Snippet

In The Body in the Buick, Jazzi and Ansel work with Detective Gaff to help Jerod’s dad find out who murdered one of the mechanics who work at his car repair shop:

She glanced at her cousin, but he looked distracted.  Not like him.  He usually had laser focus when it came to building projects and listing the steps for each job.  She frowned.  “Is everything okay?”

Jerod blinked and glanced at Ben.  “Sorry.  I’m worried about Dad.  Before you came, I was telling Ben that he called me, upset.  Vince, a mechanic who’s worked for him for years, was cheating him, telling women things needed fixed on their cars that didn’t, then pocketing the money.  Dad found out this morning and had to fire him.”

“That had to be hard for him.”  Jazzi knew how close Eli was to his employees.  When he hired someone, they stayed with him.  He treated them well.

“Vince made it worse, demanded a good reference so he could find another job.  When Dad wouldn’t give him one, Vince went ballistic, told him he deserved better after all the years he’d worked for him.  But how could Dad say he was a good employee when he was stealing from him?”

Ansel pressed his lips in a tight line, and Jazzi knew he was thinking about his cousin and how he’d not only stolen from his own dad, but he’d killed two of his fellow workers to hide what he’d done. 

“Is your dad going to be okay?”  She was close to Jerod’s parents.  They let her and Ansel use their lake cottage for a vacation.  They came to Sunday meals every week. 

Jerod nodded.  “Franny and I are taking the kids over there for supper tonight to cheer him up.  He loves seeing Gunther, Lizzie, and Pete.”

Ben put a hand on Jerod’s shoulder.  “Good luck, man.  And thanks for meeting me today.  You could have called off.  I’d have understood.”

Jerod made himself grin.  “No problem.  We’ll get started on your barn and try not to crack any of the walls when we jack it up.  In the meantime, we have a plan.  Let’s take some measurements, have a lunch, and try to order everything we’re going to need to get started.”