Read Online J.M. Griffin - Vinnie Esposito 05 - Season for Murder by J.M Griffin - Free Book Online Page A

grin with the same suddenness as it had appeared.
    “If we have to, we’ll come back again and toss the place real good,” I announced, and watched my mother stuff the journal inside her handbag as we left Iva’s apartment. Hmm …
    In the corridor, the elevator started to open. We scrambled toward the stairs. The elevator dinged and another resident from an apartment hobbled out. I glanced back and caught the stairway door as it swung closed, in case it clanged in place.
    “Whew, that was close.” Mr. Perkins leaned against the wall and wiped his brow.
    “It sure was,” I agreed. “Please don’t go into that apartment again,” I pleaded to everyone standing on the stairs.
    “Would you like the key?” Mr. Perkins asked me, his eyes lit like a Christmas tree.
    Another smile covered his face, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the engaging old fellow. My hand extended flat, palm up toward him, he laid the key in the center and winked at me.
    “You’ll let me know if I can be of service again, eh, missy?” he asked.
    “I sure will, Mr. Perkins. Thank you for your help.”
    “You can call me Gabe,” he said with a smile.
    “That’s a fine name, and thank you, Gabe.” I shook his withered hand in a conspiratorial manner.
    The three of them left the stairwell heading out the side door as the front door opened. Standing still, I glanced through the narrow window of the interior door. I watched Mrs. Galumpky urgently punch the elevator button several times. She must have just missed Muffy, my mother, and Gabe as they left the building. I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
    The four of us scrambled down the outside steps of the apartment complex. How we didn’t topple over one another, I couldn’t say. Mr. Perkins nearly lost his balance. I grabbed his arm, and brought him upright. He breathed hard from the exertion of racing. Muffy and Mom fled to the car park. I turned to Gabe and thanked him again before I left.
    Mom pulled out of the lot and hit the street at a reckless speed. Everyone wondered where I got my driving habits. I smiled as I watched her take off. Muffy drove off in the opposite direction. Shaking my head, I started my car and drove toward my parents’ street.
    This neighborhood was an old one. I’d grown up around the aged Victorian homes along Cranston Street, and in an area where smaller homes filled tiny lots. The Victorian homes now held doctors’ and attorneys’ offices. I glanced at them as I passed by, wondering if one of those attorneys now represented my mother and me.
    As I crossed into Cranston, I swung into familiar surroundings and rolled toward my mother’s house. The two cars parked in the driveway belonged to my parents. I pulled up just behind them. Another vehicle sat at the curb. I wondered whose it was.
    As always, I entered through the kitchen door. Three pairs of eyes gawked at me. My mother and father turned back to the stranger. Dad introduced the man as the attorney on retainer. I nodded when the man stood to shake my hand.
    “Muffy won’t be here, huh?” I asked my mother after the introduction was complete.
    “She went home,” Mom said with a silent plea in her eyes.
    Apparently, my mother didn’t want my father to know what she’d been up to. Far be it from me to squeal. I nodded and took a seat at the table.
    Attorney Aldo Casali’s dark, beady eyes wandered over my height and breadth, stopping at my breasts, and moving on down my legs, toward my feet. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have sworn he licked his lips, when his tongue darted from his mouth, and he swallowed. How gross was that? I wondered.
    With a raised brow, I glanced at my father. He grimaced, and motioned to an empty chair. In a few seconds, I’d settled at the table, as far from the lawyer as possible. Skeptical, my gaze swept the three faces.
    “Ms. Esposito, I’ve been hired to represent you and your mother. My experience in murder trials is extensive. Please rest assured I’ll