Nun But The Brave (A Giulia Driscoll Mystery Book 3) Read Online Free

they’ll crack.” She stepped off the patio over to the raised bed and cupped an unripe tomato in one hand. “Neglect this beauty now and there’ll be less sauce for your spaghetti in January.”
    Frank made the malocchio at her. Even as she laughed at his inept attempt at the Italian evil eye, she still pointed her index finger and pinky at him in the traditional corna to ward it off.
    He said with wounded dignity, “I would never do anything to jeopardize your sauce. You hear that, plants? Cooperate and I won’t let the neighbor’s hyperactive terriers into the yard.”
    Giulia facepalmed. “Haven’t you heard the research about talking softly to plants to make them grow bigger and stronger and more succulent?”
    “Driscolls don’t pamper their plants. How else will we win the war? It’s us against genetically modified food.”
    “Have you been talking to Sidney?”
    Giulia turned on the hose and began watering the peppers in the far corner.
    “No, to my brother Ben. His middle child, the future entrepreneur, came home from some agricultural summer camp aflame with purpose. Big corporations are poisoning our ground water and killing off the monarch butterfly population and they must be stopped. I remembered an important appointment when he started on the honeybee die-off.”
    “Do not introduce him to Sidney. They’ll be arrested for sabotage, and who’ll take care of the office while I’m away?” She turned the water onto the tomatoes. “Speaking of, Jimmy paved the way for me to talk to the police in that precinct.”
    Frank stuffed a giant forkful of potato salad into his mouth and said around it, “My boss still worships you even with Jane at his side.” He swallowed. “Maybe it distracted him for a few minutes from the two teenagers we found dead.”
    “What?”
    “Three days apart. One in the park, the other behind a convenience store dumpster. Both OD’d on something, but initial tox reports aren’t coming up with the usual suspects. We’re waiting on more in-depth results.”
    Giulia turned off the water. “What if there’s a connection between Anne and those kids?”
    His fork in the last of the potato salad, Frank said, “How and why?”
    “Drugs are as out of character for Anne as leaving her family was. The EMTs this morning seemed to think the same thing you just said about the teenagers, that Anne appeared to be on something out of the ordinary.”
    Frank held out his hand for the hose. Giulia gave it to him and he watered the cucumbers without leaving his lawn chair. “VanHorne started in narcotics. I’ll see what he thinks. Anything to stop him talking about his nephew’s Pop Warner football games all night.”
    Giulia watched Frank’s watering technique with approval. “You’ll be that dad one day.”
    “God forbid. Soccer all the way.” He reached out his free hand and patted her still-flat stomach. “Did I ask you how you felt about naming him Zlatan?”

Six

      
    The next morning, Giulia entered the Penn Hills police station wearing the top half of her hated navy blue interview suit, but khakis and flats on the bottom. Not even the Second Coming could force her into pantyhose on a dripping humid July day.
    Well, maybe the Second Coming.
    The Penn Hills and Cottonwood police stations shared fashionista receptionists and garbled shouts from the depths of the holding cells. Penn Hills’ linoleum needed replacing, however, and those hospital-green painted walls—ugh.
    Detective Okorie came out herself to greet Giulia. “Good morning, Ms. Driscoll. Your friend Captain Reilly could charm the scales off a snake. Come on back to my desk.”
    Giulia followed the detective, admiring her warm gray suit, her rich black hair with a subtle blonde streak in her wraparound braids, and her elegant walk. Giulia didn’t waste time envying all those things. She knew she’d never be elegant and had long ago learned to like her short hourglass figure and wild curly hair.
    The