Free Suspicious Minds (Squeaky Clean Series, Book 2) by Christy Barritt

He was one of the few men who could handle me. He flicked his hand at the phone. "What was that conversation about?"
    "I was simply chatting with a colleague"
    Riley stood behind Parker. They both stared at me until I sighed and dropped my fake smile. "If you both must know, there's a new crime-scene cleaner in the area. We're just exchanging trade secrets. What can I say?"
    Riley did the eyebrow cock. "'Fels up, Gabby. What's going on? There's more to the story than that"
    I brushed past them and sat down-hard-at the table. I refused to take the opportunity to rub my bum. "Nothing. Now, let's eat"
    For the first time, Parker and Riley looked at each other as if they saw eye-to-eye on something.

    The next morning, I finished up in the living room of Mr. Hermit's house. I ordered new carpet, by permission of the landlord. I purchased boxes from a moving company so I could begin packing. By the time I finished, I had to meet Chad.
    I pulled my red sweater closer as I hurried out to my van, but it didn't stop the November wind from stinging my skin. Soon, I'd have to dig out my winter coat.
    And start thinking about Christmas shopping.
    Could it be that time of year already? Thanksgiving was only two and a half weeks away. Would Dad want to get together this year? It was hard to refuse him on a holiday. Last year, he'd invited me over to his place. He'd bought two TV dinners with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn. That was our Thanksgiving dinner.
    My family is so classy.
    I pulled up at the Ocean View Cafe ten minutes later. The restaurant was snug between a Laundromat and a pizza joint. Inside, the lights were low, the wood dark, and the people quiet. I could tell by the way everyone murmured to each other at the bar that the place had regulars. I wasn't one of them. Just ask everyone who turned to stare at me when I walked inside.
    I spotted Chad sitting at a table in the corner. He waved me over, and my chunky black shoes clunked against the shiny wood floor. I pulled out a seat across from him.
    "Thanks for meeting me," he started.
    His hair looked wind blown, although he probably styled it that way. The bed head look-was that still in style? I wasn't sure. He had slow, lazy movements that fit his drawn-out surfer drawl.
    I had to ask the question I'd been thinking about all morning-even though I already knew the answer due to a conversation with Detective Adams earlier in the day. "Level with me-do the police think you did it?"
    His lips twisted into a messed-up frown. "No, the police don't think I did it"
    "So, why are you still interested in this case?"
    "Why are you?"
    I jabbed my thumb into my chest. "Me? Because I'm nosy."
    "If it's good enough for you, why not for me too?"

    "Because I'm the weird one. Normal people don't do what I do"
    He leaned back in his chair, put his hands behind his head, and grinned. "I heard about you"
    My eyes narrowed. "Heard about me? Heard what about me?" The word couldn't be out about the matches and lighter fluid. Was it about the time I made my high school chemistry lab explode? Or maybe the fact that I always fell for the wrong guy? Or maybe even the embarrassing detail that my mom used to dress me just like Little Orphan Annie?
    "I heard that you solved some big case a few months back. That's why you're on friendly terms with the detective. You're, like, legendary."
    Relief.
    "Legendary?" I laughed. "Me? Hardly."
    Flattery. It was going to get him everywhere.
    I fidgeted in my hard wooden chair before locking gazes with a possible killer who could single-handedly run me out of business. "Look, I'm going to go question someone, a suspect. Do you want to come?" I must be losing my mind.
    I thought you'd never ask"
    I stood up before my logic got the best of me. "You're impossible"
    He grinned. "So I've heard"
    "We're taking your car"
    "Absolutely."
    I flipped my keys in a circle around my index finger. "And I'm not reimbursing you for gas" I needed to save money every chance