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Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Love best-selling fiction?
  3. Also by McGarvey Black
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. 52
  58. 53
  59. Acknowledgements
  60. A note from the publisher
  61. Love best-selling fiction?
  62. You will also enjoy:

Zoe’s eyes got large. “Wow. So, it wasn’t the fruit man? I thought for sure it might be him. That’s good, because if it was, I would have had to find a whole new place to get my grapes and kale. Still, in my opinion, the fruit man has the face of a killer. You should check him out. He’s got weird eyebrows.”

“You have an extremely active imagination,” said Conner, laughing. “Our bank robbery perp was not so exotic, just a run-of-the-mill bad guy and now he’s off the street for good.”

It was during that second encounter with Conner Brandt that Zoe’s minor fascination with the lawman turned into a gigantic crush.

10

The day after her second meeting with Agent Brandt, Zoe pulled a double shift at the restaurant, filling in for the day manager who was out sick. She then stayed on for her regular night hours. When Juliet, her co-captain showed up for work in the late afternoon, Zoe briefed her on everything that had happened that day and what needed to be done to get ready for the night shift.

Juliet listened to the litany of tasks, a look of irritation on her face. “You could have done some of this stuff before I got in?” said Juliet. “I’m not your assistant. You should have taken care of some of those things during the afternoon.”

Maybe it was because the restaurant owner favored Zoe and the staff liked her more that soured Juliet on her co-captain. After working together for a couple of years, Juliet had zero patience for Zoe and her constant stream of crazy theories and rambling chatter. Every day she had to listen to Zoe’s outrageous conspiracy theories and convoluted sightings of criminal masterminds. Whenever a party of men came into the restaurant who looked Italian, which was often because it was an Italian restaurant, Zoe had half the staff terrified that they were waiting on gangsters. The fact that Zoe lived in an eight-million-dollar apartment on Central Park West while Juliet shared a cramped studio with a roommate on a seedy block on the Upper East Side only furthered Juliet’s contempt.

“Any other little jobs you need me to take care of, Your Majesty?” said Juliet as if she smelled something foul.

“Nope. That’s about it,” said Zoe with clenched teeth and a forced smile, not understanding Juliet’s wrath. “I almost forgot, I heard from Agent Brandt again yesterday. They got the shooter from the bank job we were in. He was killed in a robbery in the Bronx so it looks like you and I are off the hook. We won’t have to testify.”

“When was Agent Brandt going to let me know?” said Juliet.

“He told me to tell you,” said Zoe, smiling to herself as she turned and walked away.