FASHION FATALITY (PAPERBACK)

Chapter 1

Jasmine loved her detective work, but there was nothing like a lazy morning with her dog Luffy to make her time in town feel worthwhile. The small office that housed her private detective agency was towards the edge of town, which left plenty of space around the building for Luffy to run and fetch like any dog would. Sometimes, when he was chasing after a stick with particular enthusiasm, it was easy to forget that Luffy was no ordinary dog—through a special bond that neither of them could fully explain, Luffy could communicate with Jasmine fully. His help had come in handy on a tricky case more than once.

“Good dog,” Jasmine declared as Luffy dropped the latest stick at her feet. He yipped cheerfully, like any other dog would do. He may have been a special dog, but he was certainly still a dog. Jasmine kneeled to give him a good scratch behind the ears and pet him a few times. He wagged his tail with the happiness that only came from a beautiful morning in a small town like Blackwood Cove.

The moment was interrupted by a sleek black limousine speeding past. By the time Jasmine had processed it was there, it was far enough past to be little more than a blur. She frowned as she looked down at Luffy. It was rare for any car to pass by the small road outside Jasmine’s office, but a limousine was so foreign it was alarming. Jasmine couldn’t think of a single reason someone rich or famous enough to travel in style like that would drive into Blackwood Cove on a breezy Sunday morning.

“You’re not going to throw that stick again, are you?” Luffy moped, sitting down in the grass beside her.

“A limousine, in this town?” Jasmine shook her head. “That’s suspicious, and suspicious is what we specialize in.”

“It’s not that odd,” Luffy pointed out. “Blackwood Cove has been getting a lot more visitors lately—I’m not sure if it’s the same isolated seaside town you grew up in.”

Jasmine shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. In some ways, Luffy was right. When Jasmine had been young, the harsh cliffs and winding roads leading into town had set Blackwood Cove apart from the outside world. The town she had grown up in had been a bubble, full of only familiar, friendly faces. Danger had been unheard of, but so too had entertainment. Aside from a handful of summer tourists looking for a beachside locale to spend their vacation, they had hardly ever seen a visitor.

Now... well, they certainly weren’t a megacity, but one of Jasmine’s old cases involving a minor celebrity had gotten them a bit of name recognition. When choosing a place to set up in the area, more traveling exhibits had chosen Blackwood Cove than ever before; already they had hosted a carnival and a specialty museum exhibit, which was more than Jasmine had seen in all her childhood combined. Now, if the limousine was a sign, they might get something even more high end.

“We should still go see if anyone in town knows what’s going on,” Jasmine said. “They’re probably just passing through, but if there’s someone famous in town for even a little while, I don’t want to miss out on it.”

“I never understood why humans care about famous people so much,” Luffy said, even as he followed Jasmine into town to investigate the mere possibility of one. “They’re just people—it’s not like they have treats with them or anything.”

Jasmine could have taken the time to explain that being famous was like getting more treats than everyone else, but that would be a complicated conversation that wouldn’t do much good in the end. For now, she already had convinced Luffy to follow her. And that was enough.
Blackwood Cove had always been a sleepy town, even on the busiest of days, so Jasmine expected the town center to be a quiet place that morning. She certainly had not expected to see more than a couple of people on the street at all, and half the town with their curtains pulled back as they tried not to be too obvious as they stared outside.

Maybe Luffy was right. Maybe Blackwood Cove was changing.

As if to distract her from the uncomfortable sense of her own town being unfamiliar, her phone rang. When she picked it up, the voice on the other end was as familiar as they came.

“Brandon,” she greeted, and she couldn’t help but smile. She told herself that smile was left over from the relief of Brandon being safe—it had been a while since her last major case had put his life in danger, but it felt like hardly any time at all. She refused to admit that the smile may have been rooted in a deeper, warmer feeling. Brandon was her best friend, and though he had once held feelings for her, she was sure that those were long past. It was best not to dwell on any half-formed ideas about what they could have been.

