Where's Hansel and Gretel's Gingerbread House?: A Gabby Grimm Fairy Tale Mystery #2 Read Free Page B

Long Island. I ran into him one day in Central Park, when I
was playing Frisbee with some friends.
    “Boy, you’ve got some nerve dumping my
cousin,” I had warned him at the time. “You must be completely out
of your head!”
    “Me? What about her? She’s dating the entire
cast of ‘Aida’!”
    “Only because you don’t want to see her
anymore!”
    “That’s not true!” he snapped at me. “I want
to marry her!”
    “Well, you’d better hurry up and tell her
that, because a couple of those guys are in line to heal her broken
heart!”
    Looking back on that fortuitous meeting and
the marriage that resulted, I studied Nettie now. Was it possible
that Joe Fortuna actually cared about my cousin? I had to know.
    “Can I have it?” I pulled out my cell phone,
ready to dial. With a shrug of her shoulders and a feigned
disinterest, she read off the numbers and waited for me to punch
them in. When it rang and went to greeting, I listened.
    This is Mike Alves. I have been called away
from my phone, but if you leave your name and number, I’ll call you
back as soon as I can.
    I put a hand over the phone and quickly asked
a vital question. “Nettie, when you called that number the first
time, what was the name of the man doing the greeting?”
    “Joe Fortuna,” she responded. I cut her off
to leave a message for Mike Alves.
    “Mr. Alves, this is Deputy Gabriella Grimm of
the Latimer Falls, Vermont Sheriff’s Department. You’re probably
wondering why I am calling you. I have a spot of trouble here
concerning a woman by the name of Annette Dupuis. This number was
found on her cell phone and I was wondering if you could help us to
clarify the nature of your relationship. If you could call me back
at your earliest convenience, I’d appreciate it.” Before I hung up,
I left my cell phone number, and reiterated my request that Mr.
Alves contact me.
    “You think he’ll call back?”
    “Maybe,” I told her. The truth was I was
hoping that he would and that he’d have a logical explanation.
    Ten minutes later, my cell phone buzzed on
the coffee table, as Nettie and I were reminiscing about Paul. It
was the sheriff.
    “Rufus, what’s up?” My boss knew I was headed
to see my cousin in the city. Why was he calling me?
    “Gabby, what the hell kind of mess have you
gotten yourself into now?”
    “Excuse me?”
    “I just got a call from an assistant special
agent-in-charge in the New York FBI field office, wanting to know
how you got the phone number of a man by the name of Mike
Alves.”
    “Long story,” I said in reply.
    “Give me the short version.”
    “The guy was romancing my cousin. He
compromised her and left her in the lurch. I’m trying to figure out
how to resurrect her reputation.”
    “Well, I just got my ass chewed out by a very
irate FBI agent, who told me in no uncertain terms that I was to
call you off the case.”
    “Uh....”
    “You can thank me later for not telling him
there is no case. I suggest you get back here pronto and bring your
cousin with you, so I can say we actually have a case and the
jurisdiction that goes with it.”
    “Right.” That sounded an awful lot like a
direct order.
    “By the way, this self-important,
sanctimonious FBI piece of head cheese warned me that your cousin
is in deep trouble for her connections to organized crime.”
    “What? That doesn’t sound like Annette.”
    “Well, that’s the word he gave me. The FBI is
taking a long hard look at her for federal charges.”
    “Seriously? Rufus, something’s just not right
here. This guy, Joe Fortuna....”
    “Gabby, save it. Don’t tell me over the
phone. Get back here now and we’ll work it through in person. In
the meantime, I’ll call Ronny Glieb, just in case either of you
need a good defense attorney."
     

Chapter Three --
     
    “Holy mother of pearl, are you freaking
kidding me?” I stuttered, utterly incredulous. “Why would I need a
defense attorney for trying to help my cousin find a