Free Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 08 - Foul Play by Christy Barritt Page A

interior of her loaner car.
    It was well past midnight and I was beat. It seemed like more often than not I ended up staying awake until all hours of the morning either with my job, my friends, or trouble.
    I lived in an Old Victorian that had been cut up into five apartments. It wasn’t fancy and the area where it was located seemed about as eclectic as the apartment residents. But it was home, and there was no place else like it.
    I dragged myself inside, my physical exhaustion mingling with the waning effects of the adrenaline rush I’d gotten as we uncovered clues about the trouble—and murder—we’d had at my old middle school.
    As soon as I stepped into the entryway of the building, the door to my left popped open. My best friend Sierra stuck her head out. Sierra was married to Chad, and the two of them seemed like a match made in heaven. They were attached at the hip and, truth be told, I kind of missed them. Whether anyone wanted to admit it or not, things changed once people got married. Sierra had fewer opportunities to hang out. Less availability. Not as much … time for me.
    I totally understood, and I was happy for her. But I still missed the old days.
    “I heard what happened.” She pushed her glasses up on her tiny Asian nose and stared at me.
    “You waited up for me? I’m impressed.”
    “Want to talk? We’ll have to go up to your place. Chad’s sleeping. He fell into bed after he got home. I guess he had a bad day.”
    My eyebrows arched up. “ What happened?”
    I’d noticed he seemed rather aloof at Oceanside, but I thought he’d just been focused on getting the job done. Being married had seemed to bring with it a new side to Chad. When we’d met, he’d been a laidback surfer. Now he seemed more responsible and serious. I guess growing up did that to people.
    Everyone seemed to be changing … except me. I was changing in my own ways, but not like everyone else. My friends were all getting married, embracing their careers, settling down. Meanwhile, I seemed to be stuck in a holding pattern.
    Sierra shrugged. “ I guess it mostly had to do with that new guy he hired. Chad’s not impressed. Something about Chad still doing the same amount of work for less pay.”
    I knew it! I knew Braxton was the wrong choice. But I wanted Chad to figure that out himself instead of through me insisting I was right. “I’ll talk to Chad later.”
    Up in my apartment, Sierra and I sat on the couch, and I poured out everything about the investigation. There wasn’t enough information to theorize about very many suspects or motives yet, but we agreed that I should keep my eyes on Paulette’s ex.
    As soon as I finished that purge of information, I launched into another. “Garrett has invited me to go to Africa with him for a month.”
    Sierra blinked. “What?”
    I nodded. “He said I can work as his bodyguard, so it wouldn’t be a free ride.”
    Sierra snorted.
    I nodded and pointed. “See! That’s what I did, too. That thought is ridiculous, right?”
    Her smile slowly faded. “You are very protective. And you’re observant. I mean, you being a bodyguard isn’t the craziest thought in the world. It’s just unexpected. What are you going to do?”
    “I don’t know. It sounds like a great opportunity to see the world, doesn’t it? ”
    “Garrett really likes you, Gabby. I mean, for goodness sakes—he bought this whole building just so you wouldn’t have to move and find a new place.”
    In the past, I might have hesitated before agreeing. But this time I nodded. “I know. He does.”
    He had purchased this old house because he’d known I needed something stable in my life. The place had almost been sold to someone who wanted to turn it into a single-family residence. If that had happened, I would have been out on the street and away from my co-tenants who felt like the only family I had.
    “How do you feel?”
    At her question, I felt like a huge boulder was placed on my shoulders. “I