Good, Clean Murder by Traci Tyne Hilton Read Free Book Online Page A

as he went.
    Jane turned away
again. She absolutely did not want to be Jake’s live-in maid.
     
     

Class time came as
a relief after the long day. The musty basement with the flickering fluorescent
lights felt like a retreat. Jane sat at her desk next to Sarah. Getting to the
end of Jake’s laundry and the rest of the cleaning had taken her to the last
minute. She hadn’t had time to run home and change much less get to the laundry
mat to do her own clothes. She smelled like a combination of fresh baked
cookies, lemon pledge, and hard work, but hoped her friend wouldn’t notice. She
thanked the Lord that books for her class hadn’t come in yet, since she still
didn’t have money to buy them, much less time to read them.
    Jane typed
furiously as Mr. Daniels lectured. Her hand cramped as she hit the keys, but
attempting to get down everything she heard helped her stay awake.
    Night class. Jane
yawned. She looked at her computer screen. The words “let’s take five” were in
front of her blinking cursor. She smiled at them. It was a good thing she was
taking notes, since she was clearly not paying attention.
    “Earth to Jane.”
Sarah waved her hands in front of Jane’s screen. “Want to run out to the cart
and get a coffee?”
    “Not if I want to
be at work on time tomorrow.”
    “You don’t look
like you could even remember where you are going tomorrow.”
    “I’ll remember in
the morning.” Jane rested her head on her fist. “It’s been a trying week.”
    “Want to go out
after class then? You seem like you need some kind of break.”
    “Don’t you all
have curfew?”
    Sarah smiled and
opened her fist. She held a big silver key. “What’s curfew when you have a
key?”
    Jane rolled her
eyes. “I know it’s no fun to be stuck in your dorm at ten every night but…how
do I say this…” Jane looked around the room full of almost-adults. “You all
live in Honeywell. What on earth would you do here after ten anyway?”
    “Drive to town, of
course. Are you in?”
    Jane sucked on her
bottom lip, a laugh bubbling up inside her. “Let me guess, I get to drive.”
    Sarah grinned.
“Well, you know. Eddie is the only one with a car and he’s not likely to sneak
out after curfew, is he?”
    Jane spied out
Eddie. His head was in his Bible. “No, he’s not likely.”
    Jane toyed with
the idea. Cram her Rabbit full of repressed eighteen-year-olds for a night on
the “town” or go home and sleep?
    Before she could
voice her opinion, Isaac Daniels caught her eye. He smiled and crossed the room
to join them.
    “How did it go
this week?” His voice was low and he sat with his back to Sarah.
    Jane could feel a
blush coming on. She was not even remotely interested in sneaking Sarah and her
friends off campus. “I don’t know, really. There isn’t much family around to
minister to.”
    “It’s early days.
Have patience. Sometimes the small stuff, done faithfully, makes a bigger
impression anyway.”
    “That’s what it
comes to. My only trouble now is they don’t want to pay me until the estate is
settled, but I need the income.”
    Isaac frowned, his
brows pulling together. “Can they do that?”
    “Anyone can do
anything, I guess. I need to figure out who is in charge of the estate and
discuss it properly. Someone assumed I had some kind of auto-pay, but it has
always been cash. I have to sort out that misunderstanding first thing. Well, I
need to get another client or two first thing.” Jane rubbed her pencil’s eraser
on her desk, making a small square with the pink rubber. “Or sort out the issue
with Marjory first. Or do them both at the same time. Right? The best way to
handle a problem is to be unfocused and distracted.”
    Isaac choked on a
laugh. “Sorry. I shouldn’t laugh, but I get it. Talk after class?”
    She looked up from
the eraser doodle. He watched her with big, sympathetic hazel eyes, but the
corner of his mouth was turned up in a smile.
    “Maybe we can
brainstorm a