Checkered Crime: A Laurel London Mystery Read Online Free PDF

Pepper Spivy walking on the sidewalk away from her parked car. When she noticed it was me in the car, she rushed to the other side of the street. “Derek gave me this old thing.”
    There was no way, no how I was going to tell Clyde that I had been fired. He’d tell Trixie. And if I told him before I told Trixie, she’d be in an uproar. It was best to keep my tale from everyone until I did find a job.
    “What’s it with her?” I pointed over to Pepper.
    She stood across the street in her black pin-striped pant suit, her dishwater brown hair neatly cut into a bob that hit a tiny bit below her cheek line. She waved something in the air.
    “Hold on.” Clyde held up his finger before he ran across the street, almost getting hit by an oncoming car. He and Pepper exchanged a few words between a couple glances my way before she handed him a piece of paper.
    While he ran back over, I gave her a little spirit finger wave, but she turned her nose up at me.
    “What’s that?” I poked my head out of the window to see if I could get a look at the paper Pepper had given him.
    “Walnut Grove Savings Bank is hiring for a new teller and Baxter told her she could post a flyer in the window. When she saw you, she wanted to stay away from you. Far away as possible.” Clyde tapped the nozzle on the edge of the gas tank before he stuck it back in the pump.
    “Seriously?” My mouth dropped. I craned my neck to see if I could give Pepper a death stare, but she was already walking back to her car. “People in this town need to realize I have grown up.”
    I gave Pepper the death glare when her car zoomed by. She gave me the bird. I would make sure to sit at her table when I went to The Cracked Egg. Sometimes she worked there as a fill-in when Gia’s dad needed her. It was good side money.
    “It’s hard to ask the good citizens of Walnut Grove to forget how you terrorized the community for years. After all Pepper did give you a cleaning job at the bank and you took advantage of her and the city by using all those debit cards from the bank customers to charge over five hundred dollars worth of pizzas to be delivered to the orphanage.” Clyde grabbed the squeegee and flung it to the ground getting all the excess fluid off before he ran it across the Belvedere’s windshield.
    “Good gravy. It. Was. Pizza. Have you ever eaten fried bologna seven days in a row?
    “I can’t say I have.” He shook his head.
    “Well, we orphans did and pizza sounded good.” I rolled my eyes and turned the ignition on. “When is this po-dunk town ever going to give me a second chance?”
    “They did. Third chances too. More chances than a cat gets in lives.” He slammed the squeegee in the dirty bucket of windshield wiper fluid sitting next to the pump.
    The Gas-N-Go bell dinged when another car pulled up on the other side of the pump. He put both hands on my windowsill.
    He leaned in and whispered, “I don’t know what is going on with you, but you better make good by Trixie. She’s done a lot for you, young lady.”
    “Don’t you think I know that?” I asked.
    “Hold on.” Clyde rushed inside the gas station only to come right back out holding something up for me to see. He jabbed his hand in my window. “Here. Air freshener on the house.”
    “Thanks, Clyde!” I took the hot pink fuzzy dice of the package. It smelled just like fresh cotton linens. “That is so nice.” I hung the dice from the rearview mirror.
    “I believe in you.” He smiled, tapping the car door.
    With a full tank of gas, I threw the old Belvedere in drive. Even though I should go put in some applications, I wanted to see just how well the Old Girl could handle the back road curves of Walnut Grove.

 
     
    Chapter Five
     
    Somehow I was going to show this town that I, Laurel London, was going to make something of myself. And was going to do it on the up-and-up. Granted I did hack a few accounts to order pizzas or charged Christmas gifts on the good ole