03 - Organized Grime (27 page)

Just then, another car rumbled up the gravel driveway.

Good. Backup was here. Back up was finally here.

***

An hour later, everyone was either arrested or in an ambulance or both. Riley and I still hung out in Broken Arrow’s car. I continued to pick pieces of the broken windshield from my hair. But we were alive and relatively unharmed.

I hoped I could say the same for Sierra.

“Gabby?” Riley turned toward me and cupped my face with his palm.

My heart raced. “Yes?”

“I’m sorry if I acted like a jerk. I didn’t mean to smother you. I was just worried—”

“Don’t apologize. I’m sorry that I’m so selfish. I didn’t want to listen to anyone and I could have gotten you killed.”

His lips covered mine. I missed those kisses. I’d missed Riley, and I never wanted to lose him again. And I was going to tell him that—

Before I could, someone rapped at the window. I looked over and saw Lydia standing there, staring at Riley. I gave my boyfriend a pointed look. “What’s going on?”

Riley opened the door—since the car wasn’t running, he couldn’t put down the window. He greeted her with a certain familiarity that got my hackles up. “It looks like it’s all over, Lydia.”

I squinted in confusion, trying to put some puzzle pieces that had seemingly appeared out of thin air together. “All over? What does that mean, Riley?”

He turned back to me and grabbed my hand. “Lydia traded our auction date in for a legal consultation with me. She was an informant also.”

I blinked in surprise. Clifford had said she was in on the bribery. Was she simply a part of this mess as a cover? Understanding slowly spread over me. “So you knew some of this?”

He nodded. “I did but I couldn’t say anything because of confidentiality. That’s why I wanted you to stay out of it. I knew what you were up against.”

Lydia peered into the car, looking as polished and beautiful as ever. “I told Riley because it was the only way I could figure out to keep you away. I knew that if Riley knew what was going on, he’d do everything he could to make you stay out of it.”

I tilted my head, my processor whirling at full speed. “Why did you want to keep me away? You don’t even know me.”

Her expression remained unchanged. “No, but I remember what it was like to be young and to have dreams. I didn’t want to see those taken from you.”

“That’s … kind of you.” And unlikely…

She looked over us at the slew of police officers and feds swarming the area. “Well done, Gabby. You brought down the mob and a gang in one fell swoop.”

Had I? Bringing them down had never even been my goal. I’d simply wanted to find my friend.

I looked beyond Lydia. Neither Broken Arrow nor Parker would let me go inside the house and look for Sierra. They were inside now, combing the place for evidence. Had they found my friend? Was she really alive? Or had someone else gotten to her first?

Please, Lord, help her to be okay.

I wished all of my prayers weren’t quite so selfish, but that didn’t change the fact that I desperately wanted my friend to be safe. I hoped that God understood.

I blinked when I saw someone coming around the corner from the backyard. Was it really Sierra? Yes, it was. I knew it was.

I popped the door open and sprinted across the grass. Sierra took off in a sprint also and, when we reached each other, I threw my arms around my friend.

“Sierra. You’re alive!” I stepped back and looked at her. She had a cut across her forehead and she looked dirty and disheveled. But she was alive. There were no bullet holes in her forehead or any of the other terrible scenarios I’d conjured up in my mind.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Sierra wiped her eyes, and I thought I saw a tear there. It was the first time I think I’d ever seen my friend cry. “I knew you’d find me, Gabby. I knew if anyone could do it, you could.”

Riley appeared behind me and also gave Sierra a hug. “Good to see you.”

“You better believe it. I’ve been on one wild ride.” She looked at me. “How’d you know I was here?”

“I saw where you’d written down this address at your office. Then I did a search on the property and find out it was owned by your friend Helena.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t write down this address.”

“Your friend must have written it down, knowing that I’d find it then. Either that or you have an angel looking out for you.”

Sierra nodded. “Helena. She seemed to sense that something was going on. She said I could come here if I needed to.”

I put my arm around her. “We have a lot to catch up on.”

“That we do.”

Her gaze bounced from Riley to me for a moment until she wagged her eyebrows.

 “I should have nearly gotten myself killed a long time ago. Who knew that was what it would take to get the two of you together?”

