I, Spy? (Sophie Green Mysteries, No. 1) (Sophie Green Mystery)

easier if I could just lift the whole hard drive out, but then Daz might get suspicious.
    Drumming my fingers on my thigh—so as not to create any noise that might alert anyone else to my presence, or hide theirs from me—I watched the transfer bar creep up, little by little.
    And became aware of a noise.
    At first I thought it was heavy breathing, and made a face of disgust. No doubt Daz had lured some young lovely upstairs for a quickie. Hopefully, they’d be heading to one of the bedrooms, and not in here.
    But I made ready to snatch the USB stick free and leap into the shadows, just in case.
    Then I realized that the noise was not coming from outside the room. It was coming—I listened carefully—from a small cupboard on the far side.
    A cupboard I’d dismissed when I entered as far too small for a person to hide in.
    Stupid Nate. I picked up Belinda and crept as silently as possible towards the cupboard, praying that the floor wouldn’t squeak. It didn’t, and I made it over there without making a sound—at least, not one that could be picked up over the wheezing coming from the cupboard.
    It sounded to me like someone hyperventilating. Maybe having an asthma attack. Maybe suffocating. There was a strong possibility that Daz had locked someone in there on purpose to die. It was a horrible idea, but then he was a horrible man.
    I took a breath, counted to three, and yanked open the door with one hand while aiming my gun with the other.
    And stared.
    “Huh,” I said.

Mudpacks, murder, deceit, betrayal and tattoos—how much can a friendship sustain without cracking?
     
    La Bella Luna
    © 2007 Bobbie Cole
     
    Try telling your best friends that your husband is leaving you for another man, or that you’ve slept with one of their husbands and have borne his child. Better yet, let them know you’ve just committed murder or that you’re dying.
    Ann, Eazy, Merry and Leta Lou—all four of the Oklahoma City socialites, having spent years merely scratching the surface of their friendship, are thrust into an emotional tornado and left with the devastating ruins of aftermath as the secrets they’ve kept surface. Ann wants to help them rediscover their dreams, but before she can do that, she must first destroy their illusions.
    Money can’t buy happiness, forgiveness, or peace, but it can sure make life…and death…a lot more interesting.
     
    Enjoy the following excerpt for La Bella Luna:
    “I want you to be as naughty as you please tonight,” Ann told her three guests the next afternoon after the last two had arrived. “That’s why I told you to rest before you got here. Because, ladies, we are going to eat, drink, smoke and do it all tonight. Before you fill your plates, I want each of you to take one of those pens and a block of paper I’ve cut out, and list your secret naughty pleasure. Something you’ve never done that you want to do or be or have.”
    Merry and Leta Lou each tentatively accepted the slips of paper Ann held out, locked glances and then slid the paper back onto the counter with nervous laughs, shaking their heads. Ann gave a sigh, chastising them with a mock glare. “Just do it.”
    “A secret desire, hm?” Leta Lou asked.
    “Something deliciously naughty,” Ann said with a wink.
    Eazy rolled her eyes and groaned. “Bullshit. I’m not telling any of you something that private.”
    “Yes, you will. If you don’t, I’ll make something up and embarrass the hell out of you,” Ann told her. “Everybody has to play.”
    “What are we going to do with these?” Eazy asked, still obviously not convinced that she was in safe waters.
    “We’re going to discuss them one by one after dessert. C’mon. Write!” Ann ordered.
    When they’d done as she’d asked, Ann gathered the snippets of paper and tucked them under the phone for later. While the rest of them chatted over jalapeño chicken and sautéed mushrooms, Eazy’s eyes kept glancing over at the telephone.
    “What is said in this house stays in this house, right?” she asked.
    “Why are you so worried?” Ann couldn’t help but laugh as she watched Eazy’s face.
    “Because I can’t believe I just bared my soul like that.”
    “How about whatever is written down, we all do?” Ann asked. “That way you won’t be the Lone Ranger.”
    “ Do? ” Eazy had a stricken look on her face. “I thought you said we’d discuss them.”
    “Well, let’s take it a step further. Let’s all do whatever’s written