Covert Craving Read Online Free

contain her mirth. “Your granddaughter is
over again, isn’t she, Muriel?”
    “Yes. We’re playing fashion show. Apparently,
stage makeup is important. So, what brings you to my door?”
    “Had a run in with a hot dog.” She unfurled the coat;
the offending stain etched yellow, red, and green streaks down the entire left
front panel. “Think you can help a girl out?”
    Muriel clicked her tongue and sighed. The sweet,
harmless, old-lady act faded and the real Muriel appeared. A razor sharp,
calculating expression took over her face and she straightened up to her full
height. “This is a bad one. I might be able to do something with it, for a
price.”
    “Which would be what, exactly?” She crossed her
arms and put all her weight on one foot. There was no guessing what the other
woman would ask for, and they both knew Chloe needed the stain out. Now, or she’d
face Daisy Mae’s wrath. The last time she’d messed up a piece of her roommate’s
clothing, she’d been stuck giving mani-pedis for a month. Might not sound that
bad, until you considered the spa treatments occurred on a bi-weekly basis, and
required magnifying eye-wear.
    Daisy Mae insisted on bling on her nails.
Rhinestones, crystals, glitter, special designs, tiny pictures of Marilyn
Monroe…Chloe had no idea where she got the stuff, but the manicures kept getting
more outlandish and flamboyant. Her roomie’s recent job as a restaurant hostess
had ended abruptly with an ill-fated customer trapped in a full nelson.
    Daisy Mae’s explanation to the manager that the
“limp-dick frat boy chipped my nails when he threw a pen on my podium” didn’t
save her job.
    “I need a few things.” The elderly woman turned
her head to scan the apartment’s interior. She faced Chloe again with a wicked
glint in her eyes.
    “Like what?”
    “Oh, you know. A bottle of rum. Zip-ties, a
pigeon, butane fuel, cheesecake, and four gallons of milk.” Muriel’s expression
brightened with each item she recited from her list.
    “Look, I don’t have much of a problem with most of
that, but your daughter threatened to beat my ass if I got you any more booze.”
    “Pshaw!” She waved my objection away. “Josie is
not my keeper.”
    “I’ll get you everything else. The rum is your
problem.”
    “The store won’t sell it to me.” The octogenarian considered
Chloe with the shrewd consideration of a practiced scammer. Uh oh. “Get me the
alcohol and the next one’s a freebie.”
    Now that was a way to sweeten the deal. Threats of
bodily harm be damned. Muriel had mad skills with stain removal.
    “Deal.”
    They shook on it and Muriel backed away with the
coat in hand.
    “I’ll have this in a few hours. You go and get my
stuff.”
    Chloe nodded and returned to her apartment to get
her purse. All the items (save one) Muriel wanted could be procured easily
enough. The pigeon required something extra.
    ***
    Greiff pushed away from the patrol car after giving
the officers inside Chloe’s description and drew one of the last two cigarettes
from the pack in his inside jacket pocket. He lit it and took a long drag,
wondering what his next move should be. He knew Chloe’d been in that apartment.
She played a dangerous game. But why? He’d rather warn her off the vigilantism
than arrest her. His motives for sending her on her way and letting the case go
cold weren’t motivated by good police work. More like a healthy sex drive and
curiosity to learn more about her.
    His phone rang. “Yeah.”
    “Where the hell are you?” Spetrino’s voice almost
busted his ear drum. He held the device at arm’s length and adjusted the
volume.
    “I took a walk.” Temptation to ask if the other
man wanted to wipe his ass too rose, but he crushed the impulse. “Ya know,
following a lead. Being a cop.”
    “Cops have partners for a reason. Look, you want
me to come pick you up?”
    “Nah, I’ll be back in awhile. I’ll see you at the
station. I’m not finished here