We were almost at the juncture of Route 997 when a blue Crown Vic blew past us. Slick and Gimpy. Late for the party.
I whipped Hooker’s PR car around, hung a U-turn, and dropped the hammer.
“Oh man,” Hooker said. “Here we go again.”
I caught Slick and Gimpy and pulled out to pass. I looked to the side and saw the horror on their faces as they stared into the PR car at Hooker and me.
“It’s all in the timing and placement,” I said. Then I jerked the dummy car and clipped the Crown Vic, sending it careening off the road. It caught some air, hit the water with a splash, and settled into the swamp.
“Darlin’,” Hooker said. “We need to talk. I get the feeling you’ve done this before.”
EPILOGUE
Hooker was grilling barbecued ribs on board his boat. He was dressed in his usual rummage sale shorts and ripped motor oil T-shirt. His nose was pink and peeling. His eyes were hidden behind his Oakleys. He looked happy. I don’t usually brag, but I thought I had something to do with the happy part.
Judey was in the fighting chair, watching Hooker grill. Brian was dancing in place, focused on the ribs. Bill, Maria, and Juan Raffles were in deck chairs. Actually, Bill and Maria were in the same chair. It was almost embarrassing, but hey, this was my brother Wild Bill. Todd was lounging on the rail with Rosa and Felicia.
We were having a party. We were celebrating the fact that we weren’t dead. We were celebrating Bill and Maria’s new two-million-dollar boat, which was tied up in the neighboring slip. And we were celebrating Juan’s freedom.
“Cigars for everyone,” Rosa said. “I rolled them myself.”
I took a cigar and lit up.
Hooker smiled at me. “Darlin’, that’s damn NASCAR.”
“Special occasion,” I told him.
“You are such a charm,” Judey said to me. “Just look at you in your brand-new little pink skirt and adorable blond hair. Who would think you smoked cigars and overhauled carburetors? It’s like you take metro-sexual to a whole new level. It’s like you’re Metro Girl.”
Hooker rocked back on his heels, his cigar clamped between his teeth. “Yeah, and Metro Girl’s gonna kick ass on my racing team.”
Overhead, the sky was a brilliant blue. The hot Miami sun warmed hearts and minds and points south. A late-afternoon breeze rattled in the palms and caused the water of Biscayne Bay to gently lap against the boat hull. Life was good in Florida. And okay, so I was going back to working on cars. Truth is, I was pretty happy with it. I was looking forward to working on Hooker’s equipment. I’d seen his undercarriage and it was damn sweet.
About the Author
JANET EVANOVICH is the recipient of the Silver Dagger, Last Laugh, Lefty, and John Creasey Memorial awards and the two-time recipient of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association’s Dilys Award. She lives in Florida. Visit her website at www.evanovich.com.
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Books by Janet Evanovich
Metro Girl
Love Overboard
The Rocky Road to Romance
Ten Big Ones
To the Nines
Visions of Sugar Plums
Hard Eight
Seven Up
Hot Six
High Five
Four to Score
Three to Get Deadly
Two for the Dough
One for the Money
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
METRO GIRL. Copyright © 2004 by Evanovich, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books
ePub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2005 ISBN: 9780061798184
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