While You Were Sweeping

by Christy Barritt

  WHILE YOU WERE

  SWEEPING

  A Riley Thomas Novella

  By Christy Barritt

  While You Were Sweeping: A Novella

  Copyright 2015 by Christy Barritt

  Published by River Heights Press

  Cover design by The Killion Group

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  The persons and events portrayed in this work are the creation of the author, and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Other Books by Christy Barritt

  Squeaky Clean Mysteries:

  #1 Hazardous Duty

  #2 Suspicious Minds

  #2.5 It Came Upon a Midnight Crime

  #3 Organized Grime

  #4 Dirty Deeds

  #5 The Scum of All Fears

  #6 To Love, Honor, and Perish

  #7 Mucky Streak

  #8 Foul Play

  #9 Broom and Gloom

  #10 Dust and Obey (coming in 2015)

  The Sierra Files

  #1 Pounced

  #2 Hunted

  #2.5 Pranced (a Christmas novella)

  #3 Rattled (coming in 2015)

  The Gabby St. Claire Diaries (a tween mystery series)

  #1 The Curtain Call Caper

  #2 The Disappearing Dog Dilemma

  #3 The Bungled Bike Burglaries

  Holly Anna Paladin Mysteries

  #1 Random Acts of Murder

  #2 Random Acts of Malice (coming in 2015)

  Carolina Moon series

  #1 Home Before Dark

  #2 Gone by Dark (coming in 2015)

  Suburban Sleuth Mysteries:

  #1 Death of the Couch Potato’s Wife

  Romantic Suspense:

  Keeping Guard

  The Last Target

  Race Against Time

  Ricochet

  Key Witness

  Lifeline

  High-Stakes Holiday Reunion

  Desperate Measures

  Hidden Agenda (coming in March 2015)

  Romantic Mystery:

  The Good Girl

  Suspense:

  The Trouble with Perfect

  Dubiosity

  Nonfiction:

  Changed: True Stories of Finding God through Christian Music

  The Novel in Me: The Beginner’s Guide to Writing and Publishing a Novel

  A special thank you to all my Squeaky Clean readers who’ve lived this series with me. I hope you enjoy this story from Riley’s perspective. I can’t wait to see what the future holds!

  Note: For those following the Squeaky Clean series, this book takes place between Mucky Streak and Foul Play.

  CHAPTER 1

  Riley Thomas stared at the phone in his hands, re-reading the message he’d typed there. As his finger hovered over the SEND button, his heart lurched at the impact of each word.

  He squeezed his eyes shut.

  What he’d written was raw and honest. He’d poured out his heart in those words.

  Which meant he probably shouldn’t let this note go any farther.

  With a weight pressing on his shoulders, he finally wedged his eyes open and hit DELETE. He couldn’t let himself be this truthful. It was in his own best interest to have this conversation, but he’d turn the life of the person receiving it upside down. He needed to get that through his thick skull.

  He stood from the bench overlooking the lake behind his parents’ house and shoved the phone into the back pocket of his jeans. With tension still tight across his shoulders, he jammed his hands into the pockets of his leather coat to ward away the nippy air. The wind was brisk and unseasonably chilly thanks to a cold snap in the area.

  With one more melancholy sigh, he began trudging back toward his parents’ place. It had been a long day, filled with grueling therapy and a dependence on his loved ones that he’d prefer not be there, especially at his age. It was just after five o’clock, and the sun was already setting, casting orange hues across the lake that made everything seem warmer than it actually was.

  As he stepped around a bend of trees, a sound cracked through the air.

  Riley instinctively ducked behind a tree, his heart stammering out of control.

  Was that a . . . gunshot?

  Something tried to flash into his mind: images, memories that were long forgotten and buried. They lingered beneath the surface, fighting against his other thoughts, against his survival instincts, clawing their way from the deep recesses of his brain and trying to emerge. He leaned against the tree, trying to keep his balance as his head swam with repressed memories.

  Was his mind playing tricks on him? Or had that actually been the sound of a gun discharging?

  Get a grip, Riley. Think. Calm down.

  He sucked in a deep breath, trying to bring his racing heart under control.

  Maybe what all of his therapists had told him was true. He wasn’t ready to go out on his own yet. He tried to argue that everyone needed to stop treating him like a child, but now their advice seemed spot-on. His mind spun, his hands trembled, and his whole world tilted off kilter.

  He slowly peered around the tree. Certainly the sound was just a car backfiring. That’s what it had to be.

  Or maybe it was a firecracker. Today was Saturday. Maybe some kids had been left home unsupervised and had decided to get rowdy.

  But Riley’s body wouldn’t relax, wouldn’t accept his reasoning.

  Movement in the distance caught his eye. His neighbor, Mr. Parksley, emerged from the back door of his massive house. The trim older gentleman paused and looked around as if to make sure the coast was clear. Then he continued outside, dragging something behind him.

  A rolled up carpet or rug.

  An especially heavy carpet or rug.

