Halloween in Paradise (Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries Book 6) Read Free Page B

geek who really had no use for the popular kids. It seemed like she believed herself somehow to be above the popular crowd, even though a lot of those kids made fun of the way she dressed and the odd interests she seemed to have.”
    “Odd interests?”
    “She was really into supernatural stuff like astrology and past lives. And she liked to dress in very loud colors. I’m talking bright green pants paired with a hot pink T-shirt topped with blue hair. She also tended to do things she knew would invite ridicule. I think she liked the negative attention.”
    “What kind of things?” Roy asked.
    Tj smiled as she remembered some of Mia’s theatrics. She really had been a unique individual.
    “Sometimes she would stand up on one of the tables in the lunch room and start reciting Shakespeare. She really did have a flare for the dramatic. Or other times, she’d sing at the top of her lungs while she walked through the hallways on her way to class. She certainly wasn’t afraid to call attention to herself, which I guess partially explains why she’s been so incredibly successful as an actress.”
    “She really is talented,” Roy agreed. “I was totally mesmerized by her last movie, and I’ve already marked the date of the premiere of her next one on my calendar. I was really looking forward to meeting her, but she seemed adamant that she would no longer be coming to town. She actually called me to file a complaint. She thought it was unwise that I had cooperated with Ms. Colton in the first place. She felt she was being unjustifiably harassed and partially blamed me for her inconvenience because I had given Ms. Colton her contact information. I have to admit that wasn’t the first impression I wanted to make.”
    “You have a little celebrity crush on Mia?” Tj teased.
    “Maybe.”
    “So what did Colton say that made Mia so mad?”
    “Ms. Colton indicated that, given her profile, Mia made an excellent suspect in Holly’s murder case.”
    “What?” Tj turned away from the window and back to her desk. “Why would Mia kill Holly?”
    “Ms. Colton seems to think Mia was jealous of Holly’s popularity and killed her in some sort of psychotic rage. Or at least that’s what Mia said. She was very upset, so I suspect she might have embellished Ms. Colton’s words just a bit.”
    “That’s crazy. I realize I can’t possibly know what was going on in Mia’s mind when she was in high school, but she didn’t seem like she was jealous of anyone.”
    “Were you friends?” Roy asked.
    Tj thought back to her time as a high school student. She was a popular cheerleader who knew pretty much everyone, but the truth of the matter was, she was only really friends with the A crowd. Now that she was older and had a better perspective, she realized she should have tried harder to befriend a wider range of students, but at the time hanging with the kids at the top seemed the prudent and relevant thing to do.
    “No,” Tj answered honestly. “I have to confess I thought she was as weird as everyone else did, and I was prone to mocking her. I wasn’t exactly a bully in high school, but I also wasn’t the type to defy social convention by hanging out with nerds and geeks. I really am sorry Mia isn’t coming to the reunion, although I was sort of surprised when she RSVP’d in the first place.”
    “Surprised why?” Roy asked.
    “She’s rich and famous, with a million adoring fans. I couldn’t imagine that she had the time or the inclination to hang out with the mere mortals who gave her a hard time during her youth.”
    “Maybe she just wanted to rub her wealth and fame in everyone’s face,” Roy suggested.
    “Yeah, maybe. Although as much as I knew her, she didn’t seem the type to care about making people jealous. I don’t think she cared what people thought of her at all.”
    “Maybe she just wanted to catch up with the people she shared her teen years with. People who knew her before she was Mia