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

was, Nasty’s presence had been oddly calming. Unlike my own encounters with the law and threatening situations, there had been something different tonight. I didn’t know what it was, but for Effie and Tex’s sake, I would do nothing to upset the apple cart.
    When I returned to the living room, Nasty stood up and looked at me with a funny expression. “Can I talk to you?”
    “Sure.”
    “Wait,” Effie said. “Madison, I hope you’re not mad, but I asked Officer Nast if she’d stay here too.”
    Nasty looked at me. I looked at Effie.
    It was turning into a freakin’ slumber party.

FIVE

      
    My mouth tightened, paralyzed with numbness. I put a hand on the arm of the sofa for balance. “Is that something you feel comfortable doing?” I asked Nasty.
    She raised an eyebrow at me. “I don’t want to impose.”
    “It’s no imposition.”
    An awkward vibration of tension filled the air. “Okay then, it’s settled.” I looked around the living room. Aside from the sofa, there was the chair I’d sat in and a Danish modern coffee table that was great for the look of the room, but definitely not right for sleeping.
    “Effie, why don’t you take a shower or a bath? Donna and I can work out the sleeping arrangements.”
    “I can sleep on the floor,” Effie said.
    “Nobody’s sleeping on the floor,” Nasty and I said at the same time.
    “Come with me,” I said and led Effie to the bathroom. I pulled clean fluffy pink towels from the closet. “I can get your pajamas from your apartment while you shower. Officer Nast will be here, so you’ll be safe. It’s going to be okay, Effie. Really. Officer Nast was right. You did the right thing.”
    Effie told me where I’d find her keys and where I’d find the T-shirt and boxers she usually slept in. I closed the bathroom door behind me and met Nasty in the living room.
    “I’m going to tell Effie to take my bed. She’s had the hardest night of any of us and I think that’s the best place for her to sleep. That leaves you, me, and the sofa.”
    Nasty looked at the sofa. “It’s a long sofa.”
    “Nine feet.”
    “End to end?”
    “Sounds like a plan. I’m going to get her some PJs from her apartment. Make yourself comfortable. There’s wine in the fridge, but not much else, food-wise.”
    “I didn’t expect it to be a bed and breakfast,” she said.
    Apparently there was still an edge to her after all.
    My trip to Effie’s apartment was quick. Everything was where she said it would be, which was surprising considering how much of a mess the place was. She paid her rent on time so it wasn’t my place to judge her for throwing her clothes on the floor and letting the dishes pile up in the sink. At least they were sitting in a basin of formerly sudsy water. The intent to hand-wash them had been there.
    I collected her T-shirt and boxers and turned to leave. An empty pizza box sat open on top of two plastic milk crates that had been pushed together and acted as a coffee table. Next to the pizza box was a teddy bear with a red, heart-shaped sachet stitched onto its paw. I carried the bear with her PJs and locked up behind me.
    When I got back, Effie was in the living room with Rocky, wearing the terrycloth robe that I left on the back of the bathroom door.
    “He looked lonely,” I said, handing her the bear.
    “Present from my boyfriend,” she said. She hugged him to her chest. “I haven’t named him yet.” She brushed a couple of crumbs from the seat of the stuffed animal and waved him in front of Rocky.
    I told her Donna and I had worked out the sleeping arrangements and led her to the bedroom. She carried the bear with her and Rocky followed. He jumped up like he did every night. I suspected by the morning I’d find him wedged somewhere between Nasty and me on the sofa, assuming he wasn’t threatened by her fire-engine red toenails.
    When I got back to the living room, Nasty had spread the sheet over the sofa. “Where do you find a sofa