Free Carol Higgins Clark Boxed Set - Volume 1: This eBook collection contains Zapped, Cursed, and Wrecked. by Carol Higgins Clark Page A

grocery list, nothing! I’m not putting anything in writing ever again. And as for that future ex-husband of mine, he’s going to regret he did this to me. I’m going to make sure of that!”
    “Let’s focus on one thing at a time, Lorraine,” Clay warned her. “You remember what Wendall always told us to do when pursuing our dreams.”
    “No matter what anyone says or does to deter you, ignore them. Just keep sweeping the alley. Get the job done.”
    “That’s right!” Clay answered with a confidence he didn’t feel. “We have to forget about everything else until we retrieve what’s in that safe. We have to keep sweeping that alley.” He straightened his shoulders as Lorraine grabbed her purse. “Let’s head to Tribeca.”
    As they exited the suite, Clay tried to block the image that kept popping up in his mind—the disapproving face of their acting teacher.
    “Of course, if you choose the wrong alley to sweep,” Wendall would say with a laugh, “that, my friends, can lead to even bigger problems…”
    Clay knew that they were definitely heading up the wrong alley. But, he reasoned to himself, his rent was two weeks overdue.

16
    A s soon as Regan, Kit, and Billy got back in Regan’s car, Kit called Georgina’s boss, who she’d spoken with earlier. But Dexter’s cell phone went right to voice mail. She then called her co-worker whom she’d dubbed “Gail the Gossip.” Gail reported to her that the whole gang was at the bar of the Gates Hotel, including Dexter.
    “I grabbed a table the minute the lights went out,” Gail yelled into the phone. “The hotel is serving warm drinks and whatever food might spoil.”
    “We’ll be right over,” Kit told her. “We want to talk to Dexter and any other people who worked with Georgina. Ask them to stay until we get there.”
    “Sure thing!” Gail said with excitement. She then attempted to lower her voice. “Dexter is so bummed out.”
    “I can imagine,” Kit said wryly. When she hung up, she just shook her head. “They’re at the bar having warm drinks. This girl Gail is something else.”
    “As long as she keeps Georgina’s co-workers around, I’ll be happy,” Regan said. “Then if I could just get a look at Georgina’s room…”
    Kit wrinkled her nose. “I think it’s on a pretty high floor,”
    “I’ll manage. You can wait in the bar with one of those warm drinks.”
    “I’ll go up with you, Regan,” Billy offered. “I’m in pretty good shape.”
    Kit turned to him. Again he was sitting alone in the back seat. “Aren’t you glad you came to my rescue tonight?”
    He smiled at her. “As a matter of fact, I am. And if I can do my part in saving one poor guy from being branded by an insane woman, well then I’m happy. I’m telling you, I’ve dated some weird chicks in my life but…”
    “We’ll have to talk when this is over,” Kit said. “I’ve met my share of wackos, too—right, Regan?”
    Regan raised her eyebrows. “There were one or two who deviated from the norm, Kit.” She steered the car out onto the darkened street and turned left, heading toward the Gates Hotel. “Why don’t you two start making the phone calls? I have the feeling we’re not going to find our Chip Jones that way, but at least we can eliminate the possibility. So many young kids in the city have cell phones these days that they don’t bother with a home phone. Especially if they have roommates.”
    For the next ten minutes, Kit and Billy made the calls. A couple of machines picked up, one woman screamed about being called during the blackout because she had banged into a table trying to locate the phone, and others grunted “Wrong number” and hung up. No one they reached sounded happy-go-lucky.
    “So much for that idea,” Regan said when the list had been exhausted. “If we only knew what this guy did for a living. If he wanted to take a comedy class—”
    “Those comedy classes are full of people from all walks of life,”