Big Apple Hunter

By Maddie Cochere

Working in a weight-loss center by day and a racquetball club by night, Susan Hunter enjoys her life, the sport, and her friends. ... But now she has life-changing decisions to make. Should she accept the new position with Slimmers Weight Loss? Should she give in and move the relationship with Mick to the next level? ... When Darby has business in New York City, Susan jumps at the chance to tag along intending to indulge in a weekend of shopping. It doesn’t take her long to realize she’s being hunted in The Big Apple. And what does the stalker have to do with Darby’s new client? It becomes a matter of life-and-death when the stalker shows up in Carbide City demanding something that Susan lost in New York. ... Big Apple Hunter is entertaining and perfect for easy, breezy reading.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maddie Cochere
• Release date: May 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476092546

Maddie Cochere

In the '80s, Maddie worked for a weight loss company by day and played racquetball by night. She used her experiences from weight loss centers and playing racquetball as inspiration for Susan Hunter in her Susan Hunter Mysteries.The family of Jo Ravens in the Two Sisters and a Journalist series resembles Maddie's family in many ways. Her eighty-five-year-old mother still laughs when a whoopee cushion makes a loud appearance at family gatherings.Maddie resides in Ohio with her husband and a spoiled beagle.

Book preview

Big Apple Hunter

by Maddie Cochere

Copyright 2012 by Maddie Cochere

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved, which includes the right to reproduce this book or portions therof in any form whatsoever except as provided by US copyright Law.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

Breezy Books

http://www.breezybooks.com/

Cover design by Gillian Soltis of Columbus, Ohio

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter One

Susan, Mrs. Colter peed on the floor again.

Angela, an attractive brunette with a bob haircut, was my assistant manager. She had just stuck her head through the doorway of our small conference room to deliver the unpleasant news.

A brief look toward Courtney, a plump, nineteen-year-old waitress from the diner downtown, showed her mouth hanging open. Janet, a curvy, thirty-three-year-old, stay-at-home mom, fidgeted in her seat with discomfort.

My presentation to the two potential members was going to have to wait.

I’m sorry, I said to the women. You’ll have to excuse me for a few minutes.

I rushed to the small bathroom and saw Mrs. Colter leaning against the sink. A not-so-small puddle was beside her on the floor. My eyes widened.

Mrs. Colter, we talked about this before, I said sharply. Are you still peeing on keto sticks? You know we don't do that anymore. I couldn’t control the pitch in my voice as it went higher. And how does it get on the floor?

Oh, Susan, I'm sorry, the gray-haired woman said as she clutched her purse to her chest. She looked miserable. I manage just fine at home. I don't know why it gets away from me here.

I'll get the mop and clean up, I said. You throw those sticks away. It had been an exceptionally trying day, but I didn’t really want to yell at her. I softened my tone and said, If you follow the program and let us help you, you'll keep losing weight. You don’t need to do anything else. Take a seat in the waiting room, and I’ll have Angela go over your food diary with you.

A quick peek into the waiting room showed that two of the women who were waiting for a presentation to hear about the weight loss program had slipped out during the commotion. Grace was coming through the doorway to start her shift, and three more women interested in enrolling were right behind her.

A national advertising campaign was running for two weeks to drive members to Slimmers Weight Loss centers, and we were slammed this morning. When I arrived at ten o’clock, twelve women were waiting either for weigh-in consultations or for information about enrolling in the program.

Our center was in an office building near the shopping mall on the east side of town. The layout was narrow, with the waiting room at the front, the weigh-in area and restroom in the center, and beyond that, a short hallway led to the conference room and my office.

All of the centers were decorated with light blue and mauve throughout, but there were plans at the corporate level to make major changes after the first of the year. The centers were scheduled for remodeling and a color change. There would also be more food choices and a program for men would be implemented.

Our dress code was business casual. I was wearing a dark green pencil skirt with a white silk blouse. I hated the thought of cleaning the bathroom in the outfit and approached the detail cautiously.

