Powdered Peril by Jessica Beck Page A

something, though; he told me he was single and unattached, and by the time I found out about you, it was too late. The man was like heroin to me. I tried to give him up, but I couldn’t do it. I just wasn’t strong enough.”
    I wasn’t sure how Grace was going to react to the way Leah was justifying her behavior, but after a moment, my best friend just nodded, and then she said, “I knew how Peter was when he wanted something, believe me. He could be the most charming man in the world when he set his mind to it.”
    “And the cruelest when he was finished with you,” Leah said.
    Grace looked surprised by that statement. “He was never like that to me.”
    Leah snorted. “That doesn’t surprise me one bit. It’s because you were his public girlfriend. Peter paraded you around out in the open, but he hid me in the shadows.”
    “You’re not actually blaming me for that, are you?” Grace asked.
    “Of course not,” she said quickly. “You just don’t know how much I envied you.”
    Ida said, “Stop stalling, Leah, and tell them what you know about the man.”
    I looked at Ida and offered her silent thanks. I wasn’t sure how long Grace was going to be able to keep it together without falling apart, and I didn’t want Leah to push her any more than she had done already.
    The three of us looked expectantly at Leah, and after nodding briefly, she began to tell us what she knew about the many secret lives of Peter Morgan.
    “I’m not quite sure where to start,” Leah said, “because some of the stuff I know might be uncomfortable for you to hear, Grace.”
    “I can take whatever you have to say,” my best friend said, and I was never more proud of her. “We can’t find his killer unless we know about all of his misbehavior.”
    Leah accepted that after a moment, and nodded once. “Okay. The main thing that set me off four days ago was when I found out about Kaye.”
    “What are you talking about?” I asked. “Who’s Kaye?”
    “Kaye Belson,” Leah explained. “She lives in Union Square, and I’m not surprised you don’t know about her. After all, you didn’t even know about me.”
    “Tell them why you were so upset,” Ida urged her niece. “When you called me, you were in tears.”
    “I thought I might be pregnant with his baby,” Leah said, “and Peter was cheating on me with her.” I was amazed that she actually had the nerve to claim offense, since she was doing the exact same thing to Grace. “I nearly blew my stack when I found out.”
    “If he cheats with you, he’ll cheat on you,” I recited. It was one of Momma’s favorite sayings, and I’d learned it well enough as a teenager to keep me from some bad situations. Maybe that was why catching Max with Darlene had stung so much. I was loyal to a fault, but sadly, my ex-husband couldn’t say the same thing.
    “Suzanne, there’s no need to beat her up about it,” Ida said. “I’m sure Leah feels bad enough as it is.”
    “It’s okay,” Leah said. “She’s got a point. I probably deserved it.”
    “What do you know about Kaye?” Grace asked.
    Leah let out a big breath of air. “Well, the first thing is, she’s got a temper; I know that much myself.”
    “What do you mean?” I asked her.
    Leah looked sheepish as she admitted, “I borrowed Peter’s telephone once so I could check my messages at home, and I happened to see a text from some random girl. I decided to look her up and tell her that she was messing with the wrong man. When she answered, I told her who I was, and why I was calling. I was expecting her to feel guilty, maybe even apologize. Man, she was furious! I thought she was going to pop my eardrum before I hung up on her.”
    “What did Peter have to say when you told him you found out about Kaye?” I asked. I was curious to see if he’d try to deny it, or maybe even justify it by claiming that he could do what he wanted to without asking anyone else’s permission. They sounded like equally