Suede to Rest Read Online Free Page A

height as the guy in front of me and I looked him straight in the eyes. I kept my voice steady. I pointed over his shoulder to a gas station where a black-and-white police cruiser was parked. “Looks like there’s an on-call mechanic across the street. If it’s an emergency, they can probably accommodate you.”
    White T-shirt stepped back. He looked at his friend. “It can wait.”
    We stood face-to-face. The guy in the front stepped backward and the two of them started down the street. I waited out the better part of a minute before I stepped back and locked the door. It was then that I realized how hard my heart was pounding in my chest.
    â€œI asked you to watch the place, not lock the doors,” Charlie said behind me. She unlocked the door and poked her head out. I suspected the two guys were within her sight, but didn’t know for sure. She stood upright, then shut and relocked the door.
    â€œThey came here?”
    â€œThey said they had a job. I said you were closed and recommended the mechanic across the street.”
    She looked out the front door at the police cruiser parked in the gas station lot. “You told them to go there? That’s rich.”
    â€œWhy? Who were they?”
    â€œOur very own local bad boys, or at least that’s what they’d like you to think. They tend to fly under the radar with small stuff that nobody reports.”
    â€œLike tearing the wires out of my car?”
    â€œCould be. That’s their idea of fun.”
    â€œWhat did they want from you?”
    â€œI’ve got flies buzzing around me all the time. The more you swat ’em away, the more they keep coming back. Comes with the territory,” she said, tipping her head toward the interior of the auto shop.
    â€œIf your flyswatter doesn’t work, you can always get one of those electric bug zappers. Might leave more of an impression.”
    She studied me. “Polyester Monroe, you just got a whole lot more interesting. Follow me. Happy hour’s on. You have someplace to be? Need the number for a rental car company?”
    I looked across the street at Land of a Thousand Fabrics. When I left Los Angeles, I’d led my boyfriend Carson to believe I was coming to San Ladrón to sign paperwork to inherit the store, and then sign paperwork to give Ken power of attorney to sell it. But I hadn’t counted on how it felt to be inside the store after all these years. It might be nice to stick around, spend the night in the apartment over the store, and pretend my great-aunt and uncle were still alive.
    â€œYou said you can fix it tomorrow?”
    â€œI won’t know for sure until I look at it, but nothing’s going to happen tonight.”
    â€œThat’s fine. I think I’m going to spend the night in San Ladrón.”
    â€œGreat. Since you’re not going anywhere, you want to join me for a drink?”
    What the heck, I thought. It wasn’t like I had any other plans, And if a couple of local bad boys wanted to scare me into leaving, they were pretty dumb to tamper with my car.
    Charlie led the way past Antonio’s Ristorante, past two hair salons named after someone named Angie and someone named Susie, a dentist’s office, and a hardware store. The fabric store was across the street and I slowed my pace and stared at the front of it. It was flanked by antiques stores, both of which sported bright white trim and welcoming exteriors. Land of a Thousand Fabrics looked like the equivalent of the creepy house of the neighborhood that spawns stories to be told around a campfire.
    Charlie noticed that I wasn’t keeping pace. She retraced her steps until she was next to me and followed my stare. “I bet the inside is something else,” she said.
    â€œIt is.”
    â€œC’mon, you can tell me all about it.” She nudged me forward with her elbow and I dropped back in step.
    We crossed a side street and entered an