Free Checkered Crime: A Laurel London Mystery by tonya kappes Page A

swallowed hard. “Man, why did you have to go and piss her off?”
    “Yea, don’t you know her history?” Adam Fiddle ran his hands through his short black hair. These days the twins were wearing their hair shorter on the sides and a little longer on the top with a side part. I had to say that it was working for them. The older they got, the cuter they got.
    The Fiddles were always a set of scrawny little guys. We, the orphan kids, always told them to steal some of their dad’s meat and eat.
    “Do you think I’d waste my time driving down here on that?” Antonio’s nose curled as he looked my body up and down. “I like a little more meat on my girl’s bones. You know?” He did a little air grinding, making my stomach curl at the thought. “Something to hold on to.”
    The guys chuckled.
    I inhaled deeply and stood up straight, shook my hair behind my head with my chin up in the air and grabbed the bottle of beer out of Jax’s hands, chugging down what he had left in it. Normally I wouldn’t have anything to do with back wash and drinking after strangers, but there wasn’t anything normal about this situation.
    “Let’s get this game going.” I tossed the bottle in the trash. I pointed directly at Jax. “Get me another one.”
    The group dropped to silent, barely breathing. I grabbed the Lysol can out of my bag and sprayed the insides of the shoes. I threw the can to Gia before I gripped my bowling ball. I took a couple of steps forward toward the lane. I cupped my wrist and quickly opened it at the top of my swing. I used the old plant and pull method for more leverage on the ball because the speed and power helped me get out my frustration.
    Slowly I turned around and walked back toward the team with my ears on full alert. I knew it was a great bowl and a strike was in my foreseeable future. The whiz of the ball struck the pins, knocking all of them down.
    “Damn.” Jax leaned to the right to look over my shoulder at the strike. He leaned back staring at me — his mouth open.
    I walked right past him and grabbed the beer he had gotten me.
    “Close your mouth.” I heard Gia say to him. “She’s a cranker.” Gia referred to the delivery style I had chosen to do.
    “She’s something,” Jax said in a little sarcastic tone. “I never bowl. I’m terrible.”
    Derek walked up. He surveyed the group and did a head nod Carmine’s way who head nodded back. Some sort of guy talk was going on because the two of them shrugged.
    Derek was always late on Monday night because after lunch he had to drive to class and would make it just in time for him to be the last bowler on the team, in the first round.
    It was apparent he felt the same way I did about Jax. Derek plopped down in the plastic seat next to me and dropped his shoes making us all look after they smacked down on the old tile floor.
    “What’s he doing here?” Derek asked in a hushed whisper. He didn’t look at me. He took off his shoes and slipped the bowling shoes on.
    “How do you know him?” I asked back when Jax was out of earshot. He was next to bowl.
    I couldn’t help but smile when he crossed the foul line and the alarm sounded throughout Lucky Strikes. All the other teams looked and started to jab each other in pleasure. Everyone wanted to beat Here For The Beer, especially since all the other teams were members of the local AARP.
    “Trixie called and told me you were prostituting. Then she called back because she said you weren’t prostituting. Then I grabbed a BLT to go from The Cracked Egg on my way to class and Gia happened to mention you were in there with some stranger that you conned into thinking your car was a taxi.” He clenched his jaws. There was no forgiveness in his eyes. “What happened to Quick Copy? I thought you were trying to be on the level when I gave you that car.”
    “I am.” Damn , Gia. Her loose lip always got me in trouble.
    I snuck a peek over at her. Her face was flush. It was apparent she knew he