The Voyeur Next Door Read Online Free Page B

someone to throw the fucking ball already.
    Nothing happened. The lights remained off. Stillness continued.
    My gaze narrowed as I straightened. “All right,” I mumbled to the silence. “You win this round, but tomorrow…”
    I let my promise linger into the night as I stepped back into my apartment.

Chapter Two
     
    Gabriel
     
    People were idiots. People on Tuesdays somehow managed to be worse. It was astounding, the number of morons that went through life every day without managing to get themselves killed. Unfortunately for me, they were the ones that always found their way into my shop at the butt crack of dawn, rambling on about things that made my eye twitch and my brain hurt. I’m a mechanic. I don’t give a shit about your rat-looking purse dog’s appointment to the vet to get his anal glands squeezed. It’s not my problem that you waited until Tuesday to get your damn car fixed, or that it overlaps with your rat’s appointment. My job is to make sure your car doesn’t explode one day and kill innocent bystanders. That’s it.
    “Ma’am.” The sheer force of my restraint creaked through the clenched lines of my jaw. “Your car will be ready, when it’s ready.”
    Even with dark glasses that resembled insect eyes, I could feel the wrath of her squinting. Her little purse dog yipped like a mindless little rodent against her side. I wasn’t sure who I wanted to boot physically out the door more.
    “How do you not know?”
    The woman had this voice that was a mix between a chirpy bird and a spoiled little girl. It was giving me a migraine.
    “Simple. You don’t have an appointment, which means I have two other cars before yours. Second, I have to see what’s wrong with it. Third, I might need to order parts to fix whatever’s wrong with it. Fourth, I have to install it. All of those things take time and my crystal ball is at the shop.”
    Over injected lips pursed. “You were recommended,” she stated, like that was somehow my fault. “By a very dear friend whose opinion I value, so I’m going to let your attitude slide. But maybe in the future, if you want to keep customers happy, you might not want be so rude.”
    Her stupid little dog gave a yip of confirmation as its owner swirled on her neon pink pumps and flounced through the maze of machines towards the bay doors. I watched her walk away, part of me wondering if I would get karma points taken away, or added, if I killed her.
    “Still nothing?”
    Grandpa Earl scuffled up next to my hip, his brown eyes fixed on the bright stain of sunshine spilling through the open doors.
    I knew what, or rather, whom he was waiting for and my irritation level spiked.
    “She’s not coming,” I muttered. “I told you that.”
    “She could have changed her mind,” Earl grumbled. “And it’s your fault if she doesn’t come.”
    I didn’t have time for that. I had two cars up on their lifts and another waiting to get looked at, plus about two tons of paperwork that needed filing and an apartment that needed unpacking. My grandpa’s latest crush was the least of my concerns.
    “Why are you here?” I asked.
    “Ali,” was Earl’s response.
    I walked away.
    Nope. No patience at all.
    Fuck Tuesdays.
    “Want me to call Lloyd in?”
    Across the garage, wiping the grease off a lug nut, Mac stared back at me with squinty, brown eyes.
    I shook my head. “No, it’s only three cars. We can do it. How are you coming along on that jeep?”
    Mac shrugged bony shoulders. “All right. Just finished rotating the tires. Going to check the fuel and I’ll be done.”
    “Then you take rat lady’s Porsche,” I decided, jerking a thumb over my shoulder to where the shiny, red convertible sat roasting in the sun. “I’ll finish the truck.”
    Mac gave me the thumbs up and went back to screwing the bolts into the jeep.
    The truck needed more work. It was a full day job and those were the kind I liked. Minor fixes throughout the day got exhausting. But I