Suspicious Minds by Barritt Christy

Author:Barritt, Christy [Barritt, Christy]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Christian Fiction, Mystery & Suspense, Religion & Spirituality, Christian Books & Bibles, Literature & Fiction
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Published: 2008-06-17T07:00:00+00:00

Ace Plumbing was tucked into a strip of shops in an older section of Virginia Beach. And when I say older, I mean it was built in the '70s. The business sign was a white rectangle with Ace in blue and Plumbing beneath it in red. A van with a matching logo sat in the parking lot, taking up a prime parking space.

I pulled my pleather coat closer around me. I really wanted black leather, the sleek sophisticated kind, not a biker-tough one. But of course, being friends with Sierra, I'd never hear the end of it, so I wore a fake plastic version instead. Some things just weren't worth it. If there's one thing my mom taught me, it was to choose my battles wisely.

A girl at the front desk barely looked at me when I asked to see Rodger. Instead, she drearily pointed with a mechanical pencil to an office across the hall. Then she went back to her Sudoku puzzle.

I approached Rodger's office just in time to hear him saying, "Get your lawyers involved if you want! We did nothing wrong, and I stand behind my work" Then I heard a beep. Not quite the same effect as slamming a phone on its receiver.

I peeked my head in the doorway in time to see a red-faced Rodger staring with obvious hatred at the black piece of plastic with an antenna that lay lifeless on his desk calendar. My gaze swept the rest of the room, where I spotted miscellaneous pieces of equipment like computers, monitors, and telephones. It appeared his office also acted as storage for the rest of the building.

The man's eyes flickered to me and narrowed some more. Then he straightened his shoulders, and his jaw seemed to twitch as if he were unable to move and his lips were unable to find anything polite to say.

"Mr. Maloney?"

His fingers laced in front of him, and he leaned back into his chair. I couldn't tell what kind of chair it was because his girth covered the piece of furniture in its entirety.

"Yes?"

"I was hoping I could ask you a few questions"

"Concerning?"

I opened my mouth, but suddenly the man was on his feet.

"Did that woman send you?"

I stepped back, though I didn't mean to. "That woman?" Jamie?

"I told her to go through my lawyers" He let out some not-so-nice words, muttering them while looking at his phone again. "She had to send her lawyer over, didn't she?"

He thought I was a lawyer? That was a first.

"I'm not a lawyer, sir."

His eyes widened. He looked at me some more. Then his face turned red again.

"Then you're from the Better Business Bureau-"

"Sir, I'm investigating the death of Darnell Evans."

He stopped cold. Blinked. Sat down. Laced his fingers again. "What can I do for you then?"

"I heard there was a rift between the two of you"

"He was leaving Ace to start his own business. He wanted to take half of my customers. I would have been put out of business if that happened"

Something wasn't computing.

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