Neighborhood Watch by Sarah Reida

Author:Sarah Reida [Sarah Reida]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Amateur Sleuth, Humorous, Black Humor, Women Sleuths, Humor, General
ISBN: 9781684429646
Google: -pLuEAAAQBAJ
Amazon: 1684429641
Publisher: Keylight Books
Published: 2024-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

TRIPP

Tripp’s been in a foul mood all day. It was one of those days where nothing went right, beginning with waking up twenty minutes late because he’d inadvertently set the alarm on his phone for Thursday morning instead of Friday. Tripp is calmed by order, routine, and it irritated him to no end that his shower was cut from twelve minutes to six, that he had no time to linger over his tea while listening to exactly fifteen minutes of his current podcast.

Then, because of an accident on GA-400, he’d crawled—when he was able to move at all—to his office, only to find that his computer had crashed during the night and wasn’t available for immediate use. Tripp had organized his physical files while Dan from IT fiddled with his computer, clicking and typing until he’d announced it was “all ready to go.”

At the end of the day, another accident makes the drive home unpleasant as well. By the time Tripp pulls into Oleander Court, his hands ache from gripping the steering wheel and a headache throbs at his temples.

As Tripp coasts along his street, slowing at the speed bump, he notes Officer Moskowitz’s squad car parked next to the Willis home. Again.

Tripp breathes out shakily, anger rising in his chest. He’s a taxpayer. A city councilman. And yet he’s forced to live in a neighborhood where there hasn’t been a single arrest following a string of murders. What are the police doing with their time? Racking up speeding tickets so they can upgrade their facilities?

Meanwhile, while trapped in traffic on the interstate, Tripp had refreshed his home’s listing on Zillow. His eyes bugged out of his head when he saw the new Zestimate. Down thirty thousand dollars. Finally, the notoriety of the neighborhood was costing him, literally.

Who knew what the value would be if the killer was never caught? That seemed likely, considering the lack of headway the police were making. Especially considering the information Tripp had recently procured from inside sources.

But, wait—what’s going on? As his eyes flick toward the Willis house, the door opens and out comes Ray, flanked by Officer Moskowitz and that tall African-American officer. As he turns down his cul-de-sac, Tripp slows to watch them in the rearview mirror.

To his surprise—even though he’s been waiting for a moment like it for months—Ray walks to the squad car and gets in the back. Ray Willis is getting arrested. Holy shit. Tripp jabs at the garage door opener, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

“Sandy!” he bellows as he bursts through the kitchen door. “Sandy!”

Sandy drifts in from the beige living room. “Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes,” she says, her voice low.

“I don’t care about dinner,” Tripp says. “Ray Willis got arrested!”

“Oh?” Sandy reacts as if Tripp had reported the weather. “Are you sure?”

“I saw her getting into a squad car.”

“Wow. Well, that’s something.” Tripp waits for her to say something else—anything of substance, anything at all. As always, Sandy has nothing to contribute to the conversation.

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