AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He clearly didn’t know her past. “Check out the lay of the land. ”
“Ding. I wasn’t planning on running into anybody. Where’s your car?”
“I don’t have one. I ride the bus. ”
“No shit. Is that one of those save-the-planet things, or I’m-too-poor-to-afford-it things?”
“Both. Mostly the latter, honestly. ” Sadly.
“Well, good for you, I guess. Bad for me, though. Tougher for me to get you out of here. ” Fideli fell silent, staring at her.
She felt compelled to say something. “What do you want? We don’t have a lot here that’s worth taking, if that’s what this is about. I mean, the furniture, maybe, but—”
“I’m not a thief. ”
“Well, there’s not a load of opportunity for industrial espionage in this business,” she said. It was a joke, but he didn’t smile. His eyes certainly didn’t. “What did you want in the prep room?” Preparation, Bryn remembered, too late. Fairview always wanted to be formal about it with the customers. Not that Mr. Fideli was shaping up to be a customer, after all.
“I’m supposed to find out if Mr. Fairview and Fast Freddy are running drugs,” he said. “Prescription drugs. Stolen. ”
“What? Of course not!”
“No offense, but you’re what, a day into this job? How would you know?”
“This is a successful business. Why would they do something so stupid?” Then again, she’d met Freddy. And she wouldn’t put anything past him. “Unless—maybe it’s not Mr. Fairview? Just Freddy?”
Fideli’s head came back upright, and there was a new tension in his body. “You know something about the guy?”
“Not that much. Just … he’s a creep. You know the type. ”
“Explain it to me. ”
“He came on to me. Downstairs. ”
“Romantic. ”
“Exactly. ” She cleared her throat. “Look, I’m not Wonder Woman—do you think you could put the gun down?”
“What?” He seemed genuinely surprised, and then smiled. “Yeah. I already went through the drawers of your desk. Just in case you had a thirty-eight-caliber surprise in there. So I guess you’re safe enough. ”
She was startled. “When did you do that?”
“While you were downstairs. ” His gaze shifted, and the easy friendliness disappeared instantly. “Hold up. Don’t move. ” She didn’t. He got up and went to the window, looking without moving the blinds. “You know of any reason why your boss and Freddy would come back here after hours tonight?”
“No. ”
“Well, they’re parking cars right now. ” Fideli backed up next to her, and the gun made an unpleasant reappearance. “Not a word, Miss Davis. ”
“You’re not going to kill me are you?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you’re the one with the gun?”
He looked at it. “This old thing? Family heirloom. I hardly ever shoot anybody with it. ” He was lying, but he was doing it with style and a sense of humor, and whether she wanted to or not, she felt a little bit better about being held hostage. “You’ll be quiet?”
“Absolutely. ”
He sent her a sassy wink, which wasn’t nearly as creepy as when Fast Freddy did it. “Good girl. ”
