Barking Up Trouble by Claudia Lefeve

Author:Claudia Lefeve [Lefeve, Claudia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Crime, Fiction, Humour, Murder, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths
Published: 2016-10-13T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Back in college, I had the stamina to stay up until the wee hours of the morning. Even in graduate school, working a full time job and taking evening classes, I could stay up all night working on research papers. But now, a little past the quarter mark of my life, I was getting way too old for pulling all nighters.

I felt especially old and cantankerous when I was jolted awake at three in the morning. Hartley was sound asleep and The General had burrowed himself into the crook of Hartley’s arm. Both oblivious to the pounding on the door—men.

I crawled out of bed, careful not to disturb them, and padded over to the front door. The view from the peephole didn’t help me identify who was on the other side of the door.

“Who is it?” I called out.

“2B,” a voice answered.

“What’s the problem?” I was still reluctant to open the door. It was early in the morning. I eyed the hallway closet where my shotgun was stored. Do I grab it? With my luck, it could be a serial killer.

He was growing impatient. “Our air conditioning went out.”

“Oh, hold on,” I said, as I unlocked the door.

I opened it to find a disgruntled man who looked like he stepped out of the sauna from hell. Right behind him stood a woman who also looked hot and tired. I could only assume she was his wife. “We just checked-in this morning. Our air went out sometime in the middle of the night,” the man said.

From the looks of them, it must have gone out early in the evening. His wife’s hair was damp. Even at night, the humidity was brutal here on Trouble Island. The husband didn’t look much better. He looked like a contestant for one of the wet t-shirt contests held during the tourist season. The cool air escaping from my condo’s open door made me feel even more guilty.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience—”

“We’re scheduled to stay here two weeks. If this can’t be fixed ASAP, we’ll take our business elsewhere.”

I had owned the building for less than a week, but as a local, even I knew we were in the last few weeks of tourist season. The income from their stay was critical. “Again, my apologies. I can send Hector to your condo first thing in the morning to check on the unit.”

The man’s face reddened. I wasn’t sure if it was from the heat or anger. “You expect my family to stay there without working air?”

After taking ownership of the property, I discovered that each condo had its own individual air conditioning unit—if it broke, only that unit was effected. The building itself was cooled by several larger units, but it wasn’t sufficient enough to cool their condo if their individual unit was broken.

“I’m sorry, but our property manager doesn’t stay on the premises after hours.” How in the world did Aunt Lula manage the building when Hector wasn’t on-call? What happened when things like

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