Free 04 - Shock and Awesome by Camilla Chafer Page A

fix it?"
     
          "I have many talents, but fixing cars isn't one of them. My mechanic can't pick it up until tomorrow morning. So, I need a ride home from the office."
     
          I tried not to think about his many talents. He was right though. He had many talents. "You're leaving kind of early."
     
          "I have plans."
     
          It was and wasn't news to me. No one really knew what Solomon did in his free time, though I had the opportunity to enjoy his free time on more than one occasion. I knew he could cook and he liked sports and was in the process of redecorating his house. But unless I was part of the plans - not recently - he never elaborated on what he did in his free time. Apparently, he wasn't going to now either. Not that I cared or anything.
     
          "So..." he prompted.
     
          "I'm near the office. I'll be by in ten," I told him. I pondered what plans were so important that he couldn't miss them and had to beg me for a ride. Of course, I still didn't care.
     
          "I'll wait out front," said Solomon before clicking off.
     
          It occurred to me as I pulled up outside the agency, that Solomon must have known I was nearby, otherwise why call when time was essential? Though now I thought about it, he did know I wasn't actively on a job yet, so he wouldn't be waiting hours. All the same, it would have been easier for him to call a car service. I said as much to him when he climbed in, folding his long legs under the dashboard, and sighing as he pushed the seat as far back as it would to go to give him some extra room. I'm fairly certain I didn't gasp audibly at the sight, but if I did, I would blame it on a backfiring tailpipe.
     
          "I knew you weren't on a job," he explained. "Since I only assigned you one case and you haven't started yet."
     
          "I have. I've been reading the background information you left this morning."
     
          Solomon arched a brow as if to say I proved his point. "You weren't performing surveillance," he replied, which was pointless because, well, I already knew that. "What were you doing on Tenth Street?"
     
          "How did you know I was on Tenth?"
     
          "Fletcher saw you."
     
          "And he called to tell you that? What a snitch." I feigned mock shock, but seriously, what a snitch.
     
          Solomon grinned. "No. We were talking on the phone already and he mentioned he saw you go into a building and come out again two minutes later. You don't know anyone on Tenth." It wasn't a question. He knew too much. How annoying.
     
          "How do you know?" I asked and Solomon raised his eyebrow again. "You're such a stalker. I was apartment hunting."
     
          "What's wrong with your place?"
     
          "It's sold. I have to be out in a month."
     
          "Ah."
     
          "More like 'argh!' Do you know how hard apartment hunting in Montgomery is right now? I saw a mouse."
     
          "Did you shoot it?" Solomon smiled broadly.
     
          Weird idea of a good time, but to each his own. I rolled my eyes as I pulled out into an open gap in the traffic. "I didn't have my gun because I didn't think I'd need it apartment hunting. Besides, I don't think that's the best pest control."
     
          "But effective," Solomon countered. When I thought about apartment number three, I wondered what kind of pests I'd have to shoot to get a peaceful home life.
     
          Since we were too early for rush hour traffic, we made it to Solomon's house in half the usual time. I parked outside his house, not bothering to pull into the vacant parking spaces, when he apparently didn’t intend to make any moves to invite me in.
     
          "You read up on all the suspects?" he asked, his hand lingering on the door catch.
     
          "Yep. And I scanned the files of the previously linked crimes and read the witness statements too."
     
          "Anything stand out?"
     
          "Not