The Scum of All Fears: Squeaky Clean Mysteries, Book 5 (24 page)

“Are you sure about that?”

“I’m getting rid of the people who don’t deserve to be here. I’m helping to make the world a better place.”

The police officers crept closer.
Adams appeared on the other side of the catwalk, and I noticed that traffic had stopped flowing on the four lanes of the bridge. Cop cars blocked the road.

I had to buy time. So I kept talking.
“How would the world be a better place without those women? Without Mr. Sears? Without me? What did we ever do that was so horrible?”

He pointed a finger at me and laughed. “You see? Right there. You don’t even realize what a nuisance you are.”

“I try to help people.”

He shook his head. “You think you’re superior.”

“There couldn’t be anything farther from the truth, Milton.” I used his first name, trying to get his attention.

“Stop talking,” he muttered. His words slurred into one another.

I was messing with his head, and it was working.

“Why Mr. Sears?” I asked.

He sneered. “He was a casualty. We had to get him out of the way, so we could have access to the apartment building. Rose took care of him.”

“Is that wh
at everyone is to you? A casualty?” I asked, trying to buy time.

“Let her go
, Jones!” Adams shouted behind me. “We’ve got you surrounded. This is over.”

“This will never be over,” Jones muttered.

His words sent a chill down my spine. What did that mean?

Riley
pushed past Adams. “Take me. I’m the one you want anyway.”

Riley . . . Riley was okay.
Thank God! But no way did I want to substitute myself with Riley.

Jones chuckled.
“Nice try, Riley. But all along, I’ve had a plan.”

In one swift move,
Jones grabbed me and pressed the knife into my neck.

Just then,
a gun fired.

The knife dropped.

The force of the bullet propelled Jones away from me. He lumbered backward a step.

His eyes widened. Blood
soaked his shirt.

Then he hit the railing.

His body flipped over the catwalk. I leaned over in time to see him fall. And fall. And fall.

Finally, his body hit the water with a splash.

All the tension in my body seemed to leave it in one
goosh
. I nearly sank to the ground, but Riley rushed toward me. He pulled me into his arms and held me up. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“The women?” I whispered. “
Teddi? Clarice? Nichole?”

“There’s a crew the
re right now. They’re all okay. Rose has been arrested.”

My heart slowed for a moment
. “What happened? What took the police so long?”

“Get this. They got caught by the draw bridge.”

A soft laugh escaped. “Of course.”

“It’s over, Gabby. It’s really over,” Riley mumbled.

Then why didn’t I feel so certain?

CHAPTER
37

Riley and I went to church Sunday morning. We had a lot to be thankful for . . . star
ting with the fact we were still alive.

Nichole, Clarice, and
Teddi were still alive. They might all have to have counseling, but they were still breathing. Thanks to the fact that, in his effort to torture Riley, Jones had been distracted and rushed. He hadn’t had time to carry out his normal method of inflicting pain on his victims. No, they’d all gotten away with bumps and bruises, but they’d escaped the worst-case scenario that I’d feared would be perpetrated on them.

Rose
was behind bars and facing so many charges I couldn’t even keep them all straight.

Dale
was recovering. He claimed that he came to town early, as soon as he’d heard Jones had escaped. He drove past the crime scene that first day in an effort to follow every lead, to see if Jones’ calling card had been left at the crime. He’d suspected that Rose might not be as innocent as she’d claimed. He found out her family owned the cabin and had traveled out there to check it out. Jones had snuck up on him and knocked him out.

But, despite all the reasons for joy, doubt lingered in the back of my mind.
Had Jones really died? Then where was his body? Washed out to sea?

My cell phone rang as Riley and I walked
from the church back to our apartment. I recognized the number. Clarice.

I held up a finger to excuse myself from my conversation with Riley for a moment and answered. “Clarice. How are you?”

“I’m going to be having nightmares for a long time.”

“We all are,” I conceded.

“This whole thing really helped me to reevaluate my life. Life is too short for me to be someone I’m not. You really helped me to realize that. Thank you.”

My heart warmed a moment. “I’m glad something good came out of all of this. And people are going to love you for who
you are, Clarice. If they don’t, then they’re not worth your time. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t. And I’ll see you around, Gabby. I’m always available if you need me to help you with any jobs!”

I hoped that wouldn’t be the case. Chad and Sierra were coming back tonight. Thank goodness. “Got it, Clarice. Take care of yourself.”

As soon as I hit END, I looked up and saw Parker waiting beside his car outside of my apartment building.
Something about him being there made something shift uncomfortably in my heart.

I gripped Riley’s hand as we walked up. “What’s going on?”

He stuffed his hands deep into the pockets of his khakis. “Just stopped by to give you an update.”

