Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Karim shook his head. As I began checking, I could hear Lieutenant Pope lecturing Sue on half-empty gas cans, rusted paint tins, and various other dangerous items on her side of the garage.
When all was said and done, I found no violations on Karim’s side and wrote out several items in a written warning on Sue’s side.
“I have to send a copy of this to the homeowner as well,” I explained. Their landlord turned out to be Hazel Marian, who owned several rental properties around town. Instead of being there to watch over his cousin’s property, Alex had come to provide support to his friend and employee.
Once again, Alex Marian proved himself to be one of the good ones. And it only made me fall harder for him.
“Thank you both for your cooperation,” I said to Karim and Sue. “Hopefully, you’ll sleep easier knowing you’re plenty safe.”
Karim scoffed but didn’t say anything. I didn’t blame him.
It was awkward leaving Alex without being able to say anything to him or acknowledge him as anything other than Karim’s friend.
“Marian,” I said gruffly, throwing him a nod.
“Chief.” His eyes followed me as I trailed Pope back to the truck.
On the drive back to the station, Pope said, “I feel stupid. I knew Karim made soap, I just didn’t put two and two together because I didn’t know what was used in making it.”
I shrugged. “Not sure Sue would have been okay with us taking those cans at face value anyway. He was generous to let us inspect without giving us a hard time.”
Pope’s voice softened. “He’s a nice man. You should see his table at the market. He also has these lavender sleep masks that smell amazing. I didn’t see their backyard, but I wonder if he grows his own lavender for them.”
I glanced over at my second-in-command and noticed her slight blush. “Maybe I’ll check it out. They doing it this weekend?”
She nodded. “It’s the last one for the season, so it’ll be big. And there will be a ton of pumpkins and gourds, things like that. Stu Old-Chief makes Bapa Wohanpi with timpsila, and Beth Bower sells pumpkin muffins. Both are not to be missed.”
Which was how I found myself at the final farmer’s market of the year, browsing Karim’s soap selection, when the kid from Alex’s apartment—a subject that had been clearly off-limits the entire time we’d been hooking up—got into trouble.
“Hey, aren’t you from San Francisco?” a man in a baseball cap asked Tavo, who was helping a woman organize her stock at the next table over.
I didn’t think much of it until Tavo froze like a terrified animal faced with a predator.
“You are!” Baseball Cap continued. “I saw you at Pinch with Judge Miller last year sometime. I was waiting tables, and he handed me a hundred-dollar bill and told me to let him know if I saw you with anyone besides him in the back room.” The man chuckled. “But you barely left his side except to dance. And it seemed like you were dancing just for him. You guys were cute.”
Poor Tavo’s face turned red, and he stammered. “N-no. That wasn’t me. I’ve never even been to San Francisco.”
He was a shit liar—possibly worse than Alex Marian himself—but his denial was enough for Baseball Cap to back off. “Sorry, dude. Didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I’m not upset,” Tavo argued. “I’m just… not whoever you think I am.”
Baseball Cap leaned in and lowered his voice. “If you’re not out, that’s totally my bad. I’m so fucking sorry, bro.”
Tavo shook his head and indicated several of the flint and steel kits he was selling that were rainbow colored. “Not the problem. The problem is that I’m not that guy.”
Alex must have sensed Tavo’s discomfort from wherever he was because he started heading over. Meanwhile, I turned to the stranger.
“I couldn’t help but overhear you, and it reminded me of something that happened to me. See that guy?” I pointed to Alex. “I could have sworn he was someone I met in Europe a few years ago, but it turned out it was just a guy who looked like him. Don’t they say we all have a doppelgänger somewhere?”
I gave him an easy smile and waited until he huffed out a laugh. “Bro, I once met a guy on a ski slope who looked just like my cousin Abe. Like freaky-twin shit.”
Tavo was able to relax enough to let out a weak chuckle. “Yeah. I’ve heard all kinds of stories like that.”
The guy reached out a fist to bump. “Sorry, my guy. Tell me about these fire thingies you have.”
As Tavo launched into an explanation of how to use the flint and steel kit, Alex moved up next to me. “Thank you,” he murmured.
I glanced at him and noticed the stress in his expression. “You going to tell me what’s going on?”