When the mopping was finished, I entered the conference room and sat down to face the two women once again. I directed a warm smile to Courtney and Janet and said, I’m sorry for the interruption. We’re busier than usual because of our advertising campaign.

We didn’t mind waiting, Janet said sweetly. Courtney and I have been talking, and she’s going to do some babysitting for me this weekend.

Courtney smiled. The two ladies appeared to be fast friends now.

Let’s start with why you’re motivated to lose weight, I said. Courtney, you go first.

She blushed and said, I'm embarrassed to admit I've put on twenty-five pounds since I started working at the diner. I need help to figure out how to work there and eat there but not gain weight. I take food home with me, too, so it's diner food all day long. The biggest problem is - I love it. I really love mashed potatoes and meat loaf.

Oh, I do, too, chimed in Janet with her eyes lit up and shining. I've eaten at the diner a lot, and their meatloaf is the best. Ooh, and your lemon meringue pie is to die for.

Courtney perked up even more. Thank you, she said. I make the pies myself. I go in early before we open and make all the pies. The lemon meringue is my mother’s recipe, and it’s my favorite. She looked sheepishly my way and confessed, I taste a lot of the fillings in the mornings, and sometimes I squirt whipped cream into my mouth right out of the can. Maybe I should get some help with that, too.

The two women were practically drooling. I needed to reel them back to the topic. I turned to Janet and asked, What made you want to come in today?

Well, she said slowly before glancing at Courtney and taking a moment. She plunged ahead with her thoughts. I want to lose weight, but I'm not really sure if I should.

Why would you think you shouldn't lose weight? I asked. It was such an odd thing to say.

She looked a little flushed and said, I get too hot when I lose weight.

I wasn't sure what she meant. Too hot?

When I lose weight I feel better about myself, and I feel sexier, she said. She began to fidget in her chair again.

That's a good thing, isn't it? I prompted her.

Not really, she said. She looked at Courtney again and then somewhat whispered her answer, I get too hot. I want sex all the time, and it drives my husband crazy. He wouldn't like it if he knew I was here.

I was stunned. My training manual didn't cover how to overcome a too much sex objection to enrolling in the program. Courtney's mouth was hanging open again. I clenched my jaw at her, and she clamped hers shut.

Just as I began to fumble for some words, Angela stuck her head through the doorway again with another look of panic on her face. I'm usually mildly irritated when she brings up center business in front of potential members, but this time, I was grateful for the interruption.

What is it? I asked.

She was nearly in tears when she said, Mrs. Colter had a hot flash and stripped down to her underwear in the waiting room.

The two women giggled. I hung my head in defeat.

I didn't leave the center until closing at seven o’clock. By the time it was all over, Courtney had decided to go back to the diner where, according to her, it wasn't so hectic, and Janet freaked out about being too hot and sexy again and bolted with Courtney.

But we signed eight new people throughout the day, with four more wanting to think about it and possibly come back later. We also weighed, measured, counseled good eating habits, and sold food products to forty-six regular members. After a rocky start, the day ended a success.

I was scheduled to work at the racquetball club from nine until midnight, so I left the center right at closing. I’d come in an hour early tomorrow to catch up with paperwork.

I slipped behind the wheel of my bolero red '67 Chevy Chevelle. I loved the car that had been beautifully restored by my dad and given to me as a gift for my twenty-seventh birthday when he and mom moved to Texas over a year ago. I pushed in the 8-track tape and was greeted with the sounds of Daydream Believer by The Monkees. I always thought it a hoot that Dad had scoured flea markets to buy old 8-track tapes with music from 1967 to match the year of the car. There were at least a dozen tapes in the car's console.

I decided to swing by Martin's Deli to pick up a few things before heading home. Martin was in his nineties and still ran the deli by himself. He and my dad had known each other since Dad was a teenager, and they continued to stay in touch at least once a month. Martin kept Dad up to date on all the town gossip.

I stepped through the doorway, and before I could even say hello, Martin shot a stern look of disapproval to me and said, Susan Hunter, I can’t fathom what's gotten into you lately. It's getting harder and harder to talk to your father and not tell him how that dad-blamed car has changed you and how you’re ruining your life.

