Page 46 of Sweet as Sin (Bad Habit 1)
“What then? Is he bringing a machine gun?” She looked as if she hoped this was a possibility.
Chloe said, “You have some strangely violent tendencies for a therapist, Grace.”
“Trust me, if murder was legal, I’d have killed dozens of people by now.”
In light of the situation, I let that disturbing statement go unchallenged. “I’m sure Nico’s dealt with this a million times before. He’ll know better how to handle it than we do.”
“So, in the meantime, we just hang out?” Chloe glanced nervously around.
I understood her anxiety perfectly. Thirty minutes seemed an awfully long time to wait. Unless the cops got here first, which seemed unlikely.
“Well, if we’re relegated to standing around like a bunch of cows awaiting the slaughter, we might as well make good use of our time.” With that unattractive visual, Grace went to the fridge, and began rummaging through it.
“You’re not seriously thinking of food right now.” My stomach turned at the thought. The bacon I’d eaten was starting to put up a fight.
“Don’t be silly. We need stronger fortification than that.” She emerged from the fridge with tomato juice and Tabasco. She grabbed a bottle of vodka from the freezer, retrieved three glasses and the pepper shaker from the cupboard, and began to prepare a trio of Bloody Marys.
My legs no longer willing to support my weight, I sank gratefully into the chair at the kitchen table. I wasn’t entirely sure if my shaking hands were the result of the hangover or current events.
“Grace, you’re a genius.”
She glanced at the front door, the kitchen windows, the drapes obscuring the patio doors. Then she looked back at me.
“Well, sweetie, one of us has to be.”
In less than fifteen minutes, I heard the distinct, high-pitched cry of sirens.
Peering out a crack in the drapes, my fortifying Bloody Mary clutched in hand, I spied three black-and-white LAPD cars roll to a stop in the middle of the street outside.
> The red and blue lights were flashing, but the sirens only occasionally barked. It seemed more a crowd-clearing technique than the typical full-bore emergency wail. And it was working; the paparazzi began to dutifully traipse off my lawn to stand on the sidewalk across the street.
From their bored expressions and snail’s pace, it seemed like getting rousted from private property by the cops was just another day at the office.
“That was fast.” Over my head, Grace was looking out, too.
“Your threat about the mayor must’ve worked.” Chloe had already guzzled her Bloody Mary. Grace had made her drink two glasses of water afterward and take vitamins and an Alka-Seltzer. She already seemed better. I, on the other hand, was too freaked out to have more than a sip of my own drink, an occurrence that had Grace wondering aloud if that might be a sign of the apocalypse.
“Maybe the 911 operator felt guilty about my imminent death.” I watched six burly officers emerge from the parked police cars. Four of them started talking to the group on the sidewalk while the other two made their way up the brick path toward my front door.
I was right: the lawn had been trashed. Also, many of the bud vases lining the walk had been toppled, and one of the large floral displays in urns lay in ruins on its side. Bastards! At least the hydrangeas lining the fence still looked intact. Maybe I could plant them.
If I didn’t have to move to Iceland in order to escape the paparazzi plague.
“I’m sure paparazzi don’t actually kill people.” Chloe sounded more hopeful than certain.
Grace said, “I have two words for you. Princess Di.”
With that chilling pronouncement, the doorbell rang. I ran to answer it, Grace and Chloe at my heels.
“Miss Reid?” One of the officers—blond, dimpled, square-jawed—looked hopefully at Chloe. She looked back at him as if he were Prince Charming, just arrived on his trusty steed.
“That’s me,” I said, interrupting the mutual admiration society.
Blond Cop tore his gaze from Chloe to regard me with less enthusiasm. He inclined his head. “Ma’am.”
Why wasn’t I “Miss”? Christ, did I look that haggard?
“Thanks for coming so quickly.”
