Suspicious Minds (Squeaky Clean Series, Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

regret.
    They all looked my way.
    "I've got to get showered," I explained. "Spent the afternoon under a house with a dead body. A non-living body, you might say. I'll chat with you later"
    Before they responded, I slipped inside and shut the door. Sometimes I liked working with the dead more than I liked listening to the living.

     

PAGAN. HEATHEN. Agnostic. Unbeliever.
    Surprisingly, I could handle those terms. But non-Christian? The word made the skin on my neck crawl. I guess if people were going to label me, a few more titles could be thrown into the mix.
    Non-Rotarian. Non-Chinese. Non-space alien. Non-senior adult.
    "Can I take your order?"
    "Nonfat latte" The barista wrote my order on a paper cup, and I moved to sit down. My morning ritual was going in full swing. The routine wouldn't be the same without a visit to the coffeehouse.
    Non-senator. Non-Olympian. Non-vegetarian.
    Randy's comment still lingered in my mind. And bothered me. A lot.
    I mean, why would you label someone for what they're not? I worked stinkin' hard to become what I am. A student. The owner of my own business. A fan of musicals. Someone who could annoyingly quote the lyrics to more than one thousand songs of all styles and generations. A girl in the running to have the most extensive T-shirt collection in the Mid-Atlantic region. And an avid lover of flip-flops.
    For that matter, maybe I'd start labeling Christians for what they weren't.
    "Hi, Gabby."
    Riley. This was his morning ritual, also. I forced a smile, wondering why I felt hostile toward him. He hadn't labeled me. Not directly, at least. Who knew what he said around his church friends?
    "Hi, non-heathen. How are you today?"
    His eyebrow shot up as he pulled out the chair across from me. "What?"
    "Never mind. Just feeling a little sassy today."

    "Today?" He sat down and gave me his full attention. I loved that about him. "What's on your mind?"
    I sighed, never one to mince words. "Your pastor really bugged me yesterday"
    "I wondered if he did."
    "I just thought he was rude"
    "He was"
    "I mean, he was talking about me-the non-Christian-like I wasn't even there"
    "I know."
    I paused. "You do?"
    "He didn't mean any harm. He just wasn't thinking. But that's definitely not the way that we're going to win the lost-"
    I leaned closer. "To what?"
    "To reach the unsaved-" He shook his head. "I'm falling all over my words, Gabby. What I'm trying to say is that we want people who don't know Christ to come to know Him. It's easy to get caught up in the jargon."
    "I can see that"
    "The last thing I intended was to offend you. I know I've done enough of that in the past"
    "It's true" I saw Riley's lips twitch at the harsh honesty of my agreement, and I smiled. "You have to admit, I don't have all the virtues of those in `the Lord's army, but at least I'm truthful."
    "I'll give you that one, Gabby. And I'd never want to change it"
    Why did he have to say sweet things like that? Didn't he know how his compliments tortured me?
    My cell phone rang, a digital rendition of the song "Love Shack" by the B-52's. I smiled each time I heard the tune. "Excuse me" I grabbed it from my purse and answered. "Trauma Care."
    "Gabby, this is Detective Adams. Do you have a minute?"
    "For you? Any time" Really, I wasn't a suck-up or anything.
    "Listen, I need you to do something for me. It involves the body you found yesterday. Think you might be game?"
    "Is Elvis the King of Rock 'n' Roll?"
    "I'll take that as a yes. This is what I need you to do. . An hour later, I'd changed into some respectable black pants and a fitted red shirt. Yes, it's true. I might be the only redhead who actually likes to wear the color of love. I pulled up to the house where Elvis's widow lived. Okay, his name was actually Darnell Evans, but calling him Elvis was much more fun.

    The house was average, a brick ranch in a fairly well-kept neighborhood about twenty minutes from Ghent. The yard could have used a little maintenance, but compared