Free Bosom Bodies (Mina's Adventures) by Maria Grazia Swan

their neck on winter days. She could do that. The closest thing she had to a napkin was a dishcloth.
    She wrapped the top of the bottle carefully, untwisted the silver wire holding down the cork and waited. Nothing happened. Mina tried to pry the cork with her thumbs, but again, nothing budged. “ Never shake a sparkling wine bottle.” That part she remembered, so what next? She carried the bottle and the flute into the living room, set the glass on the low table, sat on the couch , squeezed the bottle between her knees and pulled on the cork with both hands. With a loud POP it flew from the bottle, right between her fingers, ricocheted against the ceiling, and loudly hit the glass door to the terrace. Mina felt giddy over such an accomplishment.
    She poured the foamy wine into the flute and admired her handy work. Not a drop had been spilled. All right!
    Where was that cork? Down on all four s, she crawled around looking for the cork, which had bounced off the glass door . She was searching in that general vicinity when she glanced through the glass.
    The terrace light shone on a pair of pointed, dark boots standing outside her door.

Chapter 9
     
    Mina jumped to her feet, but instead of running to hide in her bedroom, she turned to look straight into the intruder’s eyes.
    “Huh?”
    Diego, the cook from Bosom Bodies , stared back at her, a grin on his face, a poster-sized white cardboard saying Howdy Neighbor in his hands.
    A thousand thoughts zoomed through Mina’s mind , the wish to kill Diego being the clear winner. It could have been seconds or hours the two of them stood staring. Waiting for the other to make a move?
    With a sigh, Mina opened the door. “You’re my new neighbor? What? You missed me so much at Bosom Bodies you decided to move next door? Let me guess, they made you manager, and you decided to ‘elevate’ your life.” Mina meant to play on the word elevate because of the condo’s location, hoping Diego would feel the insult and remember. He started it with his remark the night he drove her home because of the flat tire.
    “You don’t know?” H e stepped uninvited into the room.
    “Know what?” She caught a whiff of that scent of mountain pine he seemed to carry on him.
    “Bosom Bodies is closed. Indefinitely.”
    “Oh. Because of Barbara’s death?”
    He ignored her question. “I rang your door bell earlier, I guess you weren’t home.”
    She wasn’t going to tell him how his bell ringing sent her into a fear - fueled frenzy.
    Mina closed the terrace door . H er phone rang in the bedroom. Brian . Without hesitation or explanation she rushed to answer, leaving Diego standing alone in the middle of the living room.
    “Brian ? ” She spoke into the mouthpiece.
    “Sorry, kid, it’s Dan. DeFiore .”
    “ DeFiore ?”
    “Did you call Ginger Miller’s phone number?”
    “Huh, yes. How do you know?”
    “Mina, pay attention. The police are monitoring Ginger’s calls. When you call her, you are really calling the police station, so do me a favor and don’t call again. Okay?”
    “What did you do to Ginger?”
    “For God’s sake Mina, there is no Ginger. If there ever was one, she is long gone. We don’t need you to complicate things.”
    “I beg your pardon. Are you saying I lied to you? I made Ginger up?”
    “No, I’m saying someone else made her up and got you involved, and until we get this sorted out, I’m telling you to stay out of it. Go shopping, watch a movie, anythin g. Just stay out of this.”
    “How can I stay out of it if I don’t know what it is?”
    “You sound more like Paola every day . I swear.”
    “Really? You really mean that? I sound like my mother? What a nice thing to say. By the way, do you know who my new neighbor is?”
    “No, I don’t know who the new neighbor is, but I’m sure you are about to tell me. And Paola could be a real pain in the butt sometimes, but if that makes you happy, okay. Now behave. It’s for your own