Deadly Gamble

Chapter 1

Deadly Gamble: The First Charlie Parker Mystery 

By Connie Shelton 

© Connie Shelton. All rights reserved 

Chapter 1 

Working on a case for Stacy North would have probably been the last item ever on my agenda. Stacy had been my best friend and roommate in college. My best friend, right up until the day she eloped with my fiancé, Brad North. Although I came to realize later that it was all for the best, such situations do tend to put a damper on a friendship. 

Brad went on to become a personal injury attorney, one of Albuquerque's most, shall we say, aggressive. They live in Tanoan, the new upscale community in town. 

Now Stacy stood in my office with all the calm of a cat at the dog pound. She looked every bit of fifteen years older, a pity because it was only eight years since the last time I'd seen her. She wore a tailored linen dress the color of a fresh lemon, with black trim around the neck and down the front. Gold buttons trailed along the trim, buttons that looked like they'd been custom made to match the earrings that peeked demurely out of her elegant blond hairstyle. A black ranch mink contrasted strikingly with her hair and with the dress, creating an elegant picture of black and gold. For just a second, I wondered why I felt sorry for her. 

It was something in the eyes. And in the mouth. Those eyes, which had sparkled with clear blue fun in school. The mouth, always ready to laugh. Stacy had been the practical joker, the whimsical elf among us. All traces of that were gone now. Dull blue eyes, rimmed by puffy lids, darted around the room nervously. Once clear skin was now covered with layers of makeup to conceal the woman inside. Or perhaps to present an image, the image of a woman someone else wanted Stacy to be. 

"Charlie, I need your help." The voice was low and cultured, and it only broke slightly on the last word. 

A rush of ambivalent feelings flooded through me. I'd spent ten years making myself not care about Stacy, and I wasn't sure I wanted to start again now. She and Brad had hurt me-deeply. My first instinct was to toss her out of my office. The desperation in her eyes pulled me back, though. 

"Sit down and tell me about it," I offered grudgingly. I gestured toward the room at large, giving her the choice of taking the side chair beside my desk or the sofa on the opposite wall. She chose the sofa. 

She perched on the edge of the cushion making little adjustments to her skirt and coat before speaking. 

"A valuable item has, ah, been lost. I have to recover it." 

"I'm an accountant, Stacy. Unless it's your tax return we're talking about, I think you should be telling this to Ron. He's the investigator around here. I can have him call you when he gets back to town next week." My brother, Ron, and I are partners in RJP Investigations. Although I watch the cases that come through the door pretty closely, I prefer to stay with the accounting and let Ron do the dirty work. 

"Oh, no. I can't wait until next week." Her eyes had grown wide, her breathing rapid. "I have to get this item back before tomorrow night."  

"What's the item, and why the urgency?"  

She squirmed in her seat a minute before answering. "My Rolex watch," she said. 

"Was it lost or stolen?" 

"Lost. No, I think it was stolen . . . Um, well, I'm not really sure." 

"Couldn't it have been misplaced around the house somewhere?"