Debts and Debtors: (A Geeks and Things Cozy Mystery Novella #3) (Geeks and Things Cozy Mysteries) Read Online Free PDF

timer stopped and ended the call.
    Kalina stared at her phone in confused silence. Her little experiment had only yielded more questions. Did Savannah know her husband was no longer working for the real estate company? When did he stop working there and where had he been going all this time? More importantly, why couldn’t the firm help her even if Thomas was no longer an employee? There was definitely something off about the whole situation. Before she could decide what to do next, her phone screen lit up with a call from her sister.
    “Hey, I wanted to let you know that I gave AJ the weekend off.”
    “Oh, thanks.” She was clearly distracted.
    “How did it go at the morgue?”
    “It’s him. It was so awful seeing him lying there like that.”
    “Tell Savannah I’m so sorry.”
    “Yeah. Look, I need Detective Harper’s direct number. Can you send it to me?”
    “Sure. Why, what’s going on?”
    “Someone vandalized the Chases’ house. Broke and smashed up a bunch of stuff.”
    “Oh, God, is everyone okay?”
    “We think it happened while Savannah’s been with us.”
    “I’ll get you Chris’s number right now.”
    “Thanks.”

 
    CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    Kalina let the phone fall from her fingers and clatter to the countertop. What would make someone want to vandalize the Chases’ house? Maybe whoever shot Thomas had been watching the house and did it after Savannah left the night before. Something about the timing piqued her curiosity and she flipped the front door sign to ‘Closed’ and headed out again. If Chris asked why she was at the new crime scene, she could reasonably say she was there to support her sister and friend. She also wanted to tell him about Thomas no longer being employed at the real estate firm.
    She had to look at the address online before she headed out. It turned out that the Chases lived in a not-so-modest, three-story, sprawling house near the beach. It was set far enough back that high tides wouldn’t cause trouble but close enough that they could still claim they had beach-front property. The flashing lights of the police cruiser nearly blinded her as she pulled up and parked one house over. Crime scene technicians were already flitting in and out of the house with evidence bags and fingerprint powder. Savannah huddled with Jillian off to the side, talking to Chris. Kalina climbed out of her car and got within earshot long enough to hear the gist. According to Savannah, the house had been fine when she left on Thanksgiving and she hadn’t been back until then so that had to be the window of opportunity.
    “Once the techs are done, I’d like to do a walk through with you, just so we can have an accurate inventory of anything that might be missing,” Chris said and Savannah nodded.
    There was something off about the front door. Trying not to look too obvious, Kalina made her way over so she had a clear view. Someone had spray painted the word ‘Traitor’ on the front door. Traitor of what? To whom? This only made things more complicated. She really needed to share with Chris what she’d found about Thomas’s employment situation but she wouldn’t just horn in on his conversation with a grieving widow. In her peripheral vision, she spotted a man dressed in a dark suit and tie standing at the end of the road, observing the scene. Immediately, the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, signaling he didn’t belong. Abruptly, the man turned and strode off, hands in his pockets. Kalina discreetly followed him until he stopped halfway up the beach at a sign for Carlisle Premiere Developments.
    “Excuse me, sir!” The words were out of her mouth before she realized she’d spoken.
    The man stopped and waited for her to catch up and spun on his heel to face her. Up close he was imposing with a sharp jaw and linebacker shoulders. He pressed his lips into a thin line of displeasure at his day being interrupted by a silly comic shop owner playing