  Riley’s throat tightened as he leaned into the rough bark of the pine tree.

  Had Mr. Parksley shot someone and wrapped the body in the rug to dispose of it? The thought seemed ludicrous. Maybe Riley’s brain was playing tricks on him. Maybe memories wanted to surface, and he was seeing things that weren’t there, that hadn’t happened.

  Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. That’s what the doctors called it. Riley felt like he’d lived with it forever, when in reality it wasn’t even six months.

  One moment had turned his life upside down.

  Mr. Parksley continued dragging the burgundy and beige carpet toward his truck. As he paused and looked around again, Riley scooted farther behind the tree. His heart still raced out of control as he considered the possibilities.

  The fact that Mr. Parksley kept looking around was a sign that something wasn’t right. If he were just a man taking his rug to be professionally cleaned, he wouldn’t act so suspiciously. Besides, people in this area hired others to do this kind of work for them. Especially people like Mr. Parksley. The man had the largest house in the community and more property than anyone else in the neighborhood.

  With a grunt, Mr. Parksley heaved the rug into the back of his truck. Several tries later, he managed to get the entire thing inside.

  With one more survey of the area, his neighbor slammed the back of the truck closed, climbed inside the cab, and took off down the road.

  Riley closed his eyes. What had just happened?

  CHAPTER 2

  After Mr. Parksley pulled away in his truck, Riley crept closer to the man’s house. He had to know if he was going crazy or if something potentially deadly had really just happened. His sanity depended on it.

  Dry autumn leaves crackled under his feet as he moved, the sound a sure giveaway of his presence to anyone who mig
ht be nearby. No one was around to hear except the squirrels and birds. Other neighbors were smartly inside their homes on this cold winter day.

  Mr. Parksley’s sprawling ranch-style house looked eerily still and without life. The lights were out, which led Riley to believe no one was home. As far as Riley knew, only Mr. Parksley and his wife lived there.

  A worse thought occurred—what if his wife was dead? What if Mrs. Parksley had been rolled up in that rug?

  The thought caused Riley’s muscles to tremble, made his subconscious try to relive the day he’d almost lost his own life. He tried to push away the thoughts, to move forward as if the incident didn’t affect him. He wasn’t fooling anyone, though, not even himself. The incident hounded him now, trying to latch onto him. With every labored breath, Riley battled the flashes of panic.

  His heart raced with every step closer he took. With one more glance around to make sure Mr. Parksley was nowhere in sight, Riley paused by the spot where the truck had been.

  There, in a pile of leaves, was a brown shoe. It blended right in with the dry, crispy foliage on the ground, but it was definitely a shoe.

  Riley squatted closer. Size eleven. Three inch brown heel. Jimmy Choo. It looked new.

  He squinted, looking more closely. Was that a drop of blood on the top of it?

  Riley pulled his phone out and took a picture. The shoe might not be significant, but he felt unusually compelled to capture the image. Staying focused helped to keep him grounded.

  With the sun now below the horizon and grayness replacing the glowing orange, Riley crept closer to the house. He wasn’t sure what had gotten into him. He wasn’t usually the nosy type. But something about this whole scenario had gripped him and wouldn’t let go.

  With a touch of trepidation, he climbed onto the deck and approached the sweeping back windows of the home. Crouching down, he cupped his hands around his eyes and peered through the glass. Through the dim light, he saw a living room with high ceilings and neat furniture. Nothing looked out of the ordinary or indicated anything was wrong.

  Riley continued along the perimeter, scanning the inside of the home as he reached each window. Maybe this was all a misunderstanding. He could have misinterpreted what he’d seen and heard. Maybe that hadn’t been a gunshot, and instead his brain was going bonkers again.

  Remaining low and hunched, he passed a breakfast area and reached what appeared to be the kitchen. He caught a glimpse of white cabinets decorated with roosters and placards saying things like, “Home Sweet Home” and “Love Makes a House a Home” above them. A large table blocked the rest of the view of the room, though.

  He hopped over the deck railing and landed with a thud on the ground. He just needed a different angle. Balancing carefully on a wheelbarrow parked beside the brick veneer, Riley boosted himself up higher, daring to get one last peek inside.

  This will put my mind at ease and confirm that something happened. Or it will prove that I have more issues going on in my brain than I care to admit. Neither possibility was comforting.

  As his gaze skimmed over a kitchen island, his heart nearly lurched to a stop.

  Blood pooled on the creamy kitchen tiles. Drag marks streaked outward from the puddle toward the back door.

  The truth clutched at Riley, trying to take root.

  Something had happened here.

  Someone had been murdered.

  CHAPTER 3

  Riley’s breaths came faster now, shallower. Panic pulsed at his nerves, wanting to claim his entire body. He knew he didn’t have much time before his brain would be totally awash with something he couldn’t control. He couldn’t let that happen.

  His hands shook out of control as he pulled out his phone. He had to call the police and tell them what happened.

  He hit the wrong button, though, and instead of a keypad, an old photo appeared on the screen. A picture of him with his ex-fiancée, Gabby.

