16 Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich Read Free Book Online Page B

said. Ill miss him on Mondays and Tuesdays.

    Lula sneezed. Damn cats. I gotta get out of here. Im allergic to just about everything in this house . . . Cats and dead people, and pretty soon its gonna be filled with cops.

    Dolly looked at her watch. I should probably cancel my service appointment.

    You might want to do that, Lula said. But if we hurry things along, you could make lunch.

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    Guess youre getting good at this, Lula said.

    The husband before Dirk died five months ago, he should rest in peace. And before that was George.

    We all meandered out of the house and stood blinking in the late morning sun.

    A cop car angled to a stop behind my Jeep and Carl Costanza and Big Dog got out. Carl and I did Communion together, and he was friends with Morelli.

    Carl looked at me and smiled. I bet this is going to be good, he said.

    I have a dead FTA in there, I told him.

    Did you kill him?

    No. Looks to me like natural causes, but what do I know. Dolly said he just never woke up.

    Carl pulled on rubber gloves.

    Gonna need more than that in there, Lula said. Theres cats. And she sneezed and farted. Scuse me, she said.

    An EMT truck turned the corner and Big Dog flagged it down.

    Ill stop at the station later today for my paperwork, I said to Carl.

    Dont rush. I have to get mine done first.

    Im sorry for your loss, I said to Dolly.

    Thank you, she said. It was nice meeting you.

    Lula and I got into the Jeep, and I found my way back to Greenwood.

    That was a downer, I said to Lula.

    Yeah, she said. It was anti climactic after waiting all this time to see the bigamist.

    I cant figure out if Im more depressed that Dirk died or that Dolly didnt know he was dead.

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    He did look like he died smiling.

    See, its all part of the circle of life, Lula said. And pretty soon, well be dead, too, only youll go first because youre older than me.

    Do you have any doughnuts left? I need a doughnut.

    I ate them all, but we can stop at the bakery again. They had some red velvet cupcakes that Im pretty sure were made with beet juice. Either that or red dye #13.

    I hooked a left into the bakery lot and bought myself a doughnut with white icing and colorful sprinkles. This is a happy doughnut, I said to Lula.

    Fuckin A, Lula said. But then I never saw a sad doughnut.

    I ate my doughnut and felt much better, so I drove down Greenwood to Hamilton, past the office, and on to the government buildings on the river. It was lunchtime, and I was guessing Mickey Gritch would be hanging out, looking to run some numbers.

    Oh boy, Lula said when I pulled into the 7-Eleven lot on Marble Street. Youre not gonna do what I think youre gonna do, are you?

    Im going to talk to Mickey Gritch.

    I spotted his car, parked to the side of the lot. No other cars around it. It was early. Lunch hours hadnt kicked in yet. I pulled up beside him, and his tinted window rolled down.

    Mickey Gritch had white-blond hair cut in a sixties Beatle mop style. He had little pig eyes that were always behind shades, a big pasty potato head, and a body gone soft. He was in his late forties, and he was living proof that anyone could be successful at crime in Trenton if he truly worked at it.

    What? Mickey Gritch asked me.

    I want to talk to you about Vinnie.

    What about him?

    No one wants to fork up the money.

    Doesnt surprise me, Gritch said. Hes a turd. Dont get me wrong. I like Vinnie. Weve done business for a lot of years. But hes still a turd.

    Maybe we can make a deal?

    Like what?

    Like you dont kill him, and he can get some kind of a payment plan.

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    Complicated how?

    Just complicated. I dont know. I dont want to know. Theres bad people involved. Badder than Bobby Sunflower. He leaned out a little. Is that Lula? Hey, momma.

    Dont you hey momma me, Lula said. Ill be out of a job if they off Vinnie, and then what? I got bills to pay. I got a standard of living.

    I got a job