Read Online A Dose of Murder by Lori Avocato - Free Book Online Page A

get dressed up like a manly man.”
    â€œFuck you, Perlman.” They laughed.
    There wasn’t any tension between them, I noted.
    â€œGreat. Shall we get started?” I said, with not an inkling of what to do.
    â€œOh, Nicky, I didn’t know you were here.”
    I swung around to see Adele leaning against the door frame for support. I thought she’d suffer the vapors, the way she was staring at Nick. Guess she found the “businessman type” attractive.
    â€œWhat a way to start a Monday morning,” she purred.
Purred
was a perfect word to describe the way she spoke to him. Very feline.
    I looked around. Not a hint of crimson on his cheeks. Either the guy was used to compliments like that or he was a fabulous actor. He merely offered a smile.
    I turned back. Adele blushed brighter red than the snug-fitting suit she wore. Today the ribbon in her hair was navy and white. Her shoes navy. Despite being Canadian, Adele’s attire was more American than the US flag. She motioned for me to come to her. “Can I see you a minute,
chéri
?”
    â€œSure.” I turned to Goldie and Nick. “I’ll be right back.”
    â€œWe’ll be here,” Nick said.
    I think Adele moaned. Or maybe it was I who did.
    Out in the hallway she leaned near. “Nick Caruso. Isn’t he nice-looking?”
    â€œHe is, in a businessman sort of way.” I wondered why she called me out.
    â€œSingle. Forty-one. Ex-Air-Force fighter pilot. Flew commercial for a while. Too tame for him. Was married several years back, but didn’t work out. What’s new nowadays?”
    I looked at her. She expected an answer, but I was stuck on the “single” part. “Oh . . . yeah.”
    She gave me a curious look. “Unfortunately he plays the field.”
    â€œAfraid of commitment?”
    â€œNo,
chéri
. Nick Caruso is not afraid of anything. He’s the second most masculine, sure-of-himself man I know.”
    He was attractive in that entrepreneur sort of way, but there weren’t any real sparks from my end. Sure the hormones acted up some, but he looked a bit too much like Vance. Albeit a bit more human—more real. Then it dawned on me what Adele had just said.
    â€œShoot, Adele! Who the hell is the
first
?”
    She laughed, turned and said over her shoulder, “Nick’s nemesis.”
    â€œNemesis?” Couldn’t wait to hear about this guy.
    But all Adele said was “Jagger.”
    I turned back to go into Goldie’s office, wondering what a “Jagger” was. I thought of asking about Jagger, but figured I shouldn’t bring him up in front of Nick since Adele had implied the two didn’t get along. Goldie, however, I would interrogate later.
    Goldie gathered up his equipment after giving me a technical tour along with Nick’s two cents. We walked out of the office. I followed them to the parking lot, watched Goldie stuff the equipment into the backseat of his banana yellow Camaro. Had to be from back in the sixties, but highly polished, and I knew by its condition that Goldie took care of it like a baby. Not what I’d expect for a surveillance vehicle, but then again, I was driving a Volvo.
    â€œLet’s head to Dunkin Donuts for a coffee,” Nick said.
    I turned toward him. “Sure.” That was all I managed, not knowing if I should get into my car or follow him.
    â€œTake your car, Pauline. I have some business to do around one.”
    That answered that question, I thought, as I slipped into my car and watched Nick get into a black-with-black-interior’98 993 Porsche. I knew this because Uncle Walt was a car buff, and I used to read his magazines when I lived at home or used my parents’ john.
    And here I thought all investigators used generic white vans. Showed how much I knew about surveillance—or anything in this business.
    On the bright side, Nick and Goldie had to be making a