Barbecue and Bad News by Nancy Naigle Read Free Book Online Page A

vault door was like a piece of artwork with the brass shined to a luster as lovely as gold. “What do you think?”
    She ran her fingers along the fine wood railing. “This place is great.”
    “Yeah. I fell in love with this building when I was a kid. It was empty back then. A safety hazard, really, but I was always drawn to it. I’d imagine bank robbers racing down the street and good guys capturing them, tying them up, and then locking them in the vault until the sheriff came and carted them off to jail.”
    “You have a good imagination.”
    “I guess locking up bad guys in the vault with the money wasn’t that brilliant of a plan, but it worked in my head at the time. It was a part of my childhood, and when I moved back and found out that the town had put this old building up for sale, I couldn’t believe I was going to be able to actually own it.” She followed him up the stairs.
    He pushed a key into the lock and swung open the door. “I used to live in this apartment. That’s why it’s furnished.”
    “Nice.” It definitely lacked a feminine touch, with the oversized furniture in three colors of leather and pictures hung way too high for any woman to have hung them, but overall it was comfortable and clean. The light coming through the long floor-to-ceiling windows was almost magical. The original glass panes made it seem to swim across the pine flooring.
    “Over here there’s an office, and . . . well, you can see the rest.”
    “I can.”
    Connor punched at his iPhone and then raised a finger as he spoke into the phone. “Hey, Jack, yeah, you still need someone to run down the police blotter stuff for the paper?” He nodded and gave her a wink. “Yeah, I’ve got someone that can help you out temporarily.”

    An hour later she had the key to her new apartment, had landed a job doing the police blotter, and had accepted an invitation to join Connor and his wife, Carolanne, the next day for some kind of Sunday cookout at the artisan center just outside of town.
    By the time Savannah got back down to Adams Grove Garage, Bobby had already locked up and headed out. She drove back to her temporary home and parked around back where Connor had told her. The back entrance looked bright and cheery, with planters of bright orange and yellow marigolds, just like the ones in the window boxes on the front. The flower boxes flanked a shiny burgundy door.
    With her laptop and the dry cleaner bag with her party dress in it over her shoulder, she rolled her suitcase over the threshold toward the stairwell. The narrow staircase to the second floor was pretty steep, so rather than risk a tumble, she dragged the suitcase, clunking it on each stair tread, one at a time, as she made her way up.
    Connor hadn’t bothered to lock the door, but she tested her key once just to be sure. One quick twist and she was in the apartment. She hung the dress she’d spent weeks picking out for the wedding in the oversized armoire in the bedroom, then unpacked her clothes. The kitchen was twice as big as her one at home, and all the appliances she’d need for her stay looked to be there. Rather than set up her computer in the office space, she set it on the antique table near the window. The light was much better there.
    She pulled a notepad from her purse and made a quick list of the facts she knew to get started on the article. Scanning the list, she was impressed with just how much she already had. Now that she had the inside track and access to the police blotter, this assignment should be a breeze.
    Evelyn would be thrilled to hear the progress she’d made, and she was pretty happy with how things were going herself. Then again, if she made it sound like it was going too well, Evelyn might want the articles sooner. Maybe she’d wait and update her tomorrow.
    Right now it was still early enough to make it out to the Cody Tuggle concert, and that sounded like a great way to get her impromptu vacation under way.

    Scott