Page 67 of Burning for Alexander
“Thanks for coming. I’m sure it’s fine, but I didn’t want to be alone in case it wasn’t,” he said.
Alex moved closer and stood next to him, placing a hand on Karim’s shoulder. “Of course. It’s no problem. More problems with your neighbor?”
Sue’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, so you’ve been complaining about me to other people? Sounds about right. Maybe I’m the one you’re planning on using the lye on!”
I could tell Karim was considering agreeing out of frustration, but I didn’t want the words out there. “Hey, everyone needs to take a breath and calm down. Karim, you and Alex can stand over there,” I said, indicating one side of the driveway. “And Sue, if you don’t mind standing over there, that would be great.”
I met Lieutenant Pope’s eyes and tilted my head toward one side of the garage so we could split the work.
Pope headed to the side that was the more obvious fire hazard. “Sir, right off, I can see empty cardboard boxes stored near a space heater.”
Sue’s eyes widened. “That’s… that’s not… those are mine! And those boxes are going to the dump next week. Look over there. Those barrels and cans.” She pointed to the tidy side, where there wasa clear workbench with various cans and barrels stored underneath. Each was clearly labeled.
I squatted to look through them. Sure enough, there was a giant barrel of lye. There were also chromatic oxides, argan oil, and essential oils such as clary sage and neroli.
I peered up at Karim. “You make soap?”
His face broke out into a huge grin. “Yeah. And I sell it at the farmer’s market. Me and Tavo share a table. How’d you know?”
“It smells amazing in here,” I said with a grin. “And I recognize the silicone molds on the shelf above your workbench.”
Karim’s body seemed to relax even more as he grinned back. “Legacy Lather dot com. I make a Himalayan cedarwood scent that you might like. Check it out.”
Alex let out a huff of laughter. “I actually think he likes the white champaca,” he murmured softly enough that only I could hear it.
Memories of sniffing up the column of his neck to the spot behind his ear that always smelled sweetest, of running my nose up the back of his leg as I dropped kisses everywhere, came flooding into my head.
I cleared my throat and tried to focus. “Okay, well… I should… Do you mind if I peek inside to make sure the contents match the label?”
Karim shook his head. As I began checking, I could hear Lieutenant Pope lecturing Sue on half-empty gas cans, rusted paint tins, and various other dangerous items on her side of the garage.
When all was said and done, I found no violations on Karim’s side and wrote out several items in a written warning on Sue’s side.
“I have to send a copy of this to the homeowner as well,” I explained. Their landlord turned out to be Hazel Marian, who owned several rental properties around town. Instead of beingthere to watch over his cousin’s property, Alex had come to provide support to his friend and employee.
Once again, Alex Marian proved himself to be one of the good ones. And it only made me fall harder for him.
“Thank you both for your cooperation,” I said to Karim and Sue. “Hopefully, you’ll sleep easier knowing you’re plenty safe.”
Karim scoffed but didn’t say anything. I didn’t blame him.
It was awkward leaving Alex without being able to say anything to him or acknowledge him as anything other than Karim’s friend.
“Marian,” I said gruffly, throwing him a nod.
“Chief.” His eyes followed me as I trailed Pope back to the truck.
On the drive back to the station, Pope said, “I feel stupid. I knew Karim made soap, I just didn’t put two and two together because I didn’t know what was used in making it.”
I shrugged. “Not sure Sue would have been okay with us taking those cans at face value anyway. He was generous to let us inspect without giving us a hard time.”
Pope’s voice softened. “He’s a nice man. You should see his table at the market. He also has these lavender sleep masks that smell amazing. I didn’t see their backyard, but I wonder if he grows his own lavender for them.”
I glanced over at my second-in-command and noticed her slight blush. “Maybe I’ll check it out. They doing it this weekend?”
She nodded. “It’s the last one for the season, so it’ll be big. And there will be a ton of pumpkins and gourds, things like that. Stu Old-Chief makes Bapa Wohanpi with timpsila, and Beth Bower sells pumpkin muffins. Both are not to be missed.”
Which was how I found myself at the final farmer’s market of the year, browsing Karim’s soap selection, when the kid fromAlex’s apartment—a subject that had been clearly off-limits the entire time we’d been hooking up—got into trouble.
