Gin and Panic

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Gin and Panic Page 25

by Maia Chance


  Lem didn’t answer for two full drags and exhalations of his gasper. Finally, he said. “Okay—”

  I could breathe again.

  “—’cause I like the photographs you sent down. They didn’t come out too nice, but getting those shots took guts. I like dames with guts. And I guess your crazy detective work shut down that oyster-poaching operation up in Carvington, so I’m back on top of the oyster biz here in New York. I like that, too. So, okay. You’re on for the catering deal.”

  “Thanks awfully, Mr. Fitzpatrick,” I said, unclasping my handbag. I filled out the blank deposit check my father had given me ages ago, and slid it over. It was as crumpled as a hankie, but Lem didn’t comment on that, and the four of us sealed the deal by clinking teacups of gin. “You won’t regret it,” I said.

  A schoolmarmish little voice in the back of my head said, He won’t regret it, but you probably will.

  * * *

  Back outside, the clouds had sunk lower. Berta went to the curb to hail a taxicab.

  “Want to go out after you have dinner with your mother?” Ralph asked me. “I’ll take you dancing. Help you forget all the bad stuff.”

  Frigid wind whipped down Fifth Avenue, slicing through my coat. I shivered. “You know, I think tonight’s a night for cuddling with one’s sweetie in front of a crackling fire. Not dancing.”

  Ralph brushed the backs of his knuckles across my cold cheek. “Crackling fire? Cuddling? Okay. I think I can handle that.”

  As Berta waved for a taxi, as Cedric tangled his leash around our ankles and snagged my last good pair of silk stockings, Ralph and I kissed. Nope, it wasn’t picture-perfect. A moth had fluttered out of my fur collar, and we had motorcar honks and the scent of roasting frankfurters for ambience. But Ralph was in my arms again, the Discreet Retrieval Agency’s future was rosy, and I held out hope that my mother would never know that her younger daughter’s society wedding of the year was to be catered by a gangster.

  It wasn’t perfect, but it was all mine.

  Also by Maia Chance

  DISCREET RETRIEVAL AGENCY MYSTERIES

  Teetotaled

  Come Hell or Highball

  FAIRY TALE FATAL MYSTERIES

  Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna

  Cinderella Six Feet Under

  Snow White Red-Handed

  About the Author

  MAIA CHANCE was a finalist for the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award and is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington. She is writing her dissertation on nineteenth-century American literature. She is also the author of the Fairy Tale Fatal mystery series. You can sign up for email updates here.

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Also by Maia Chance

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  GIN AND PANIC. Copyright © 2017 by Maia Chance. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.minotaurbooks.com

  Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein

  Cover photographs: dog illustration by Lexi Earle; couple © alaver/Shutterstock.com; art deco background © Fears/Shutterstock.com

  The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 978-1-250-10905-7 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-1-250-10906-4 (ebook)

  eISBN 9781250109064

  Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact your local bookseller or the Macmillan Corporate Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].

  First Edition: October 2017

 

 

 


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