconut suntan oil.
“All this talk of Krispy Kreme is making me hungry,” Sarah said. “Want to go on a doughnut expedition?”
“Sure! Let’s make you richer,” Helen said.
Imagine, someone who didn’t agonize about eating a doughnut, Helen thought. She had to get out of that store and spend more time with normal people. She wasn’t sure the Coronado crowd counted.
The closest Krispy Kreme was twenty minutes away. As Sarah’s Range Rover pulled into the lot, the neon sign was flashing.
“Fresh doughnuts!” Sarah said. They raced for the store, laughing all the way. Inside, Helen breathed in the sugary, grease-perfumed air. They ordered a dozen glazed and ripped open the box in the parking lot. When Helen bit into the first warm glazed doughnut, she said, “I’ve died and gone to heaven.”
“So what’s it like working with Charlie’s Angels?” Sarah said, through a mouthful of doughnut. “How can a smart woman like you stand those bimbos?”
“They’re not bimbos,” Helen said, wondering why she was defending them. “That’s the sad part. They’re smart. I would have hired any of them at my old company. The problem is they don’t value their intelligence, and neither do their boyfriends. Beauty and money are the only standards that count. In their world, Albert Einstein would be pitied as a guy with a permanent bad hair day.”
Both women reached for another doughnut. “OK, they’re not stupid,” Sarah said between bites. “They’re shallow, which is worse. You’re too smart for them, Helen. Let me make some phone calls. I know several companies that would love to hire someone like you.”
“No!” Helen said, hoping she didn’t sound as panicky as she felt. She couldn’t work for a corporation. The court would find her for sure. She could never tell Sarah why. Instead, she gave her another half-truth.
“I’m burnt out,” she said. “I hit my head hard on the glass ceiling at my old job. I was sick of the pointless meetings and memos. I’d rather work at Juliana’s. Except something odd is going on there.”
Sarah was a good listener, or maybe Helen was high on sugar and grease after rice cakes, the only snacks Christina allowed in the store. By the fourth doughnut, Helen was talking about Christina’s suspected skimming and the purse full of pills.
At the half-dozen mark, Sarah looked serious. “Helen, something is way off in that store. You’ve got to get out of there. You saw that woman skim thirteen hundred dollars in one day.”
“But I’m not sure I saw anything. That’s the problem,” Helen said, waving a half-eaten glazed. “I have no proof. Maybe Christina saw Lauren shoplift that blouse and belt and I didn’t. Maybe there’s some FedEx rate I don’t know about.”
“And maybe she’s selling candy in those purses,” Sarah said. “Bull. You’re a numbers hound. If you could figure out actuarial tables, you can spot a scam. You may not know about implants and eye jobs, but you know Christina is crooked. She’s skimming and dealing drugs. You’d better get yourself a new job.”
“Why? What’s the use?” Helen said, hopelessly. “The only job I could find that paid anything was a lingerie model in a geezer bar. The good jobs are rare. They have so many people after them, I don’t have a chance.
“I guess I need to try harder, but I can’t seem to get up the energy to look for another job on my day off. I’m tired all the time. I have to stand all day. My feet hurt and my back hurts. When I get home, I just want to go to bed.” She downed another doughnut for comfort.
“I said I’d help you find a better one,” Sarah said, chomping yet another Krispy Kreme. Helen backpedaled furiously, while reaching for one more glazed doughnut. The dozen seemed to be disappearing fast, but Helen could not remember how many she’d eaten.
“I’m just whining,” she said. “I really don’t want to go back to an office. Juliana’s pays the rent. The work isn’t that bad. At least I don’t have to say, ‘You want fries with that?’ ” It was hard to say with a mouth full of doughnut.
Sarah did not laugh. Instead, she dropped her doughnut and fixed Helen with her serious deep brown stare. “Listen to me, Helen. Christina is ripping off some rich, powerful people. They won’t take it kindly if they find out what she’s doing. She’s mixing sex, money, and male egos. Mark my words: Murder’s next.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Helen said. “I appreciate your concern, but you’ve had too much sun.” She reached for another glazed doughnut. They were all gone.
Sarah would not hear of Helen taking a cab home. She drove Helen to the Coronado.
As Helen settled into her creaky bed, she decided she liked Sarah a lot. But the woman had a melodramatic streak. Murder at Juliana’s, indeed. Christina would wear flip-flops first.
The next day, Helen heard Christina plotting a murder. For a lot of money.
Chapter 7
Niki was the first person at the green door that morning, her long brown hair waving in the breeze like a dark banner. She was beautiful, but Juliana’s was used to beautiful women. Niki’s beauty was in her perfection. Her eyes and her lips and her cheekbones looked sculpted and covered with skin as unblemished as acrylic. She was the perfect high school cheerleader, all grown up.
A man walking by in ugly plaid shorts stared at the beautiful Niki so hard he tripped and fell against a parked Porsche. The outraged owner gave the bedazzled man the finger.
Niki looked luminous in the sunlight, the perfect advertisement for Juliana’s. Even at a distance, Helen recognized Niki’s white silk Joop halter top, tight white Dolce & Gabbana pants, and gold-trimmed D&G mules.
Christina buzzed Niki into the shop. She wafted in on a cloud of perfume so strong, it made Helen’s eyes water.
“In that outfit you look positively bridal,” Christina said. “How’s Jimmy? Are you here to buy more things for your wedding?”
“What wedding?” Niki said, and burst into tears.
“There, there, sweetie, it will be OK,” Christina said, and put her arms around Niki. They were both so thin, they looked like a pile of broomsticks.
“It won’t be OK,” Niki said. “The wedding’s off. All because of that bitch Desiree.”
“The skinny blonde chick with the fat lips?” Christina said, handing her a tissue. “She’s had so much collagen, she looks like Daisy Duck.”
Niki only sobbed harder and blew her perfect little nose. “That’s what makes it so awful, Christina. I’ve done everything right, and then she comes along with those stupid lips and outsize tits, and he falls for her. It isn’t fair!”
Niki’s own chest implants were impressive. Desiree’s mammaries must be mountainous, Helen thought.
Niki tried to stop crying, but she couldn’t. She seemed to be in real pain as she told her story. The perfume cloud covered her like a pall.
“I just found out about them last night. Jimmy told me he had to work late. I could have gone to dinner with my girl-friends, but I stayed home, gave myself an herbal mask, and went to bed early. One of our friends called this morning. She said she saw Jimmy and Desiree dancing together at our club. She said everyone saw them.”
Some friend, Helen thought.