“You’ll never believe who’s in town,” Brandon said, sounding as breathless as if he had just gone for a run.

“The limousine,” Jasmine said aloud, cluing Luffy in on what the conversation was about. “You know who’s inside.”

“Who was inside,” Brandon corrected. “They’ve stopped for lunch—they’re at Spyglass Diner, getting their first ever taste of Mary’s famous cuisine.”

“A perfect introduction to the town,” Jasmine noted, but her curiosity didn’t allow her to dwell on minor details for long. “You still haven’t told me who it is though—is it really someone famous, or just some rich snob who could afford the limousine?”

“More famous than anyone else we’ve ever had in Blackwood Cove,” Brandon said, and the lilt of excitement was back in his voice. “Meet me at the cafe and see for yourself—I’m holding down our usual table for now, but with so many people wanting to get close, I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to hold the seat.”
Jasmine was already moving in that direction. “Come on, tell me who it is.”

“It’s better as a surprise. I’d better see you here in five minutes, or I’m giving your seat away.”
He hung up without so much as a goodbye, and Jasmine picked up her pace.

“Who is it?” Luffy asked, and he didn’t have to explain that he was talking about who had been in the limousine, and not who had been on the other end of the phone.

“Brandon wouldn’t say, but whoever they are, they’re at the Spyglass Diner. We’re about to see for ourselves.”
It wasn’t much further to the cafe, which meant it wasn’t much longer before Jasmine was squinting through the windows and trying to make out who could be waiting inside. It was a hopeless task—the cafe was more crowded than Jasmine had ever seen, with people at every table she could see, and a crowd waiting for a table that spilled out onto the street. Jasmine had thought that half the town had been peering out their windows, but now she saw that the other half was lining up for some of Mary’s delicious diner food. So much for a slow morning.

A bell on the door rang as Jasmine stepped inside, but no one glanced at her for more than half a second. A table near the back of the restaurant had stolen all their attention. Jasmine followed their eyes and was immediately dumbfounded.

Sitting in a corner booth, at the very cafe that Jasmine had been visiting since she was a child, was Athos Calabresi, a glamorous New York fashion designer. Jasmine recognized him from countless magazine covers and feature articles, but even if he had been a complete stranger, he would have been worthy of attention. His outfit, and the outfits of the small group around him, would have stood out from a mile away. Calabresi himself was draped in asymmetry with sharp angles and clean seams cutting his chest into carefully designed segments. A red slash stood out across the front of his shirt, but aside from that embellishment, every bit of his attire came in either deep, boundless black or startlingly pure white. He wore glasses that cut upwards like knives, and his hair was slicked back and styled so professionally that he must have had help with it.

As Jasmine gawked, his eyes turned upwards. For just half a second, his eyes locked with Jasmine’s, and she felt as though she might faint.

“Oh, my goodness,” she said under her breath, trembling merely at being in the presence of such a legend.

“I know,” Luffy said. “You should probably sit down.”

Jasmine knew she shouldn’t have been staring, but it was impossible not to. She needed to soak in everything she could about Athos and the people around him while he was still there—when else would she be able to see one of his famous designs in person? When else would she be this close to an outfit worth more than every house in her town combined?

Her heart thundered in her chest, and she felt her hands grow clammy. She had never thought of herself as the type to get so worked up at the mere sight of a celebrity, but here she was, fawning like a schoolgirl. Her head was practically swimming, and all she had done was share a single glance with the man.

“Jasmine...” Luffy warned, and something about his voice made him sound worried about more than just etiquette. Still, Jasmine’s excitement didn’t turn to concern until her vision blurred and she realized she couldn’t trace all of her physical symptoms to the exhilaration of having a celebrity in town. There was only one thing Luffy could warn her about that would explain all of her current symptoms.

Jasmine realized that the vision was coming in nearly the same instant as she fell headfirst into it.