“Did you find Jone
s’ body?”

Parker’s lips pressed together in a firm line. “Not yet. There’s no way he survived everything that happened, Gabby. Our techs examined the amount of blood he lost. That, on top of trying to navigate the
river in his injured state . . . there’s just no way he’s still alive.”

“Then why haven’t the cadaver dogs found his body?” Riley asked.

Parker shrugged. “For all we know, he’s already been washed out to the ocean. It’s going to take some time for the search to be complete.” He drew in a deep breath. “You both did good work. We may not have found him without your help, so I wanted to say thank you.”

“I appreciate that, Parker,” I told him. Compliments weren’t easy to come by
with him. He’d probably rather get shot than give one out, so I knew he meant it.

“
You guys should go relax, take it easy for a while. You saved the lives of four innocent people. That’s nothing to scoff at.”

In the midst of all the craziness last night, I’d
realized that it didn’t matter if I was offered that job in Kansas or not. I wasn’t going to take it. It wasn’t because I thought Riley’s career was more important than mine. It was because I loved Riley, and I wanted to be with him. Besides, Virginia was my home, and I had unfinished business here. I hoped that more doors would open in the future so I could use my degree to its fullest. But, until then, I’d bloom where I was planted, as the saying went.

I looked up at
Riley as Parker walked away. The one thing I’d realized throughout this whole Jones fiasco was that life was too short. I didn’t know if I had years to live or mere hours.

“Let’s get married.”

He grinned softly. “I thought we
were
getting married.”

“No
, I mean let’s ditch this whole big wedding. We don’t have the money for it anyway. Let’s get married . . .” I shrugged. “I don’t know. Soon.”

“How soon are you talking about?”

“Well, I do have to get a dress. And I know you have a few people that you really want to be there. We should give them a little notice first, don’t you think?”

He wrapped his arms around my waist. “Absolutely. How much notice is enough?”

I shrugged. “A week?”

He laughed. “You want to get married in a week?”

“Yeah. What do you think?” If we were married, we’d have no choice but to make a decision about our future
together
.

He
kissed me softly. “Let’s do it. One week.”

“On the beach. At night. S
omething simple. Maybe we can have a reception later.”

“I like that idea.”

I grinned and squeezed his hand. “Okay, then. I’ll have to remind Teddi that we’re going dress shopping. I think that will be enough to lift her spirits.”

That’s right. Milton Jones was not going to ruin my life. That’s exactly what he’d wanted to do.

Riley and I were going to say our vows. We were going to love, honor and cherish each other until we drew our last breath . . . and Milton Jones was powerless to stop us.

###

Don’t Miss These Other Books in the Squeaky Clean Mystery Series:

Hazardous Duty

She always wanted to be a forensic pathologist. But when circumstances force her to drop out of school, Gabby St. Claire starts a crime-scene cleaning business. Suddenly a routine job turns up a murder weapon, and Gabby and her neighbor Riley realize that the wrong man is behind bars! Will they catch the real killer?

Suspicious Minds

Rock and roll may never die, but the King is definitely dead . . . again.

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?

It Came Upon a Midnight Crime

Someone is intent on destroying the true meaning of Christmas—at least, destroying anything that hints of it. All around crime-scene cleaner Gabby St. Claire’s hometown, anything pointing to Jesus as the “reason for the season” is being sabotaged. The crimes become more twisted as dismembered body parts are found at the vandalisms. Who would go to such great lengths to dampen the joy and hope of Christ’s birthday? Someone’s determined to destroy Christmas . . . but Gabby St. Claire is just as determined to find the Grinch and let peace on earth and goodwill to men prevail.

Organized Grime

Gabby St. Claire knows how to clean up scum. She can get blood out of carpet, pick shattered bones from plaster, and clean up other less-than-enticing fluids from nearly any surface. St. Claire also knows how to clean up another kind of scum— the scum of the earth. Crime scene cleaner and wannabe forensic investigator Gabby St. Claire knows her best friend, Sierra, isn’t guilty of killing three people in what appears to be an ecoterrorist attack. But Sierra has disappeared, her only contact a frantic phone call. Crime scene evidence Gabby discovers while cleaning tie seemingly random murders together—and point to Sierra as the guilty party. Just what has her animal-loving friend gotten herself into? If that’s not disturbing enough, who’s the person following Gabby? A federal agent who hopes Gabby will lead him to Sierra? Or someone with more sinister plans? To find Sierra and prove her innocence, Gabby will have to rely on all of her training and abilities, plus the help of a man she loves and the protection of a God she’s only recently begun to believe in.

Dirty Deeds

“Promise me one thing. No snooping. Just for one week.”

