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Shit.
“Well, I was already in Toledo.”
“Doing what?” Janine asks.
I frown. “Why are you checking on me?”
I’m suspended, aren’t I? It’s like I’m on a personal leave. I’m free to do what I want.
“What do you mean? I’m not just your boss. I’m your friend, too, remember?”
I doubt she’s calling me as a friend, though.
“I’m just trying to make sure you’re staying out of trouble,” she adds.
There’s the truth.
“I am,” I tell her.
I have been getting in trouble, but it has not been my fault. I didn’t ask for someone to shoot at me or come after me. Or to lock me in an office. Okay, fine. Maybe that was my fault.
“What are you doing in Toledo?” Janine asks me.
Of course she doesn’t believe me.
“Just trying a change of scenery,” I say.
“Right.”
Okay. That was a lousy excuse. I have to think of something better, and as I see Cain from the corner of my eye, an idea pops up.
“I was on a date,” I say. “Kip said I should date, so I went on Tinder…”
“You’re taking romantic advice from Kip?”
I ignore her. “And then I found this guy. I though he lived in DC but apparently he also has a place in Toledo and he was there and I said I’d fly out to meet him.”
“You flew out to go on a date with a guy you’ve never met before? A guy who could well be a criminal.”
I shrug. “I wanted to do something different, challenge myself in a different way.”
Janine sighs. “You’re just a sucker for challenges, aren’t you?”
“Anyway, he’s nice,” I tell her.
I glance at Cain, who is now putting his pants on. No underwear.
“Really nice.”
“I bet he is,” Janine says. “After all, he brought you to a really nice club.”
“Oh.” She knows about the club, too, huh? “Actually, it was my idea to go to that club. I insisted. I thought it would be fun, but I was grossly misinformed.”
“You wanted to have a date there?” Janine asks me.
“Yes. Worst decision of my life.”
“Well, that’s good. I mean it’s good that you were there on a date because when I first heard you were at that club, I thought there’s no way you’d be at a place like that unless you were investigating something. Or someone.”
Darn. I wish she didn’t know me so well.
“No, I wasn’t,” I lie. “And I’m never going there again, not after my date got into a fight with some creep who wanted to put his hands on me.”
I feel Cain’s gaze on me and when I look at him I see his puzzled expression. I shake my head to tell him not to mind me.
“I heard about that,” Janine says. “How’s your date?”
“Good.”
“Because that guy he fought, he’s got quite a record.”
My eyebrows furrow. “Really?”
Now I really want to talk to him.
“Even when you’re suspended, you just run into criminals, huh?” Janine remarks.
I shrug. “Like you said, I’m lucky.”
“Well, try to be less lucky,” she tells me. “And more careful.”
“I will,” I promise her.
“Now, go back to sleep. Or maybe not, if I woke up your date.”
My eyebrows arch. “My date isn’t – ”
“Bye,” Janine cuts me off.
The call ends. I let out a sigh as I lie back down.
Talk about a rude awakening.
“Date?” Cain asks me as he sits on the edge of the bed.
“Forget you heard anything I said,” I tell him with a wave of my hand.
“Who was that?” he asks.
“Just a friend,” I say.
I can’t very well tell him it’s my boss. Not after he heard almost the whole conversation. He still doesn’t know I’m suspended. What if he decides to stop working with me when he finds out?
“If you’re lying to her, the two of you can’t be very good friends,” Cain points out.
I frown. “I didn’t say we were good friends. And I wasn’t asking for your opinion.”
Cain nods. “Okay.”
I let out another sigh as I let my head sink into the pillow. I close my eyes, trying to get back to sleep just so I can wake up better. After just a few seconds, though, my phone rings again.
I groan. What is it today? Call Allie Day?
I lazily look at my phone. This time, Adam’s calling. I tap the screen and press the phone against my ear.
“You better have a good reason for waking me up,” I tell him.
Sorry, but I’m out of good mornings.
“Shouldn’t you have been up hours ago?” Adam asks me in a puzzled tone. “Don’t you have work today?”
Shit.
Let me rephrase that. Today isn’t Call Allie Day. Today is Try to Bust Allie Day.
“I do,” I tell him. “But I had a late night so I’m going in to the office late.”
“Okay.”
Thankfully, Adam isn’t as inquisitive as Grae.
“So what’s up?” I ask him.
“I just wanted to remind you that Mom’s birthday gala is this Friday,” Adam tells me.
