Nun But The Brave (A Giulia Driscoll Mystery Book 3) by Alice Loweecey

your kids will run away just like Anne did.”
    “Only if you put that disrespectful idea into their heads. They are obedient and devout, unlike you. You spit on the Cross with every breath you take.”
    Giulia slammed down the receiver. So much more satisfying than pressing “End” on a cell phone. She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. All three of those kids would appear in her kitchen one morning if her brother kept this up.
    She pushed back her chair and pressed her forehead against the window screen. Traffic noises cleared the rage out of her head. When she could think again, she returned to her desk and wrote: Anne à Camping à Prepper supplies à Unknown drugs à Where did she run to? à Who did she run to? à Who did she run with?
    The phone rang again. Zane buzzed her. “Potential new client, Ms. D. Do you want to pick up?”
    “No. Please get our standard intake information.” Whoever she talked to might get blindsided by leftover fury at her brother.
    She grabbed her purse and opened her door. Zane and Sidney were both on the phone. Although she didn’t want to look at even a picture of food, she mimed eating and left.
    Ten minutes later, she arrived at the triangular downtown park. A panicky day care worker was cajoling a three-year-old wearing an Ariel dress out of the elaborate fountain. Six more three- and four-year-olds leaned on the rim, giggling. Three others were feeding peanut butter sandwiches to the pigeons. Two more day care workers tried to corral the pigeon feeders and the fountain gawkers to a picnic table where juice boxes and watermelon slices were set up.
    She sat on the edge of the fountain after the day care worker fished out the Little Mermaid cosplayer. July sun warmed away the chill of her brother’s phone call. She leaned her head back and spread her arms like a lizard sunning on a rock.
    Anne probably wouldn’t have logged on to a dating site from her church job. Not from her phone either, since Salvatore would likely have monitored her phone usage. Therefore, when she sneaked out at night, she met up with a sympathetic friend or with whoever supplied her the mysterious drugs.
    Giulia sat up. She needed to go back to Joanne’s apartment and try to channel a drug-sniffing dog. No, first she needed to hack into Joanne’s dating site accounts and see whose profiles she’d saved. All three of these incidents were connected; she was ninety percent positive. Well, maybe eighty-three percent.
    Zane to the rescue.

Twenty

      
    She returned to Sidney on the phone talking baby talk to Jessamine. While she waited for Zane to get back from lunch, she plowed through emails and read over the latest intake form. It had been a smart choice to let Zane field this one. The caller danced around the “d” word, but at the core he wanted DI to catch his wife doing the nasty with her boss.
    She called the number and left a message of polite refusal. DI was no longer taking divorce cases.
    Zane saw the crumpled note in Giulia’s recycle bin when he returned. “I knew you’d see the hidden divorce language.”
    “It’s one of our only rules.”
    “Far be it from me to request a rerun of drunk cheater scumbags busting in here to try to beat us up.” He stared at her staring at her screen. “Can I help you with anything?”
    “Actually, yes, but how many times can I disrupt your schedule before we start falling behind?”
    “Ms. D., you worry a lot. I’ve put work on the back burner several times to help you with something more urgent.” He inhaled and sang. “And the culminating pleasure that we treasure beyond measure is the gratifying feeling that our duty has been done.”
    Giulia gave the only possible response: “I shall begin calling you Giuseppe.”
    Zane high-fived her. “Nobody knows Gilbert and Sullivan anymore.”
    Giulia spread her hands. “Musician, remember? Every so often community theater expands its repertoire.” She smiled a wicked smile. “I will find