#WeWriWa: - The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé: Life Was Good

 Welcome to the Weekend Writing Warriors. Thanks to everyone who stopped by last week. I apologize for the short comments on your posts last week and this week. One-handed typing is slow. Good thing the cast comes off on Monday.

I'm sharing another snippet from the 2nd Alex O'Hara mystery novel, The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé. Alex is a P.I. in the small Lake Michigan resort town near Grand Rapids. I skipped ahead a little. 

Some changes were made to the original.

Snippet:  

As was his custom in the afternoon, Pete set a cup of herbal tea in front of me. He claimed tea should only be drunk from a fine china cup—Grandma’s Royal Dalton—not a mug.. In the month he’d worked for me, I discovered Pete had an opinion on many things. I appreciated his efficiency, if not all his opinions. He did twice the work Susan had, and I never had to tell him anything more than once. From what I’d seen, he was very intelligent and probably could have worked anywhere. This guy was almost too good to be true.

After taking a sip, I sighed. I loved herbal teas and chai was my favorite. Pete seemed to know exactly what I needed and when I needed it. Today, I needed to relax.

 And for the rest of the scene:

 I’d been so uptight finishing the fraud case on time that I’d actually handed it in three days ahead of schedule. I even had time to begin work on Clyde Wilson, Maura Finley’s boyfriend.

I took another sip of tea. Yes, life was good.

My landline buzzed. “Ms. Finley is on line one,” Pete announced.

I must have conjured her up. “Ms. Finley, Alex—”

“What have you found out about Clyde?”

She was back from her trip or seminar or wherever she’d been. Obviously. And as demanding as she’d been before.

I opened the file on Clyde Wilson and flipped through my notes, ready to give her a brief run down.

“Although I have just begun—”

“What do you mean you’ve just begun? You’ve had my case for a month.”

“During which time I have been working on a previous case, which I explained when you hired me.”

“Yes, well.” She cleared her throat. “Tell me what you know.”

“I can assure you what he told you is correct. He’s forty-four, born in Flint. He owns a house in Royal Oak, as well as a condo in Traverse City. Wilson Industries has corporate offices in the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, with satellite offices in Dallas, Phoenix, and San Francisco.”

“I know all that. Haven’t you found out anything new?”

Patience, girl, I told myself. Patience. “Ms. Finley, in cases like this I never take anyone’s word for fact. You hired me to investigate. And that is what I do. The first thing I do is make sure what you’ve been told is true.”

“I see.” Her tone had gone from demanding to conciliatory. “You may continue.” Then back to executive mode.

I hung on to my Irish temper. Barely. “He did indeed graduate from Wayne State University. My next step is contacting the Wharton School of Business.”

“Good, good.” After a brief pause, she said, “I would appreciate it if you would make my case your highest priority. I will double your normal rate to expedite the investigation. Thank you for your time.” She hung up before I could respond.

Her urgency made me wonder what was going on. Was the man she met on a cruise pressuring her? 

 Blurb:

She’s at it again. Alex O’Hara just can’t say no to a new investigation. What do a 45-year-old boyfriend, a deadbeat dad, and a teenage runaway have in common? All new cases. With no receptionist, phone and internet problems, and her own boyfriend in the wind, Alex has no idea how she’ll manage. But the question for the past three months is why did Nick disappear. Is this the end of O’Hara & Palzetti? 

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ B&N ~ Smashwords

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay safe and have a great week!