AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, girl. What’s up?” she asks.
“Change of plans. He asked me to delay our trip by two hours.”
“Oh, okay. Well, be safe, and remember—if he tries anything, use the knife.”
“I will, without a doubt.” We give each other a hug, and then I head out of the apartment door with my suitcase, my laptop bag, and my purse. When I go downstairs, I try to be quiet so I don’t wake up the resident pervert. Hell, I even lift up my suitcase so the wheels don’t make a sound as they hit the old ceramic tiles.
A weird smell comes from his doorway, but I can’t figure it out. I think it’s metallic, but I know he’s up to no good. I call the non-emergency line. “There was an odd metallic smell and foul odor coming from my landlord’s apartment as I was leaving the building.” They ask me several questions, taking my address before I end the call.
Quickly, I get to the station and then on the train, and then take a deep breath. I’m running late, so now maybe he’ll tell me to forget it and stay here. I doubt it, but a girl can hope. By the time I get to the station, I’m thirty minutes late.
“You made it in, Jan,” the station producer says.
My eyes dart around, looking for my jerk boss. “Yes. Where’s Jason? Is he flipping his lid?”
“No, he’s not here yet.”
My brows knit together because there’s no way in hell I managed to beat him here. I sure as hell expected to walk in and get canned on the spot. Hell, I almost hoped for it even though it would have put me in a hell of a predicament both financially and professionally. “I’m surprised.”
She bites down on her bottom lip, nervously rubbing her thumbnail into her nail beds. “Yes, I expected him to be here already. I have the car he requested and everything.”
“He messaged me this morning that he was running late, so I slept in and then there was a delay at the train station.”
“Understandable.”
She squeezes my forearm lightly. “Get a coffee and a donut. Relax until he gets here.” I think she’s more nervous than I am about this trip, which makes me wonder if I’m not the first intern he’s taken on a field assignment and things didn’t quite go as they were supposed to go.
“Thanks.” As I take my first bite of a chocolate donut, in walks Jason, looking unfazed by whatever the delay was. In fact, he looks calm and refreshed, as if he’s about to give a report on air, stunning both of us who know that’s not the man we’re used to dealing with. He’s a full blown divo, and if anything goes wrong, we all know about it.
He gives us a killer smile as he walks up to my side. “Good morning. Sorry for the delay. Finish your donut, and I’ll load your luggage. We need to head out. We have a long drive.”
“Okay.” When his back is turned, both the producer and I share a look of surprise before I finish my donut and rinse it down with another swig of coffee. I use the restroom and meet Jason in the lobby.
“You ready?” he asks, rubbing his hands together. Again, his cheerfulness is over the edge.
Maybe his wife was busy giving him some booty or some head before he left. That would explain why he’s so cheery. “Yes.”
“Good. Let’s go. I have a feeling we’ll get everything we need in the next few days.”
“Fantastic. How long is the drive?”
“It’s about twelve hours with gas stops.” I nod and then follow him out. He doesn’t hold the door open for me, which is good. It would be a change in his personality that would be too much for me to handle.
The first few hours of the trip are good. We make decent time and I almost fall asleep, but I don’t want to let my guard down. It could be his plan, so I stay awake by reading up on the target of this exposé we are working on. My eyes grew heavy about twenty minutes into the dry report, so I cut it short. Needing to change tactics, I pop in my earbuds and turn on some music while I read on my tablet. It’s already one and we were forced to stop for gas around eleven, but now it’s time to get some food.
“So was that book any good?” he asks. I knew he was spying over my shoulder, but I couldn’t tell how much he could read given he had to focus on the road ahead.
“It was decent. I could drive if you’d like,” I offer, wanting to take some control of the situation and maybe learn a little more about where we were going. A lot of it he kept to himself, explaining that as a reporter, he held a lot close to the vest because of stories leaking.
