Peril for Your Thoughts (Mind Reader Mystery) by Kari Lee Townsend

city and had planned to display in this year’s spring collection, but then the murder had happened. There was only one way that Anastasia could have gotten her hands on that outfit.
    She had someone on the inside.
    I left the store and parked my car down the road, then waited a bit until the morning shoppers had thinned out and headed off to lunch. My gut told me there was a mole working for Jaz. How else would Ana have known about that outfit? Once I was sure the coast was clear, I crept out of my car and slipped around to the back of Full Disclosure. The door there used a keypad with a code for a lock. Laying a tissue over the keypad, I punched in the code. I slipped inside, but didn’t dare turn the lights on.
    The first place I headed was to the back storage room. That was the last place I had seen Jaz store the outfit, along with the others she had put together for the collection. Jaz had a great eye for what worked and what didn’t when it came to fashion. I searched the entire room and finally found the clothes in a pile in the back. I looked through her file of invoices and sure enough the invoices were gone. Ana wouldn’t be stupid enough to steal the actual clothes, and she didn’t need to. As long as she beat Jaz to the punch and displayed the clothes first, then Jaz came off looking like the copycat. That’s why both women kept each season’s treasures locked up tight and tried to outdo each other with the best finds. So far Jaz had come out on top, until now. But which one of Jaz’s employees would sell out to her?
    Who had jumped ship?
    Clunk !
    A noise sounded from the front of the store. I froze. Who could it be? And where on earth was I going to hide? I glanced around the room. There were lots of boxes and clothing racks and outfits scattered about, but no real place to conceal myself. The noise was getting closer. My heart started pounding, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do. At the last second I jumped behind the door. When it opened, I kicked it hard and it slammed into the person on the other side.
    “Ooph!” came first, followed by a grunt as the person fell to the floor.
    I didn’t hesitate, running as quickly as I could, but not quickly enough, apparently. A hand reached out and grabbed my ankle and down I went … right on top of my attacker.

    Darkness surrounded me.
    No windows. No light. The door slammed and closed tight.
    All I could hear was the sound of my attacker breathing. Or was that the sound of my own lungs gasping for air? I started to struggle, trying to figure out how to escape his grasp. It was most definitely a man lying beneath me. I might not have much experience, but there were some things a man simply couldn’t hide.
    “Dammit, Kalli, quit wiggling like that.” Before I embarrass us both.
    I stilled instantly, thinking, Too late . “Detective Stevens?” I squeaked and quickly rolled off of him, scooting away until we were no longer touching. “What are you doing here?”
    “Me? I’m the cop, remember? The better questions is: What the hell are you doing here?”
    I heard him fumbling about, so I got to my feet and found the light switch. We took a moment to adjust our eyes. I reached in my pocket, and a moment of panic hit me. I was out of hand sanitizer, and I’d left my purse in the other room. How had I let that happen? My heart started pounding and I could feel a bead of sweat trickle down my back, which made the situation even worse.
    As though he could read my mind, Detective Stevens pulled out a handkerchief from his inside pocket and handed it to me. “Here,” he said.
    “Oh, thank you, but no. I couldn’t possibly.”
    “It’s no trouble.” He took a step forward.
    I held my hands up. “No, I mean, I seriously couldn’t possibly. Do you know how dirty handkerchiefs are? Tissues are so much more sanitary. And when’s the last time you had your jacket dry cleaned? Your inside pocket is undoubtedly loaded with germs. Who uses handkerchiefs