Second To Nun (A Giulia Driscoll Mystery Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

inserting placeholders on the last two pages for tomorrow’s coup de grâce photos.
    Zane poked his head around the doorframe. “Ready for DI’s version of The Scoop ?”

Seven

      
    Giulia held her pen ready to write. “Let’s see. What would make that slimy TMZ-wannabe local TV show sit up and beg? Rowan is an undercover Homeland Security agent and Jasper’s prosthetic hand secretly records every Tarot reading for code words?”
    Zane stared at her, unblinking, for a long second.
    For the umpteenth time, Giulia reminded herself that Zane was still adjusting to working in a casual atmosphere with humans, not in telemarketing hell micromanaged by angry demons recently passed over for promotion.
    “You have to admit The Scoop would kill during sweeps week with that story. What did you discover?”
    After one more second, Zane said, “Rowan’s been married four times. Number three is the real reason the mall developer hiked the rent to force all those small businesses to shut down. The developer claimed Rowan stole her husband, so she convinced her company to locate the mall right on top of Rowan’s business.”
    Giulia held up a finger, finished a sentence, and said, “A little tame for The Scoop .”
    “That was Act One. In Act Two, Rowan’s husband divorces her and remarries the developer.”
    “This is where I say that perhaps a good Tarot reader might have seen this coming if she ever did a reading for herself.” Giulia made a wry face. “But that would be judgmental.”
    Zane winked. Giulia considered that a sign of hope.
    “Rowan moved to Cottonwood after the divorce,” he continued, “and opened the shop across the street with her nephew, Jasper.”
    “Wait. You said four husbands.”
    “I did. Rowan’s fourth is one of Jasper’s fellow explosive experts who now runs an Army-Navy surplus store unhindered by his artificial legs, plural. Before you ask, he’s ten years older than Jasper. Rowan is seventy-four. Jasper is thirty.”
    “True love?”
    “More like true beef bourguignon. I compared his photo in the newspaper at his store’s grand opening with one of his Memorial Day TV commercials. He’s at least forty pounds heavier now.”
    “Zane, you made a joke. No, no, stop looking guilty. I’m always pleased when you get a little more comfortable working here.”
    The blush stuck on Zane’s cheeks. “So anyway, Rowan’s still paying off three separate divorce lawyer debts. The mortgage on their house is in her husband’s name, but the payments are on time.”
    “I disagree with your earlier assessment.” Giulia smiled up at him. “ The Scoop likes dirt. This skirts the edges of heartwarming.”
    He shook his head. “On the surface. He drinks. She’s got a bunch of rich women on the hook.”
    Giulia reread the last paragraph. “As con artists go, I’ve seen worse.”
    Zane’s eyebrows rose. “If this really was an episode of The Scoop , everything I’ve described would turn out to be the front of Rowan and Jasper’s two-man operation to bleed those rich women.”
    Giulia did not let one centimeter of her internal grin appear. “Does your assessment arise from a new film noir game on Steam or too many late nights of CSI reruns?”
    He ducked his head, hiding his eyes beneath his hair. “Binge-watching Columbo on Netflix.”
    Giulia did chuckle at that. Zane’s throaty baritone could double for Columbo as well as Sam Spade.
    “Okay, then. Whether Rowan is a gifted Tarot reader or a fraud is irrelevant for our purpose. She has enough financial reasons to be frightening her old sorority sister into abandoning her waterfront property. What about the nephew? Is he parlaying his war hero status into a charming and sympathetic lure for rich women and Mac as well?”
    Zane rocked one hand back and forth. “Still working on him. He’s for real, though: Has a Purple Heart. His debt is minimal. His degree is in engineering, but he’s never used it. No significant other. He hunts