Natalie Roberts - Tapped Out

Table of Contents

Praise for

TUTU DEADLY

A fun mystery with an irreverent heroine and a steamy romance! Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant, authors of the Gourmet Girl Mysteries

A tour de force of silly fun with enough romance and murder to keep cozy readers on their toes!

Susan McBride, author of the Debutante Dropout Mysteries

Blending the humor of Janet Evanovich with chick-lit quirkiness, Roberts adds sassy prose and a spunky heroine to create a new series to watch. Library Journal

Robertss charming new series is a winnera one-sitting read with laugh-out-loud moments, a wacky heroine, and enough red herrings to populate a fish market.

Romantic Times

[An] upbeat mystery... with many familiar details of life in the dance-studio world. Dance Teacher

A humor-filled romp... Gumshoe Review

A fun and funny new series with a unique and wacky heroine. Jenny Partridge is fresh and endearing.

The Romance Readers Connection

Jenny is a great cozy heroine. Cozy Library

Roberts leaves you with that one thing every good author should generatea desire for more. Fresh Fiction

Berkley Prime Crime titles by Natalie M. Roberts

TUTU DEADLY
TAPPED OUT

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

TAPPED OUT

A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author

PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition / October 2007

Copyright 2007 by Natalie M. Roberts.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

ISBN: 978-1-436-24587-6

BERKLEY PRIME CRIME
Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
The name BERKLEY PRIME CRIME and the BERKLEY PRIME CRIME design
are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

This ones for all the dancers of Elite Dance Force, who have inspired this book in so many ways. In particular I must mention Savanna Kemp, my weekend and dance competition daughter, because if I dont shell never forgive me, and you know how dramatic teenagers can be. And since I am thanking her, I also have to give a shout-out to my best friend, Tracee, Savvys mom. Weve spent a lot of time together at dance events and competitions. And were still friends. Go figure.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

So many different people contributed to this book, but first I want to mention the person who has contributed so much to the series: Calista Cele Cates-Stanturf. Cele has read both Tutu Deadly and Tapped Out countless times with a keen eye, open heart, and a genuine love for the character Jenny T. Partridge. She is an invaluable part of my writing process. Gary and Karin Tabke and Jennifer Apodaca have also been a big part of Jennys creation and are among her biggest cheerleaders. Gary, aka Officer Friendly, answers all of my police questions and helps keep me on the straight and narrow regarding proper police procedure.

I, of course, am always indebted to the incredibly talented girls that dance with my daughter and on our team, under the direction of Misty Robbins, and to their psycho dance moms. They arent all psycho, of course (come on, you know who you are!). But to those who are: Please, never change. It gives me lots of fodder for the books.

I must thank my agent Karen Solem, who is open and honest, and never hesitates to steer me straight, and also my wonderful editor, Sandra Harding, who is just the bomb. She makes writing these books a dream and a joy. I feel incredibly lucky. I also want to thank Cati Dallas and Brenda Butcher, my Dancing Daughters ballet teachers, for their dedication to the craft and for sharing their own stories with me, as well as answering any questions about dance I might have. I am also grateful to have Jenni Baxter to lean on, vent to, and share experiences with as we work at the studio. She makes what could be a difficult job a lot of fun! And last, but certainly not least, I need to say thanks to Carissa, my oldest daughter, who wants nothing to do with danceexcept to watch. Thanks for the patience.

ONE

UH, Carmen? That hurts a bit. Carmen?

The woman holding the hairbrush over my headand what looked like a considerable chunk of my hair in her left handhad a glazed, slightly off-kilter look on her face. I could see her in the mirror we both faced, and it wasnt a comforting sight.

Carmen? Can you let go? It seemed some of my hair was trapped in the brush, too, and it was in danger of joining the hair in her hand. Somehow, I just knew that bald would not be a good look for me. I should have known this would be a mistake.

Since I never have any money, I am always looking for ways to pinch pennies. One of the ways I do that is working in trade. I do something for the psycho dance moms whose little darlings learn at my studio, and they do something for me in return. Usually this works. Sometimes it backfires. The more psycho the mom, the more often it turns into a huge mess.

Im Jenny T. Partridge, and as you might have guessed, Im a dance teacher. I live and work in Ogden, Utah, land of the Mormons, lake stink, and winter inversions that bring bitter cold temperatures and zero visibility. Everyone who goes through the public school system in Utah knows how the Mormons got hereit is a part of the fourth-grade curriculum. I heard once that the Great Salt Lake stinks because it has no outlet, but my fathera retired school- teachertold me that it is because of the dead plants and animals and the shallow water. Eww. And the inversion? My good friend James Marriott, who just happens to be a very flamboyant gay mansomething everyone knows except his Mormon motherclaims it is Gods curse on Utah for being so culturally backward. You cant take that too seriously, because of course, James claims a distant relationship with the very wealthy Marriott hotel chain owners, too. A family connection I highly doubt.