Murder on a Silver Platter (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery Book 1) by Shawn Reilly Simmons Page B

bird-like torso, and baggy jeans that looked like they were about to slip off his narrow hips every time he bent over to pick up the cable slack. Skull tattoos snaked over his hands, and his dyed black hair stuck out in every direction. He turned his back to her and kicked the wound up cable underneath the trailer.
    “Thanks,” Penelope said to his back. He waved at her and disappeared into the darkness again.
    Penelope rapped firmly on Kelley’s door. It opened a crack and she peered out hesitantly, but when she saw it was Penelope she swung the door open wide. “Hey, Pen. Come on in,” she said through her painted black lips. “I thought everyone was gone.” She scrunched the ends of her short black bob.
    Penelope stepped inside, pulling the door closed behind her against the frigid air. “Almost, I need a favor. I’m stopping by a friend’s place on the way home and I look, well, I look like this.” She swept her hands in a dramatic arc from her hair down to her shoes. “Can you make me look presentable? Or at least not like I got dragged behind a bus on the way to his house?”
    Kelley laughed out loud, a rare occurrence for the normally reserved girl. “I think I can help.” Kelley spun Penelope around and sat her down in the makeup chair facing a mirror lined with large bulbs.
    “Fantastic. I thought I looked bad before but the lighting in here lets you know exactly how bad you really look.”
    Kelley giggled. “You don’t look that bad. You’re tired. We all are.” She released Penelope’s hair from its pony tail. Penelope’s hair was wavy and thick and she always thought it was too unruly to let it be loose while she was working. A lot of chefs cut their hair short for that reason, but Penelope always thought her hair was one of her best features and didn’t want to chop it off. So she tied it back, sometimes for so long letting it down at the end of the day was a huge relief.
    “How’s Arlena?” Kelley asked as she worked her fingers through Penelope’s hair, massaging her scalp with something that smelled like lavender.
    “I think she’s better. At least she’s home in her own bed resting comfortably. Sam’s with her.”
    “That’s a relief. I’ve never seen anything like what I saw her go through today. It was terrible,” Kelley said. She moved around to face Penelope on her left side and tilted her face up to the lights, studying her for a moment. Making some kind of determination, she turned towards her makeup tray on the counter at the base of the mirror. She picked up a small palate of foundation and lightly touched a spot with her pinkie under each of Penelope’s eyes.
    “Look up,” she directed as she smoothed the makeup on. Her fingers felt cool and soothing. “Arlena and Sam seem like they have good chemistry. That scene they shot today was something else.”
    “They sure do,” Penelope said.
    Kelley applied a light coating of foundation to Penelope’s face and then brushed it with a faint bronzer. She dusted her eyelids with a pale gold sparkly eye shadow and swiped her lashes with black mascara.
    “Are you wearing this?” Kelley said, looking down at Penelope’s stained sweater and stretched out jeans.
    “Not if I can help it,” Penelope said.
    “Oh thank goodness,” Kelley said with true relief. “I have a few things here from wardrobe. Let’s find something less…”
    “Food stained?” Penelope asked.
    “Yes, food stained.” Kelley agreed, nodding. She pointed to a rolling clothes rack in the corner where various pieces of clothes were hanging. “These are cute.” She grabbed a pair of tight black riding pants and a short cropped red jacket and held them up against her tall frame for Penelope to see.
    “They’re nice. But I think it would look like I was trying too hard. I need casual. I’m only going to an apartment to talk.”
    “A man’s apartment?” Kelley teased.
    Penelope glanced away. “But it’s a casual man’s apartment. Not the