Free Book Club Bloodshed by Brianna Bates Page B

the pictures too, in various suggestive poses.
    She shuddered. “I have to get inside.”
    “Hey, wait.” He grabbed her arm, which made her skin crawl. “Better give me your cell phone number.”
    “Can you let go of my arm?”
    He did and took his phone out. “This way we can stay in contact at all times, even if we get split up.”
    “Uh…”
    “Missy, one of these guys might have killed Anne Baxter.”
    As much as she didn’t want to give him her number, that last point struck home. She read off her number and he typed it in.
    When he was done, he did that weird gesture of nodding while sticking his lower lip out. “Nice choice of outfit, by the way. Especially the lemons.”
    She frowned, thinking he was making some kind of innuendo. For a brief second, she thought about challenging him but she really had to get inside. She knew from Lee that class started in a few minutes, and she’d need that time to talk to Lee’s trainer first.
    “I’m going in.”
    Paul stayed where he was. “I’ll be right here. Watching you the whole time. Don’t worry.”
    She wanted to throw up for a lot of reasons.

Chapter Thirteen
     
    When Missy entered WiredFit, it was like a scene from a movie: literally everybody stopped what they were doing to take in the newbie. There were about twenty-five people, and surprisingly the genders were evenly represented. She recognized half of them, including a few of the cops, and did a little wave. The people that knew her waved back.
    Overhead, big dome lights kept every square inch of the interior bathed in light. Under the glare of the lights that left nothing to the imagination, she squirmed. After a few uncomfortable seconds of awkwardness, one woman peeled away from the group and hustled over to the front desk where Missy was.
    “Hello.” The woman smiled pleasantly enough, but she had so little body fat on her that Missy could literally see every muscle in her face when she smiled.
    “Hi, I’m looking for Anastasia?”
    “You must be Missy.” She extended an arm.
    Anastasia Monroe, Certified Health Professional, extended a ripped, muscly arm that most men would have died for. Missy couldn’t help but be stunned by the veins that stood out against her taut, tanned skin. Warily, Missy offered her hand, expecting Anastasia to crush it in a vise-like grip. But the woman gently took her hand.
    “It’s nice to meet you,” Anastasia said. “Lee gave me the heads-up. Come in, make yourself at home.”
    Missy couldn’t stop staring at the woman. She was wearing skin-tight stretch capris and a sports bra. She didn’t have a six pack—she actually had an eight pack. Her hair was dirty blond and her eyes were a warm green. Missy instinctively sucked in her tummy.
    Every inch counted tonight.
    “I hope you’ll join.” Anastasia put a hand on her arm. “You’d be amazed at what is possible. At what you can do. We don’t just exercise here. We change our perspective. We actually change our brain chemistry.”
    “Sounds transformative.”
    Anastasia smiled again, her facial muscles pressing against her skin. “I’m going to use that word on the next customer, thanks.”
    Missy looked around the room. Now that the initial shock of entering a place like this and seeing a woman like Anastasia was wearing off, she had to admit that WiredFit was a pretty cool-looking exercise facility. It was basically one big open floor plan with tumbling equipment, treadmills, rowing machines, and row after row of barbells, benches, and squat racks. She also saw some very intimidating boxes that ranged in height from one foot to at least five feet. One man with a crew cut and muscles that strained against his fitted black shirt was leaping, from the floor, onto the tallest box. The place and the people looked like something out of a Bond movie. There was no doubt in her mind that the FBI or CIA probably had training facilities like this.
    “So does everybody kind of do their own thing?”