Read Online Scottsdale Heat: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 1) by B A Trimmer - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: B A Trimmer
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with his finger.
Damn.
I felt cheated. How unfair is it I can have another great dream about Reno and I didn’t get to enjoy it?
I pulled myself out of bed and stumbled to the shower. The hot water felt great. I washed my hair and loaded it up with conditioner. I then had a brief, but meaningful, affair with the shower massager.
One of the nice things about living in an apartment is the hot water never runs out. I stood there for almost half an hour feeling life come back into my body.
After the shower, I made a pot of coffee and fed Marlowe. From the closet, I picked out a short paisley print skirt and a sleeveless cotton top. I gave Marlowe a hug and scooted out the door.
~~~~
When I pulled into the entrance of Alex’s apartment complex it was 8:45. It was later than I had wanted to get there. I didn’t expect Alex to be up so soon, but I didn’t want to take the chance of losing him, especially now he had picked up some friends.
I drove around to the back of Alex’s building and spotted the Lincoln in a space across and down from Alex’s apartment. There were two men in the front seat. I wasn’t close enough to make out their faces, but they appeared to be the same two following Alex the day before. Alex’s car was under the car cover and parked in the same spot it was in the night before.
I parked on the street just outside the entrance to the apartment complex and waited.
For me, the hardest part of surveillance is I start to crave cigarettes. I had quit about six months ago and I’m OK about it, except when I get stressed or have to sit for long periods. Until six months ago, I would pass the time while sitting in the car by smoking cigarettes. I preferred the long skinny ones. It took about fifteen minutes to smoke each one, so I could tell how long I had been there by how many butts were piled up on the ground. Six butts equaled an hour and a half. Twelve butts meant I had been there three hours. A month ago, I had bought a pack while doing surveillance. I had gone as far as putting a cigarette in my mouth and keeping it there, unlit, for half an hour. Finally, I threw away both the cigarette and the pack. That was the last serious craving I’ve had, until today.
I could really use a smoke.
At 9:20, Alex pulled out of the lot, followed ten seconds later by the Lincoln. Alex drove east to the Loop 101 freeway and then headed south. It appeared he was headed toward Mesa or maybe Chandler, two of the suburbs on the East Valley side of Phoenix. We passed the exits to Thomas, McDowell, and McKellips. Alex was in the middle lane of the freeway, about to pass the exit ramp for the Loop 202 freeway.
Without warning, Alex turned sharply to the right and shot across a lane of traffic and onto the Loop 202 exit ramp. I saw smoke as the car behind Alex hit the brakes. Alex almost hit the plastic crash barrier mounted at the end of the exit ramp, but he made it. The Lincoln saw him exit, but was blocked by a semi-truck in the right-hand lane. They tried to get around the truck by speeding up and diving in front of it. I had to hand it to their courage because they almost made it. With a tearing thump , the semi clipped their back end and sent the Lincoln in a spin, bringing the entire freeway to a screaming halt. I hit the brakes, as did everyone around me. Tires screeched and there were several loud thuds as cars behind me rear-ended each other. Blue smoke and burnt rubber filled the air.
For a moment there was an eerie calm as every car the highway came to a stop. When the smoke cleared, I was in the front of a rapidly-forming traffic jam. The Lincoln had hit the same crash barrier Alex had managed to miss. It had come to rest in the middle of the Loop 202 freeway entrance ramp. All four tires had blown, the right rear quarter panel was in tatters, and there were pieces of car scattered all over the road. The semi had locked its wheels and jack-knifed, but fortunately had not turned over. Unfortunately,
Damn.
I felt cheated. How unfair is it I can have another great dream about Reno and I didn’t get to enjoy it?
I pulled myself out of bed and stumbled to the shower. The hot water felt great. I washed my hair and loaded it up with conditioner. I then had a brief, but meaningful, affair with the shower massager.
One of the nice things about living in an apartment is the hot water never runs out. I stood there for almost half an hour feeling life come back into my body.
After the shower, I made a pot of coffee and fed Marlowe. From the closet, I picked out a short paisley print skirt and a sleeveless cotton top. I gave Marlowe a hug and scooted out the door.
~~~~
When I pulled into the entrance of Alex’s apartment complex it was 8:45. It was later than I had wanted to get there. I didn’t expect Alex to be up so soon, but I didn’t want to take the chance of losing him, especially now he had picked up some friends.
I drove around to the back of Alex’s building and spotted the Lincoln in a space across and down from Alex’s apartment. There were two men in the front seat. I wasn’t close enough to make out their faces, but they appeared to be the same two following Alex the day before. Alex’s car was under the car cover and parked in the same spot it was in the night before.
I parked on the street just outside the entrance to the apartment complex and waited.
For me, the hardest part of surveillance is I start to crave cigarettes. I had quit about six months ago and I’m OK about it, except when I get stressed or have to sit for long periods. Until six months ago, I would pass the time while sitting in the car by smoking cigarettes. I preferred the long skinny ones. It took about fifteen minutes to smoke each one, so I could tell how long I had been there by how many butts were piled up on the ground. Six butts equaled an hour and a half. Twelve butts meant I had been there three hours. A month ago, I had bought a pack while doing surveillance. I had gone as far as putting a cigarette in my mouth and keeping it there, unlit, for half an hour. Finally, I threw away both the cigarette and the pack. That was the last serious craving I’ve had, until today.
I could really use a smoke.
At 9:20, Alex pulled out of the lot, followed ten seconds later by the Lincoln. Alex drove east to the Loop 101 freeway and then headed south. It appeared he was headed toward Mesa or maybe Chandler, two of the suburbs on the East Valley side of Phoenix. We passed the exits to Thomas, McDowell, and McKellips. Alex was in the middle lane of the freeway, about to pass the exit ramp for the Loop 202 freeway.
Without warning, Alex turned sharply to the right and shot across a lane of traffic and onto the Loop 202 exit ramp. I saw smoke as the car behind Alex hit the brakes. Alex almost hit the plastic crash barrier mounted at the end of the exit ramp, but he made it. The Lincoln saw him exit, but was blocked by a semi-truck in the right-hand lane. They tried to get around the truck by speeding up and diving in front of it. I had to hand it to their courage because they almost made it. With a tearing thump , the semi clipped their back end and sent the Lincoln in a spin, bringing the entire freeway to a screaming halt. I hit the brakes, as did everyone around me. Tires screeched and there were several loud thuds as cars behind me rear-ended each other. Blue smoke and burnt rubber filled the air.
For a moment there was an eerie calm as every car the highway came to a stop. When the smoke cleared, I was in the front of a rapidly-forming traffic jam. The Lincoln had hit the same crash barrier Alex had managed to miss. It had come to rest in the middle of the Loop 202 freeway entrance ramp. All four tires had blown, the right rear quarter panel was in tatters, and there were pieces of car scattered all over the road. The semi had locked its wheels and jack-knifed, but fortunately had not turned over. Unfortunately,
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