Free Checkered Thief (A Laurel London Mystery Book 3) by tonya kappes Page B

wasn’t anything local but the Windmill. Long shot but it was worth looking in to.
    “Yeah. Like the guy in number one.” He pointed to the first door that started off the row of doors at the ranch hotel. “He is really weird. Asking all sorts of questions about the town and people who might work at the casino.”
    “Really?” I snarled my nose in a playful no crap kind of way, only my curiosity was way up.
    “Yeah. And he keeps weird hours.” Louie got closer to the window where the round speaker was, he drew his lips in thoughtfully and whispered, “He carries a briefcase and has changed cars twice in one week. He doesn’t even want cleaning service. Can you imagine what it must look like in there? No cleaning for a week.”
    “He’s been here a week?” This guy was definitely someone I needed to look into. He could’ve been planning Brittany’s kidnapping all week, collecting evidence and then doing the deed. “Did you answer his questions about the town?”
    Forget about the uncleanliness going on behind the door in room one, I wanted to know what it appeared to be hiding.
    “Of course not. Well, not many,” he corrected himself rather quickly.
    “Say, this morning you said that you needed some help cleaning rooms.” I wanted to say to him that if he didn’t waste so much time sleeping on the stool, he might get the rooms cleaned and lose some weight, but this was my in. “I’m not busy right now with Drive Me,” I didn’t mention how Jax didn’t need me for paperwork detail for his private eye practice, “I thought I’d offer my services to clean a few rooms to keep me busy and all.”
    “How much would you charge me?” He perked up in interest and quickly drew back once I straightened up. “I mean, I can only offer about twenty-five bucks a room.”
    “Sure.” I shrugged knowing I was giving him a deal, but it wasn’t the money I needed. It was inside of that room of that guy asking all the questions.
    “Really?” Louie even stood up. The stool tipped over, but he was so excited, he already had a bucket of stuff in hand and was heading out of the little door to the outside world. “This is the best news all day.” He held the bucket out in front of him.
    “Right now?” I asked.
    “No time like the present.” The bucket swung back and forth between us. “That guy in three just left so you can start there.”
    “Perfect!” My voice escalated, sounding a little too over-joyous. “I mean,” I cleared my throat. “No time like now.”
    “Let me get you a key to get started.” He shoved the bucket in my chest and I took it, looking down into it.
    A stench I was familiar with crept into my nose, giving me an instant gag reflex. The bucket was filled with moldy bristle brushes and the bucket even had specks of mold in the bottom.
    “Here you go.” Louie had an untied hanger in his hands. A key dangled from a piece of string tied around it.
    “This is the key?” I rolled my eyes. “Louie, you need to get with the times. You need those slide key card thingies you see in movies.”
    “If business keeps up like it has been, I’ll be able to do that and more.” He rubbed his hands together.
    “And you need new cleaning supplies. They have mold on them.” I held the bucket away from my body. The smell reminded me of cleaning the orphanage. “You can run over to the Dollar Store and grab some new bottles.”
    The yellow color of the toilet bowl cleaner was light as though there was water added to the bottle.
    “I’ll run over real quick and grab some if you can keep an eye on the office while I’m gone.” He grabbed his keys from the office.
    “Sure.” I smiled knowing I’d get all the information I needed from the guy in room number one. “I’d be happy to.”
    “Here are the keys in case you need to get in there.” He handed me another set of keys on a coat hanger, one of them labeled office , before he jumped into his car.
    There wouldn’t be a whole lot of