Limoncello Yellow (Franki Amato Mysteries) by Traci Andrighetti Read Free Book Online Page B

I was now overjoyed to have at hand.
    " Exactly." Glenda looked at her with renewed respect. "And after she took her vagina back, she did whatever the hell she wanted with it!" She cackled as she elbowed Veronica, truly tickled by her own zinger.
    Taking "The Vagina Monologues" as my cue to leave, I stood up and chugged the remainder of my glass of Prosecco. "Well, guys, I hate to drink and run, but I'd better head out. After all, I've got a case to start investigating tomorrow."
    Veronica looked up at me. "I haven't had a chance to tell you this Franki, but I feel so much better now that you're here. I just know I can't go wrong with an ex-cop on my team."
    " That's the first time I've ever heard that one," Glenda said as she tossed back another shot of tequila.
    Ignoring Glenda, I replied, "Thanks, Veronica. It's a nice change to work for someone who has so much confidence in my abilities. See you tomorrow."
    As I exited the bar into the crisp January air, it suddenly became clear to me just how much was riding on this case. It wasn 't only about my self-esteem, pride, and career. It was also about Veronica's professional reputation and the success of the business she had worked so hard to establish. That night, the thirty or so steps back to my apartment seemed like the longest walk of my life.

C HAPTER FOUR
     
     
    I was getting dressed for work the next morning when I heard a knock at the door. I went to open it, hopping from one foot to the other as I hurriedly pulled on my gray Kardashian Kollection pants I 'd bought on sale at Sears. It was Veronica, rocking a sleek brown Elie Tahari pantsuit with a cream-colored silk blouse. She looked like a gazelle, while I was the spitting image of a hippo.
    " Hey, so how's Napoleon adjusting to his new surroundings?" Veronica asked before I could say hello.
    " Very well, actually," I responded, closing the door behind her as she entered the living room. "The bordello chic decor is really bringing out the animal in him. Last night when I came home from the bar, I found him lying on his back sound asleep on the zebra print chaise lounge with his legs splayed wide open."
    " Men—of any species—have no shame," Veronica said, following me into my bedroom.
    " I know, right?" I immediately thought of Vince and his brazen attitude about his infidelity. I walked into the adjoining bathroom to put on my makeup and was surprised by the scowling face looking back at me in the oval-shaped mirror of the knockoff red Louis XVI vanity. But then I forced myself to smile. I refused to waste anymore of my precious emotion on that cheat.
    Veronica flopped down on the bed next to Napoleon. "Speaking of shame, we're going to church this morning."
    " What?" My sudden anger toward Vince was instantly replaced by the waves of Catholic guilt washing over me. I tried to remember the last time I'd been to church. I'd visited the Vatican on my trip to Rome three years ago, but they turned me away at the door for having bare shoulders, so I was fairly certain that didn't count.
    Veronica sighed. "Relax, Franki. We're not going to mass."
    I shot her a questioning look from the bathroom doorway, holding my liquid eyeliner brush like a weapon.
    "Or confession," she added, correctly interpreting my gaze. "We're going there to meet Betty Friedan."
    I gasped. "The founder of the National Organization for Women?" Now I was wracked by feminist guilt for putting on my signature Sophia Loren–style cat eyeliner.
    " Gah, Franki! Calm down, will you?" Veronica was lying casually on her side with her head propped up by her arm, indifferent to my issues. "Betty Friedan is our informant's code name."
    " How was I supposed to know you were referring to an informant?" I asked, relieved that I could now wear blush and lipstick too. "I mean, why doesn't she have a normal informant name like 'Deep Throat' or 'Huggy Bear' or something?"
    " Because she's not Bob Woodward's Watergate source or a TV character from Starksy and