Martin, I said with a smile and a shake of my head. I have no idea what you're talking about. I hadn't had a speeding ticket in over six months, and I couldn’t imagine what blame he was placing on the car now.

Mrs. Blakely was in here at noon, and she told everyone that you and your wild friends were runnin’ ‘round naked, having an orgy for all the world to see, and you all ended up in the lake at Larry's house, and ten police cars showed up to get everyone out of the lake and take you to the police station.

He was in such a hurry to spew the juicy gossip, he had barely taken a breath and was taking a deep one now.

Oh my gosh! That is simply not true. Why would she say such a thing? I was truly aghast.

He didn’t back down. She was right next door and saw the whole thing from the deck of her house. You can’t deny it, Susan. He was still talking fast and seemed certain of his facts.

That was Mrs. Blakely? I hadn't seen her in years. She had been in my mother's bridge club, but after her marriage fell apart, we never saw her again. I heard she was on her third marriage, and she still wasn’t happy. I hadn’t even recognized her yesterday when I was at Samantha and Larry’s house.

I raised my voice and stamped my foot. "Martin, do not spread that story around! There were only four men who pulled the naked stunt to skinny-dip in the lake, and they ran really fast, so Mrs. Blakely couldn't have seen anything. Mick and I left right away. I wasn't even there when the police showed up. I didn't need him spreading rumors like this to my dad. My mother would be on the phone lecturing me until my ears blistered. Call the police station and talk to Larry's cousin, Dick. I know you know him, and he'll tell you what really happened."

I glared at the man.

Ok, he said reluctantly. Mrs. Blakely was pretty upset though, and she was very convincing, but out of respect for your dad, I'll call Dick in the morning. He finally smiled and asked, What can I get for you, dear? Your usual?

My usual was a pound of corned beef sliced thin and a half-pound of Swiss cheese. They were necessary for my obsession with Reuben sandwiches, which I made at least once a week. I smiled at Martin, my blood pressure coming down.

My usual would be great, I said. I picked up a basket and turned to the shelves for rye bread and then to the dairy section for milk and eggs. My eye caught the java chip ice cream in a stand-alone freezer case. I tossed a quart into my basket. Some days deserved java chip, and this was one of them.

He placed my wrapped packages of meat and cheese on the counter and asked, Did you hear there's going to be a new shopping plaza up by the racquetball club? It's supposed to be fancy, expensive stores from New York City. Clothes, jewelry, home furnishings - stuff like that. I don't know why they think anyone in Carbide City can afford expensive things from New York. You hear anything about it?

I hadn't, but the thought was drool-worthy. I loved shopping, and working part-time at the racquetball club was what fed my credit cards so I could keep shopping.

I haven’t heard anything about it, but it might be nice to have some stores other than what the mall offers.

Well, I think it's a waste of real estate, he said with disdain. He looked at me sternly again and said, You stay out of trouble. I don't want your dad to have to worry about you.

Neither did I.

I'll stay out of trouble, Martin. I promise, I said and crossed my heart with my index finger. I finally gave him a smile, paid for my groceries, and left the store.

Chapter Two

I sat in my car and thought about what Martin had said. Why would Mrs. Blakely spread such terrible lies about me? About the whole party?

Samantha was my best girlfriend and racquetball doubles partner. She and her husband, Larry, threw an end-of-summer party at their house every October. The party yesterday had also doubled as a victory party for our wins at the State Racquetball Tournament in Centertown two weekends ago. Samantha and I had surprised everyone by being the only entrants from our club to bring home trophies. We took second in doubles, and I was thrilled to win first place in the class B division in singles.

It had been an amazing tournament weekend. I allowed the events to flash through my mind. . . .

There were six of us from Carbide Racquet and Fitness who had signed up to play in the tournament - Husky, the club coach; Larry and Samantha; Ron, the club’s weekend bartender; Corey, a class A player; and myself.

We all rode down together in Husky's SUV and arrived around eleven o’clock on Friday night. We stowed our suitcases and gear in our rooms before crashing Husky's