Liver Let Die Read Online Free PDF Page B

You’d think I had given her chocolate the way she swims around them. I meant to bring them tonight but forgot. After we eat, I’ll run over and get them.”
    “Sweetie, crystals went out of style two or three years ago. I’m into turquoise and big colorful stones now. Let Maggie enjoy them.” She headed for the kitchen with Lola following close behind.
    Jordan leaned back in the chair and glanced around the table. Michael and Victor were bickering back and forth, totally oblivious to the others in the room. Michael was the local DJ at Ranchero’s only radio station, and Victor had just opened an antiques shop downtown. They’d pooled their money and bought the apartment building a year ago, sinking every available penny they had into renovations. Empire Apartments had come a long way but still needed a lot of work. Apparently, something Michael said on the air about Victor’s frivolous spending habits wasn’t sitting well with his partner.
    Ray, retired from the police force for several years, doubled as the maintenance man for the apartments and cooked a mean pumpkin pie. Despite his age, he looked like he could still take on a bad guy or two and come out on top. Religiously working out several times a week at the local gym with a couple of retired cops, he would roll up his sleeves when prompted and show off his “lethal guns.” As a widower with no children of his own, he had taken Jordan under his wing that first day, and God help anyone who messed with her.
    These people had adopted Jordan from the start and still doted on her. Friday nights were potluck get-togethers at Rosie’s, followed by a serious card game of Screw Your Neighbor.
    Since Rosie was the only one besides Ray who could actually cook, the others brought the fixings and pitched in on the meat. Jordan always stopped at the Food Warehouse on her way home from work and picked up a ninety-ninecent loaf of hot Italian bread, which suited both her budget and her culinary skills.
    “Come and get it,” Rosie hollered.
    Needing no coaxing, they surged to the kitchen, where Rosie and Lola had the dishes lined up, buffet-style, on the small countertop by the stove. Like Pavlov’s dog’s, Jordan’s mouth began to water with one look at the steaming dish in the center. She’d skipped lunch to finish her copy, and other than the cake and a Ho Ho, hadn’t eaten all day.
    Okay, two Ho Hos.
    Grabbing a plate, she scooped up a generous portion of the casserole and a small salad before heading back to the dining room table. When they were all seated, the chatter stopped as Rosie said grace before they pigged out.
    “Mmmm, this is divine! What is it?” Victor asked. “I think I’ve died and gone to the great boutique in the sky.”
    Rosie smiled. “Potato Chip Chicken. It’s one of my mother’s favorites.”
    “And now, one of ours,” Lola said, reaching for a second helping from the casserole dish Rosie had positioned in the middle of the table. Lola loved food and didn’t mind anyone knowing it, covering her slightly overweight body in free-flowing caftans that swished when she walked.
    Jordan finished hers in record time and also reached for a little more. “You outdid yourself, Rosie.”
    The older woman beamed. “Thanks, dear. Nothing I like better than sharing my food with good friends like y’all.”
    “I second that about the good food and good friends,” Victor said, licking his fingers, narrowing his eyes before shooting Michael a look.
    When the casserole was completely gone, Ray got up and went to the kitchen, returning with his signature Pumpkin Pie Crunch. “So, Jordan, you never finished telling us what your editor said about your review. Did he like it?”
    Jordan shoved the last bite into her mouth and dabbed her lips with the paper napkin. “That’s the best part, Ray. After I told him how they fatten the ducks, he went nuts.”
    “What do you mean nuts? Like ‘You’re ready for the big-time’ nuts or ‘Go back to