Borrowed

By Jennifer Gulbrandsen

Nobody thinks there's anything to celebrity journalism beyond the pretty faces, who's dating who, and what they're wearing. But there's something very sinister going behind the scenes of former popstar Margaret McAdams's life. There's so much more behind the crazy tabloid stories. Missing people and murder for starters.

Reporter Blondie Jones is on the case, and it's the scoop that could kill her. One of the people who turned up missing is her fiance, another journalist who was about to uncover all of the skeletons in Margaret's closet and didn't get the chance. He vanished without a trace before the story broke.

No one has ever crossed Margaret Black and lived to tell the tale, and Blondie is determined to be the first.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jennifer Gulbrandsen
• Release date: Nov 21, 2013
• ISBN: 9781310252372

Jennifer Gulbrandsen

I need to think of a clever bio beyond telling the world I love to write, I have three kids, and I drink a lot of wine.

Book preview

Borrowed

Jennifer Gulbrandsen-Sale

Copyright 2013 by Jennifer Gulbrandsen-Sale

Smashwords Edition

Author's Note

BORROWED. was never meant to be a book. I had been bored at one of my daughter's practices and started goofing around with a silly fanfic on Twitter. That soon became a 10 part blog series, and now, here we are...a novella of sorts.

The plan was always to have The Secret Life of Lies come out as my first novel, but everything happens for a reason, and because everyone wants to see what happens where the blog leaves off, BORROWED. will now be my first book.

None of this would have been possible without you, the fans, and my wonderful family's support. This story was truly a fun one to write and definitely took some twists and turns that not even I expected.

I hope you enjoy reading the tale of a psychopathic former popstar as much as I enjoyed writing it. And the great thing is...we don't have to give it back.

This book is dedicated to my family for their support and patience with this writing career of mine. I must also give every thanks to my beloved father, Steve Gulbrandsen for giving me the gift of creativity, the insanity to think I can be a rockstar, and the ability to tell a good story. He's the angel sitting on my shoulder every time I sit down to write. My biggest cheerleader, and other creative angel sitting on my shoulder, the lovely Lisa Koziol-Ellis, also gets a dedication in this book. Thank you for always believing in me, girl. I miss you.

This book is a work of fiction. Any correlation to a person or persons' real life is purely coincidental.

Prologue

Blondie Jones poured herself another cup of coffee and walked out onto her deck. It was that perfect time of year where the sun was still warm, but the air cool and crisp. She sat in her old Adirondack chair and let her mind rest for a minute as the sun started to climb above the tree tops. It had been a very long day and night, sleep didn’t come easily, and when it did, it was time for the alarm to go off again.

She sighed, leaned back in the chair and sipped her coffee. Never in a million years did she think that her life would become this endless cycle of exhaustion. Life used to be fun! She and Rob were esteemed writers, world travelers, about to win Pulitzers...the world was their oyster. Until that day she got the news that Rob had vanished. Gone without a trace.

He had been investigating the story of the two missing personal assistants of pop singer, Margaret McAdams, trying to solve the mystery of how two young twenty something women simply vanished while working for the singer. On the surface it seemed pretty cut and dried...both girls had been overseas, fell in love, left notes in their hotel rooms, and simply ran off.

But Rob's gut told him there was more to the story. Blondie had to laugh at the memory, because here was this guy, world famous for his coverage of wars, and conflicts all over the Middle East and Africa, all caught up on the tabloid drama of a fading child star.

They were at the checkout counter at the local grocery store when he saw the headline splashed across the National Inquisitor. More Assistant Drama for Margaret McAdams! with a picture of the latest assistant to have disappeared helping what looked like a clearly wasted and incoherent Margaret through the airport terminal at LAX.

Rob picked up the magazine, one he would typically deign to line the catbox with, and flipped to the article, skimming over the contents. He raised an eyebrow and put it back in the rack. Have you ever heard of a 22 year old girl simply vanishing without a trace for love?

Blondie had to think about it for a second, no she hadn't. Usually when a young woman falls in love they want to tell the world and upset their parents with such news. Not runaway and disappear. No, she answered unloading the basket onto the belt, I can't say that I have, actually.

That's what puzzles me, Rob replied while the checker scanned the groceries, Here this woman has had not one, but two young women fall in love and simply disappear, something that never happens, happens to her twice. And everyone just says, 'whatever' and on to the next?

As they paid for the groceries, Blondie could tell by the set of Rob's jaw that he was on the case. This was a mystery that he needed to solve. Like everything Rob went after, this was about to not only become a science, but an obsession. That's why he was so brilliant. He simply immersed himself into the mysteries of the world until he got the answers he needed.

Blondie went back into the house and flipped on her laptop. First thing every morning, before she set out to work, she would read