Free Limoncello Yellow (Franki Amato Mysteries) by Traci Andrighetti Page B

that school. It's not even on her company profile."
    I shared her confusion. Leaving a prestigious institution like the London College of Fashion off your famous design house company profile was like intentionally not telling your doctor that you had cancer. It just didn 't make sense. "Maybe you misunderstood."
    " No." She broke the thread in half. "I'm positive that the guy said she was a student there. I mean, how could I mistake the London College of Fashion? Jimmy Choo went there!"
    " Of course," I said, as though I were an expert in Jimmy Choo's pedigree. "Did she say anything back to the guy?"
    " Just that LaMarca had offered her amaaaaazing incentives on the condition that she manage the New Orleans store for a year. Sales were down, so they wanted a Louisiana native to try to turn it around. I heard her tell him that she wouldn't be in town for long, but he said he wanted her gone right away."
    " Maybe it was an ex-boyfriend. You know how demanding men can be."
    " I don't know."
    I followed her bulging gaze as she glanced at someone who appeared to be a manager and then quickly resumed the scarf search.
    "How long ago did this happen?" I asked.
    " A few months ago, so I doubt there's any connection to her death. Hey, do you like any of these?" Annabella shoved four yellow scarves at me.
    " I like that bright yellow one."
    " Great! Should I put this aside for you while you continue shopping, ma'am?"
    I could tell by her shift to a more professional tone that the gossip fest had come to an end. "No, I think that's it for today," I replied, noting the two hundred forty dollar price tag on the scarf with a sinking feeling. Well, if I go without food this month, I might finally lose that twenty pounds .
    As Annabella bounced off to the register in her pink bobby socks and dingy white Keds, I pulled my wallet from my bag and accidentally upended my coin purse in the process.
    "Mannaggia !" I muttered the Italian version of damn as my change spilled onto the gold, carpeted floor. As I bent down to retrieve a quarter that had rolled underneath the base of the first scarf rack on the right, I accidentally dislodged a small, hard object. I picked it up and saw that it was a brownish-white bead the size of a hazelnut. It was carved from ivory or some type of bone in the form of an eerie-looking skull. Could it have something to do with Jessica's death?
    I checked to make sure that no one was watching as I pocketed the bead and headed to the cash register.
     
    * * *
     
    " A skull bead? That's freakin' awesome!" David exclaimed as I pulled the bead from my pocket during an impromptu meeting in Veronica's office. He grabbed the bead with his long, skeletal fingers. "Hey! This looks exactly like one of those beads from Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo."
    " Marie Laveau?" I asked, confused. "The voodoo queen? I thought Father John told me she was dead."
    " It's a voodoo store on Bourbon Street that uses her name, Franki," Veronica explained, leaning back in her fabulous maraschino cherry–colored leather chair.
    " Yeah, my buddy Alex has a bracelet made of these beads hanging from the rearview mirror of his Honda," David replied. "He said he got them from there."
    " Do you know what these beads signify?" Veronica sat forward in her chair. She had always been one to take an interest in jewelry, even of the voodoo variety.
    " Nah, you'd have to ask the kid who works at the store. I'd check it out though, cause that place is rad," David explained in college speak. "They have voodoo dolls, chicken feet, gator heads, all kinds of potions. It's badass in there."
    " Potions? For what?" I asked.
    " Lots of stuff, like love potions and ones that'll help you score some cash," David replied. "There's even one that'll help you beat the law, like in court."
    " Wow, there sure is a lot of voodoo that centers around winning court cases," I said, recalling the pound cake left for Saint Expedite. "I wonder if they make one that will help you solve a