Gabby St. Claire knows that her fiancé’s request is a simple one that she should be able to honor. After all, Riley’s law school reunion and attorneys’ conference at a hoity-toity resort is a chance for them to get away from the mysteries Gabby often finds herself involved in as a crime scene cleaner. The weeklong trip is a chance for them to be “normal,” a word that leaves a bad taste in Gabby’s mouth.

But Gabby finds herself alone for endless hours while Riley is busy with legal workshops. Then one of Riley’s old friends goes missing, and Gabby suspects one of Riley’s buddies might be behind the disappearance. When the missing woman’s mom asks Gabby for help, how can she say no?

Secrets abound. Gabby even has some of her own. When the dirty truth comes out, the revelations put everything in jeopardy—relationships, trusts, and even lives.

You Might Also Enjoy:

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

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.

The Trouble with Perfect

Since the death of her fiancé two years ago, novelist Morgan Blake’s life has been in a holding pattern. She has a major case of writer’s block, and a book signing in the small mountain town of Perfect sounds like just the solution to help her clear her head. Her trip takes a wrong turn when, on her way there, she’s involved in a hit and run—she’s hit a man, and he’s run from the scene. Before fleeing, he mouthed the word “help.” She plans to give him that help, but first she must find him. In Perfect, she finds a town that offers everything she’s ever wanted. But is something sinister going on behind the town’s cheery exterior? Was she invited as a guest of honor simply to do a book signing? Or was she lured to town for another purpose—a deadly purpose?

The Good Girl

Tara Lancaster can sing Amazing Grace in three harmonies, two languages, and interpret it for the hearing impaired. She can list the Bible canon backward, forward, and alphabetized. And the only time she ever missed church was at seventeen because she had pneumonia and her mom made her stay home. But when her life shatters around her and her reputation is left in ruins, Tara decides escape is the only option. She flees halfway across the country to dog-sit, but the quiet anonymity she needs isn’t waiting in her sister s house. Instead she finds a knife with a threatening message, a fame-hungry friend, a too-hunky neighbor, and evidence of...a ghost? Following all the rules has gotten her nowhere. And nothing she learned in Sunday school can tell her where to go from there.

Home Before Dark

Nothing good ever happens after dark.

Those were the words country singer Daleigh McDermott’s father always repeated.

Now her father is dead, and Daleigh fears she’s returned home too late to make things right. As she’s about to flee back to Nashville, she finds a hidden journal belonging to her father. His words hint that his death was no accident.

Small town mechanic Ryan Shields is the only one who seems to believe that Daleigh may be on to something. Her father trusted the man, but Daleigh’s instant attraction to Ryan scares her. She knows her life and career, however dwindling it might be, are back in Nashville and that her time in the sleepy North Carolina town is only temporary.

As Daleigh and Ryan work to unravel the mystery, it becomes obvious that someone wants them dead. They must rely on each other—and on God—if they hope to make it home before the darkness swallows them whole.

Home Before Dark offers a blend of Nicholas Sparks meets Mary Higgins Clark, a mix of charming small town life in North Carolina tangled in a gripping suspense.

Christy Barritt is an author, freelance writer and speaker who lives in Virginia.

She’s married to her Prince Charming, a man who thinks she’s hilarious—but only when she’s not trying to be. Christy’s a self-proclaimed klutz, an avid music lover who’s known for spontaneously bursting into song, and a road trip aficionado. She’s only won one contest in her life—and her prize was kissing a pig (okay, okay… actually she did win the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Suspense and Mystery also… and a couple of others, but she’d hate to brag). Her current claim to fame is showing off her mother, who looks just like former First Lady Barbara Bush.

When she’s not working or spending time with her family, she enjoys singing, playing the guitar, and exploring small, unsuspecting towns where people have no idea how accident-prone she is.

For more information, visit her website at:
www.christybarritt.com
.

Other Books by Christy Barritt

Squeaky Clean Mysteries:

#1 Hazardous Duty

#2 Suspicious Minds

#2.5 It Came Upon a Midnight Crime

#3 Organized Grime

#4 Dirty Deeds

#5 The Scum of All Fears

#6 To Love, Honor, and Perish (coming soon!)

Suburban Sleuth Mysteries:

#1 Death of the Couch Potato’s Wife

Stand-Alone Romantic-Suspense:

Keeping Guard

The Last Target

Race Against Time

Ricochet

Key Witness

Lifeline

High-Stakes Holiday Reunion (November 2013)

Standalone Romantic Mystery:

The Good Girl

Suspense:

The Trouble with Perfect

Home Before Dark

Nonfiction:

Changed: True Stories of Finding God through Christian Music

The Novel in Me: The Beginner’s Guide to Writing and Publishing a Novel