Back in Black (McGinnis Investigations #1) - Rhys Ford Page 0,10

someone else take the occasional hit.

Judging by the contemplative expression on Claudia’s face, I was about to take one helluva hit.

I just didn’t know when.

My neighborhood in Brentwood wasn’t filled with châteaus, castles, and McMansions, but rather with vintage Craftsman- and Victorian-style buildings. The homes here were large, some nearly big enough to serve as small hotels, except zoning regulations frowned on that kind of thing. I’d barely gotten permission from the city to run my business out of the bottom front of my restored Craftsman, but since a few people had already converted smaller carriage houses across the street from me to a coffee shop run by hippies and a couple of other storefronts, I’d been able to leverage my way in. There were other little cottage industries half a block down the street from us, including a pizza parlor with pies so delectable angels wept every time one was pulled out of the oven.

Sipping my coffee, I stared out of the large wooden-sash windows looking out onto the street and watched the odd foot traffic flow in and out of the tree-hugging, otter-scrubber coffee shop that had once been the bane of my existence. Its owners and I had come to an agreement. They would make sure their customers didn’t dump their trash onto my lawn or piss in the hedges along the side of my property, and I wouldn’t shoot the next person I found watering the stunted bush at the front of my house. It already suffered from almost being blown up and had become almost a pet of mine. I’d fought hard for it to survive and didn’t appreciate the golden showers it occasionally had to suffer through. I didn’t care if the coffee shop was pretty much an illegal pot dispensary or that they committed an act against all humanity by serving a rock-hard vegan carrot cake I could’ve used to build a brick wall, but disrespecting my poor blast-victim bush had been my breaking point.

The coffee shop settled down into the neighborhood, its customers skewing as much soccer mom as Coachella attendees. Floridly painted Schwinn bicycles were now kept company by strollers large enough to transport a baby yak, and the outside patio usually sported a healthy canine population—one that was sometimes gifted with the angelic presence of Honey and her favorite caretaker, Jae. She’d been Rick’s dog and subsequently dumped by his family, but she did remember me when I came to get her. While she adored me, she fell in love with Jae, and I didn’t blame her one bit.

I was about to head across the street to grab some of the dog biscuits the coffee shop bakers whipped up for their canine customers when Claudia cleared her throat.

I sat my ass back in my chair before it rose more than two inches off its padded cushion. Judgment Day was coming, and I was going to have a front-row seat.

“Seems to me that getting involved in that woman’s death is only going to give you a headache. Probably the stupidest things you’ve ever considered doing, and boy, you don’t need me to tell you how many really stupid things you’ve already gotten into so far in your life.” Claudia’s rich voice was soft, but its steely point was made. “It’s been a long time since you ended up getting shot at, and I don’t know if my blood pressure can take sitting vigil for you at the hospital chapel again.”

“Actually I got shot at last night.” There were times when I swear to God, my mouth was installed by a pack of demons, because I never seem to be able to swallow words that would get me into trouble. If I thought the look Claudia gave me earlier was glaring, the one she gave me now was hot enough to cook my skin off my flesh.

“Best start talking, boy,” she murmured.

It was a gentle, sweet rejoinder, but I’m sure many a child riding her bus over the years pissed in their pants when they heard her say it. The only thing more terrifying would have been if she pulled the bus over to the side of the road, turned around in her seat, and said it. Since the office wasn’t moving and she was already facing me, I was probably experiencing a nightmare more than a few full-grown adults still dreamed about, even after leaving Claudia’s bus for the very last time.

She was a large woman, built to have large children,