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“Wouldn’t have missed it for anything in the world.”
“We make a great team, don’t we?”
“We do, indeed,” Jada said.
“How long are you staying in the city?”
“I don’t know, a day or two at the very least.”
“Just don’t sneak out of town without saying goodbye this time,” Carmen said, and they hugged again.
“I won’t,” Jada said and they each got in different limos.
When Jada returned to her suite, she made a cocktail while she ran a bath. And after a good relaxing soak, Jada dried herself, dressed in a La Perla desert rose nightgown and went to sleep. When she awoke the following morning, she came out into the suite to find Caprice, her personal assistant was there.
“Good morning, Jada.”
“Good morning, Caprice. How are you?”
“I’m fine. How was your trip to Paris with Carmen?”
“It was absolutely wonderful.” Jada paused and then she sat down. “Other than getting arrested and held for murder, it was an absolutely fabulous trip. I cannot wait to show you the pieces that I bought for you.”
“Excuse me, Jada. Did I hear you correctly? Did I hear you say that you were arrested and held for murder?”
“Yes, some designer friend of Carmen’s was murdered,” Jada said matter of factly. “And the police actually arrested and detained us for his murder for several hours. And you know Carmen with a mystery to solve. But fortunately, it did not ruin the trip …” Jada paused and thought about it. “It actually made the trip more exciting. Up until that point, all we were doing was drinking, shopping, clubbing and eating the absolute best food.” Jada giggled. “And somehow, that was starting to get old.”
“So, are you going to tell me what happened?” Caprice asked, and Jada spent the rest of the morning telling Caprice about
her adventure in Paris over grapefruit and French Seventy-Fives.
“Wow, that was quite a story, Jada. I am so glad that you are safe.”
“Believe me, so am I.” Jada looked at her watch. “I would have thought that Simone would have been here by now.”
“I apologize, Jada for that not being the first thing I told you. I was caught off guard by that amazing story.”
“Get to the point, Caprice.”
“Simone is missing.”
“What do you mean, Simone is missing?”
“I mean that nobody has seen or heard from her in three days. And you said that you did not wish to be disturbed with business matters while you were in Paris.”
“When was the last time anybody saw her?”
“She was going to meet Fiona,” Caprice said and explained the situation with Jackie, Travis and Fiona.
“I see,” Jada said. “Find out where Ms. Washington and Mr. Burns are and get somebody to take me to them, please,” Jada said and got up.
After dressing in an Elie Saab double crepe ruffle cold shoulder dress and Stuart Weitzman nudistsong strappy sandals, Jada was driven to Jackie’s home to speak with them about the matter. Fiona felt her world standstill when she switched to the security feed and saw Jada standing there.
“No,” Fiona said softly as sadness set in. She was certain that Jada would be no less reasonable than Simone, so she went to answer the door and let Jada in knowing that she had to go back.
“Good afternoon, Jada,” Fiona said when she opened the door.
“Good afternoon, Fiona.”