I didn’t know what to say to that because Riley and I still needed to talk. To really talk. Instead, I said, “Are you okay?”

“Now I am.”

“Not really.” Both Sierra and I jerked our heads up at the sound of the familiar voice. Lydia stood in front of us, a gun protruding from her jacket. I looked around. Every other law enforcement officer was busy arresting people and filing reports. No one had noticed what was going on here. Not good...

Chapter Forty

“Lydia? You said you were a good guy.” I couldn’t keep the incredulous tone from my voice.

Nor could Riley. “No, Lydia… not this.”

She smirked. “What can I say? I guess I’m a dirty informant. We worked hard to get the empire that we have, and now I’m poised to lose it all, thanks to you and your friend.”

Riley tried to step forward, but Lydia shoved her gun toward him and he stopped. He shook his head. “Lydia, don’t do this. You’re only going to make things worse for yourself.”

The smirk left her face, the look replaced with vengeance. “I’ve lost everything as it is. I’m going to have to go into witness protection. They’re going to try and kill me once they find out I was a snitch.”

“Witness protection isn’t that bad. It’s a fresh start.” It was the only argument I could think of at the time, as lame as it was.

“Easy for you to say. I might as well spend the rest of my life behind bars.”

I glanced behind her and saw someone in the shadows. Could it be? I averted my eyes, not wanting to draw attention to the person who could possibly get us out of this mess.

“You need to think through this, Lydia,” Riley said. “Right now, you’re going to have the esteem of the community for your help in bringing this operation down. Don’t do something stupid.”

She sneered. “The esteem of the community has gotten me nowhere. Now it’s time for some revenge. At least this way I get to keep my self-respect and stand up for my family. If you’re going to go out, go out in style. That’s my motto.”

Megan charged toward us, a guttural sound escaping her. Just as Lydia turned around, Megan pulled out… a spray bottle? She began dousing Lydia in the face with the solution. Lydia bent over in surprise—and pain. It gave Riley the chance to wrestle the gun from her hands—and for the cops in the area to take notice and step in to help.

Parker came over and slapped some handcuffs on her, while Broken Arrow just shook his head. “Big mistake, Lydia,” he said. “Big mistake. I should have known I couldn’t trust you. You were feeding information to your family all the while, weren’t you?”

She spit at me. “I never should have gotten involved in all this.”

Parker began pulling her away. “It’s a little late to be realizing that now.”

I turned to Megan, who still held the spray bottle in her shaky hands.

My stalker saves the day. Only in my life.

“Spray solution?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I saw you use it that day with the Guardians.”

“You saw that, too?” Who was this girl? The invisible woman? Was there anything she missed?

She nodded. “I see everything.”

I supposed that I would choose to be flattered rather than freaked out, since the girl had just saved our lives. “Thank you, Megan. I owe you. We all owe you.”

“No, Gabby, I owe you. After watching you, I’m not afraid to step out of the shadows anymore.”

Thank goodness because the girl was a little freaky hiding out around every corner. “You can do it, Megan. Take control of your own life and chase your dreams.”

My heart sank. My dreams had gone out the window. I’d missed so many classes now that I wasn’t sure if I would graduate. I’d missed my job interview with the medical examiner’s office. But there was always crime scene cleaning, right?

I looked around me at Riley and Sierra. My friend was safe. That was worth more than anything else.

People first. How could I ever regret that?

Epilogue

Two Months Later

I’d dreamed about this moment for a long time. The president of my college made his pronouncement. I grabbed my graduation cap and threw it in the air. I had a title to add after my name—one I was proud of.  I was a college graduate. Finally.

I looked out in the audience and saw everyone I cared about was here to support me. My dad, Teddi and Tim. Sierra and Chad. Yes, Sierra and Chad. I was just as shocked as anyone that they’d started dating over the past month. But when I looked at them together, they fit—they made sense. And I was so happy for them. Sharon, Pastor Shaggy, my upstairs neighbor Mrs. Mystery, and radio talk show host Bill McCormick had come. Riley’s parents had driven down. Megan was there—because I’d invited her, not because she’d been shadowing me—at least not that I was aware of. Even Parker attended with his very pregnant fiancée.