  As soon as Riley saw her face, he sucked in a quick breath. Memories flooded him. It was more than memories, though—it was grief. Grief over what could have been. Grief over the fact that he should be married now. That he should be happy.

  The phone slipped and landed on the grass below him.

  Riley jumped from the wheelbarrow to retrieve it, scolding himself for becoming distracted.

  Just as his fingers gripped the phone, a vehicle rumbled down the lane.

  Mr. Parksley was back, he realized.

  Before he could be discovered, Riley shoved the phone in his pocket and ran toward the woods. He’d call the police at home.

  Otherwise, he might be the next victim . . . again.

  ***

  Riley staggered through the back door of his house, barely able to get a deep breath. His mind—his body—still reeled.

  His mom jetted from the armchair where she was reading and rushed toward him. “Riley, what’s wrong? What happened? Are you okay?”

  He leaned against the couch, trying to catch his breath and gather his thoughts, fighting desperately to remain in control. He had to keep it together.

  His mom laid a hand on his shoulder, that same look of concern ever-present in her gaze. It had been there for the past several months, a constant reminder of what his family had been through.

  “Mr. Parksley murdered someone,” Riley finally said, his voice tight, strained. He took deep breaths, trying to ward off another panic attack. He couldn’t afford one right now.

  “What? Riley, you should sit down.” His mom tried to lead him to the couch.

  He pulled out of her grasp. “No, we need to call the police.”

  “You should calm down first, Riley.”

  “Every second we waste increases his chances of getting away with this!”

  She frowned and reached for the landline phone on the end table. “I need to call your father . . . .”

  “Mom—” Riley started. But as he said the word, pain jolted through his head.

  He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to be stronger than the broken state of his body. It was useless. All he could do was press his hands against his temples and pray that the discomfort would subside.

  Colors flashed through his mind. Blurred streaks with no discernable pictures claimed him. Each one felt like a blow and took his breath away.

  Scum’s face appeared in his mind, as sharp and vivid as if the man were in front of him. Scum was a notorious serial killer who’d tried to murder Riley as revenge for putting him in jail years earlier. The man had turned Riley’s life upside down. Even though the man was dead, Riley feared part of Scum would always be with him.

  He was the one who’d done this to Riley, who’d put a bullet through his head, one that was intended to be lethal.

  At the thought, a moan escaped from him.

  Then everything went black.

  CHAPTER 4

  Riley felt the leather beneath his fingers. Felt his heart beating out of control. Sensed the danger that lurked close by.

  He jerked his eyes open, desperate to gather his bearings.

  Where was he?

  Had Scum gotten him again?

  Images of waking up in the hospital flashed back to him, causing his body to revolt in pain.

  Sweat covered his skin.

  Then he smelled his mom’s expensive perfume. Her face came into focus, and he noticed that her normally neat bobbed brown hair was tousled. Her eyes were lined with worry. Her knuckles were white as she wrung her hands together.

  He was at his parents’ house. He must have passed out.

  When had he laid down on the couch? How had he even gotten here? And the bigger question: Why were so many things out of his control?

  His dad peered at him, the grim lines on his face an unfortunate reminder of how tough reality could be sometimes. His dad had always been the strong one in the family. He was Vice President of a company that sold supplies to the Department of Defense. He had a tall, lean build, gray hair, and hazel eyes. People had told Riley that he was the spitting imag
e of him.

  His cousin Sophia, a nurse, stood in the background. She may have only been five feet tall and as skinny as she was petite, but the blonde had a heart of gold. She’d been a huge support to the family, explaining all of the medical terms to them and often driving Riley to therapy throughout all of this.

  How long had the episode lasted? Long enough for everyone to get here, Riley realized. What was that, an hour? Longer? Darkness peered in from the windows outside, signifying it was late.

  He tried to push himself up, but Sophia appeared beside him. “You should just lay down.”

  That’s when he remembered what had happened today. The gunshot. The body in the carpet. The blood.

  “The police—” he started, jolting upright again.

  Mistake. His head swam.

  His dad shook his head and nudged him back down. “You need to rest, son.”

  “Someone was shot—”

  Sophia squeezed his arm. “Riley, your brain is playing tricks on you. Repressed memories are trying to surface, and your reality is at odds with actual reality. This is perfectly normal for someone who’s been through everything you have.”

  “I know what I heard, what I saw!” Riley’s voice came out harsher than he intended. But he was so tired of people treating him like he was an infant. Yes, he’d been through something traumatic, but he wasn’t going crazy.

  His family exchanged looks with each other. And, again, Riley realized how little control he had of his life at the moment.

  How have I gone from a successful lawyer about to be married to the woman of my dreams to this?

  Why, God? Why?

  With new resolve, he pushed himself up. The world around him wobbled again, but he ignored it as he reached for his cell. “I’m calling the police.”

  “Wait! Riley . . .” his dad said.

  Riley paused with his fingers over the screen and stared at his father, waiting for what he’d say next.