With Vics You Get Eggroll (A Mad for Mod Mystery Book 3) by Diane Vallere Read Free Book Online

tail light out and asked if I wanted to see it.”
    A broken tail light. That’s what Officer Iverson had pulled me over for. With the news about Tex, I’d forgotten to take care of it. But now, it didn’t feel like coincidence.
    Nasty sat forward. I could tell she was absorbing Effie’s story, but I was surprised by how easily she related to the recent college grad. There was no police power play coming from her. No sense of “I’m in charge” like I’d seen in the past.
    “Did you get out of the car?” Nasty asked.
    “I swore, and then I apologized for swearing. I didn’t want him to think I was cursing at him. I asked which tail light it was. Instead of answering, he asked why I wanted to know, which seemed strange. He stepped closer to the car and I read his nametag. It said Lt. Tex Allen. I was going to mention you,” she gestured to me, “but then I saw something in his hand. It looked like some kind of hook. I threw the car into reverse and I think I hit him when I backed out of the space.”
    “Did you stop to check?”
    “No, I was too scared. I took off and drove straight here.”
    “Did anyone follow you?”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “Effie, how well do you know Lt. Allen?”
    “I’ve met him a couple of times, once or twice when he was here to visit Madison.”
    “And you’re sure the man who approached you was Lt. Allen?”
    “I don’t think it could have been him if what I saw on the TV was true.”
    “That’s not what I’m asking. You’ve seen Lt. Allen face to face. Did the man who stopped you tonight look like the man you’ve met?”
    She looked at me, pleading me to help her. “Effie, it’s okay,” I said. “Officer Nast is trying to help.”
    “I don’t know. It was dark and I didn’t see his face. He could have been Madison’s lieutenant.”
    I cringed. Nasty scored even more points for not reacting.
    “Can you describe him?”
    “He was tall, at least I think he was. I was in the car so it’s hard to tell. He wore a hat so I couldn’t see his hair, and he had on mirrored sunglasses even though it was dark.”
    “Effie, why are you so sure it was Lt. Allen?”
    “His name was right there on his uniform. ‘Lt. Tex Allen.’”
    I looked at Nasty to see if she was thinking what I was thinking. We both knew Tex was a nickname. Besides that, Tex was a detective. He didn’t wear a uniform. They were little things, but they meant a lot.
    Nasty kept her eyes focused on Effie. “Can you describe the uniform?”
    Effie’s forehead scrunched up while she thought. “I think it was black or navy. Short sleeved shirt that buttoned up the front. I think it had epaulettes. The pants were the same color. He had stuff attached to his belt…a radio, a pair of handcuffs, and a club. There was a patch on his sleeve. It was dark with red edges and gold and white words in the middle.”
    “What about a car? Did you see one?” I asked.
    “I don’t know. I didn’t see a car. He walked up to my window.”
    “Is there anything else you can remember?”
    Effie shook her head.
    “You did a good job, Effie. You were smart. You did exactly what you should have done. Do you want to call your friends and make sure they’re okay?”
    “I called them when Madison went to let you in.”
    Nasty put a comforting hand on Effie’s arm. “Good. Are you going to stay in your apartment tonight?”
    “Can I stay here with you, Madison?” she asked. She kept her arm wrapped around Rocky’s neck, like Linus with his security blanket.
    I hadn’t been planning on spending the night at the apartment, but the last twenty minutes had been a schooling in things I hadn’t planned on doing. “Yes, you can stay here with me. Let me get a pillow and some sheets for the sofa.”
    I went to the hall closet and pulled out a yellow sheet set. I added a pillow and pillowcase to the pile, and a pale yellow blanket trimmed in satin. In the background, Effie and Nasty exchanged information. The truth