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“Fine, but only for a minute,” he tells her. “And don’t snitch on me, okay? My dad’ll kill me if he finds out I let you back here.”
“Howisyour dad?” Billi asks with the kind of enthusiastic interest that undoubtedly makes the kid hopeful. “Probably so relieved to have you helping him out here since he’s the hospital director and all. You must be very talented for him to entrust the job to you.”
Good God. Is anyone in this town honest?
“He’s great, Miss Billi. He lets me work here after school most days, and the best thing about it is I can sit back here and read comic books since hardly anyone ever shows up. Except you, of course. I’m real glad you showed up.”
She smiles that megawatt smile again. “I’m glad too. And just between us, I might need to come back here again soon since it’s almost the anniversary of the fire and all. We want to make sure we do the memorial service justice, don’t we?”
He grins back at her. “We sure do.”
“Just let me know when you’re working, and I’ll try to stop by then, okay?” Billi adds.
I nearly choke on the thick layer of charm she’s spreading on, but the kid just eats it up like a lap dog wanting to be petted. What a chump. I pause to study her. Sheiskidding, right?
When Billi turns to follow the kid and winks at me over her shoulder, I breathe an irrational sigh of relief, annoyed with myself for feeling relieved at all. It isn’t like we’re together or anything. It isn’t like I have some sort of claim to her.
Still, all’s fair in trickery and freedom of information.
Joe leads us to yet another back room because apparently, all small-town files are kept under top-secret lock and key. Who knew this place was so important. He opens a door and waves us in the room.
“I can give you ten minutes to find what you need, okay? And please leave everything the way you found it so I don’t get in trouble.”
“No one will know we were here,” Billi assures the kid with a pat on the arm. He turns three shades of red and backs out of the room. He closes the door behind him, finally leaving us alone.
“You’re a shameless flirt,” I say.
“A girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do. Besides, I got you in here, didn’t I? You’re welcome. Now look for any file with your last name on it. The plan is we’re going to stuff them in my bag and take them back to the hotel so we can go through them later.”
I raise an eyebrow, quickly thumbing through rows of files, looking for the H section. “Deceit and theft, who even are you?”
“I’m a girl trying to help you do a job. Besides, someone lied to you, so basically, our lie will cancel out the first one. It’ll be like no one ever lied at all.”
I nod matter of factly. “Ah yes, I think that’s written somewhere in the twelve commandments.”
“There’s only ten—shut up, Finn.”
I smile, wondering how I keep finding myself shut in rooms with Billi. Two days ago, I didn’t even know the woman. Lately, I’ve spent more time alone with her than I have with my own thoughts.
“I’m feeling a major sense of déjà vu right now.”
“I know. The last time I was shut in a closet with a boy, we played seven minutes in heaven. And I’ve been stuck in a closet with you twice this week, not having fun at all. Find anything?”
I fumble for a comeback, feeling both offended and a little jealous. I can show a girl a good time in a closet as well as the next guy. Try me. Except maybe later. We’re down to seven minutes and counting.
“Nope. I just found the H’s. You?”
She’s quiet for a long moment. The only sound I hear is the shuffling of papers and clicking of fingernails as files slide one, two, three down metal rows inside drawers. Then the unmistakable sound of one lifting up and out.
“Bingo.”
My pulse trips and jogs off with my heartbeat. “You found my parents’ file?”
“Nope. I found Sally Gertie’s. Something tells me we’re going to need it too. Hurry, find your file.”
I glance at the overhead clock, nerves multiplying, when I realize we have only four minutes left before that kid comes back in. Billi slips Sally’s file inside her bag and stands up to help me. “We don’t have much time.”
“I know that, but I can’t find it. I went through all the H’s and didn’t see anything.”
