10 Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich Read Free Book Online Page A

nightgown, sneakers, and a warm-up jacket. Doodle crumbs stuck to the jacket and sparkled in the morning sunlight.

    'Whoa, ' Lula said. 'It's fright night. '

    'What is it with you people?' Carol screeched. 'Don't you have lives? Go away. Can't you see I'm having breakfast?'

    'What should we do?' Cindy asked. 'Should we call 911?'

    'Forget 911, ' Lula said. 'Call an exorcist. '

    'What's the deal with the Cheez Doodles?' I asked Carol.

    'I slipped. I fell off the wagon. '

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    'No. '

    'A store?'

    'Absolutely not. I paid for these. Okay, maybe a couple bags got stuck in my jacket, but I don't know how that happened. I don't have any memory of it, I swear. '

    'You're a nut, ' Lula said, prowling through the house, gathering up stashed bags of chips. 'You got no self-control. You need Chips

    Anonymous. ' Lula opened a bag of Doritos and scarfed a few.

    Grandma held out a grocery bag. 'I found this in the kitchen. We can put the chips in it and take them with us so she isn't tempted to eat any more. '

    Tut the chips in the bag and give them to Cindy, ' I told

    Grandma.

    1 thought it might be a good idea if we took them, ' Grandma said.

    'Yeah, ' Lula said. That's a much better idea than making poor

    Cindy cart them off. '

    I wasn't great in the willpower department. Even as I was standing there, I could feel the Cheez Doodles calling my name. I didn't want a whole grocery bag of doodles and chips in the car with me. I didn't want to end up looking like Carol.

    'Give all the chips to Cindy, ' I said. 'The chips should stay in the family. '

    Grandma looked over at Carol. 'Are you gonna be okay if we give her all the chips? You aren't gonna flip out, are you?'

    `I'm okay now, ' Carol said. 'Actually, I feel kind of sick. I think

    I'm going to lie down for a while. '

    We filled the grocery bag with the remaining chips and left

    Carol standing at the door, the pallor of her skin looking slightly green under the orange doodle dust. Cindy drove off with the chips. And Grandma and Lula and I stuffed ourselves into the

    Buick.

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    'I had my eye on that bag of barbecue chips. ' Grandma said. 'It's gonna be hard for me to keep up my strength without some chips. '

    'Uh oh, ' Lula said. 'Look at this, a couple of bags of chips somehow got in my big o purse... Just like what happened to

    Carol. '

    'Chips are devilish like that, ' Grandma said.

    'Yeah, ' Lula said. 'Guess we should eat them so they don't go to waste. '

    'How many bags do you have?' I asked her.

    Three. You want one?'

    I blew out a sigh, and Lula handed me a bag of Fritos. Not only was I going to eat them... I was secretly glad she snitched them.

    'Now what?' Lula wanted to know. `I'm not going to have to go back to the filing, am I?'

    'Sally Sweet's next up, ' I said.

    `I'm in, ' Lula said.

    Sally lived on the opposite side of town. By the time we got there, he'd be done with his morning bus run, and it'd be a good time to bring him in and get him rebonded.

    I called Morelli on the way over to get a report on Eddie

    Gazarra.

    'He's going to be okay, ' Morelli said. 'He'll probably get released from the hospital tomorrow. '

    'Anything new going on?'

    There was another devil holdup last night. This time the firebomb worked and the store burned down. '

    'Anyone hurt?'

    'No. It was late at night, and the store was empty. The night manager got out the back door. The word on the street is that the

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    'I didn't realize we had Slayers in Trenton. '

    'We've got everything in Trenton. '

    'If you rounded up all the Slayers, I might be able to identify the

    Red Devil, ' I said to Morelli.

    'To the best of our knowledge there are twenty-eight active

    Slayers, and they're about as easy to round up as smoke. And probably the twenty-eight figure is low. '

    'Okay, suppose I rode around in their neighborhood, looking for the guy?'

    'Honey, even I don't ride around in that neighborhood.