Of course, most importantly, Riley was there.

I smiled at him and gave a little wave. He returned the gesture with a grin and wave of his own.

As soon as we were dismissed, I found everyone and we all exchanged hugs and squeals. It was May, and the weather was perfect. Not too hot and not too cold. Yes, the weather could be temperamental in Virginia. But, today, that had worked out in my favor.

Parker extended his hand. “I heard you start next month with the Medical Examiner’s Office. Congratulations, Gabby. You deserve this.”

I couldn’t stop smiling. “Thanks, Parker. I appreciate that. Especially coming from you. And I appreciate you putting in a good word for me, especially since I missed the interview and everything.”

He shrugged. “I know I’ve given you a hard time, but you’ve got a knack for this stuff, Gabby. And you missed the interview because you were tracking down bad guys. How could I fault you for that?” He shrugged. “I mean, I could fault you for that since you weren’t an official part of the investigation, but—”

I held up my hands. “I get it. And thank you.”

Chad clapped my back in a chummy hug. “Good job, Gabby. We’re still going to work together, though, right? You can’t stop cleaning crime scenes.”

“Uh, yes she can,” Sierra said. “She’s earned it.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve been doing it so long that I’m really going to miss being the cleaner. Maybe I will have to make guest appearances sometimes or step in when you need help.”

Riley appeared on my other side. “I’m hoping you might be occupied with other things.”

“Like what? My new job?”

Riley lowered down to one knee. “I was actually hoping that you would marry me, and we could get busy planning a wedding.”

I stared at the ring in his hands. He couldn’t be serious. But he was!

I gently took the ring from his hands and examined the beautiful princess-cut diamond that sparkled at me.

“It’s real, Gabby.”

Rats. He knew me too well. Of course the ring was real. Riley was real. Our relationship was real. Everything just seemed too good to be true sometimes.

“Will you marry me, Gabby St. Claire?”

Tears actually popped to my eyes. I’d dreamed about this moment for so long, but never thought it would actually happen. “Yes, I’d be honored, Riley Thomas. I’d be honored.”

Everyone exchanged hugs all around.

As I pulled away, my phone rang.

“I’m looking for someone to clean a crime scene.”

I stepped away from my family and friends. “A crime scene, you said?” I bit my lip. Just one more case couldn’t hurt, could it? “Sure, I can help you out.”

If you enjoyed
Organized Grime,
look for these other books in the Squeaky Clean series:

Hazardous Duty (Book 1)

On her way to completing a degree in forensic science, Gabby St. Claire drops out of school and starts her own crime scene cleaning business. “Yeah, that’s me,” she says, “a crime scene cleaner. People waiting in line behind me who strike up conversations always regret it.” When a routine cleaning job uncovers a murder weapon the police overlooked, she realizes that the wrong person is in jail. But the owner of the weapon is a powerful foe . . . and willing to do anything to keep Gabby quiet. With the help of her new neighbor, Riley Thomas, a man whose life and faith fascinate her, Gabby plays the detective to make sure the right person is put behind bars. Can Riley help her before another murder occurs?

Suspicious Minds (Book 2)

In this smart and suspenseful sequel to
Hazardous Duty
, crime-scene cleaner Gabby St. Claire finds herself stuck doing mold remediation to pay the bills. But her first day on the job, she uncovers a surprise in the crawlspace of a dilapidated home: Elvis, dead as a doornail and still wearing his blue suede shoes. How could she possibly keep her nose out of a case like this?

Other Books by Christy Barritt:

Death of the Couch Potato’s Wife
(Suburban Sleuth Mysteries #1)

You haven’t seen desperate until you’ve met Laura Berry, a career-oriented city slicker turned suburbanite housewife. Well-trained in the big city commandment, “mind your own business,” Laura is persuaded by her spunky 70-year-old neighbor Babe to check on another neighbor who hasn’t been seen in days. She finds her neighbor, Candace Flynn, wife of the infamous “Couch King,” dead, and at last has a reason to get up in the morning in suburbia: murder. Someone’s determined to stop her from digging deeper into the death of her neighbor, but Laura is just as determined to figure out who’s behind the death-by-poisoned-pork-rinds.