Death's Last Run by Robin Spano Read Free Book Online

conspiratorial way and said, “Oh, come on. I love gossip.”
    â€œMe, too! Okay, but this is top secret.” Jana peered into Clare’s eyes.
    â€œWho would I tell? You’re my only friend in town.”
    â€œGood point. There’s apparently a cop in the village, like an undercover with the FBI , and Richie told me I have to watch everything I say. That’s why you can’t sleep with tourists right now — we don’t want to give the undercover any ins. Cool?”
    â€œI promise.” Clare tried not to lose the beat as her brain raced into rapid fire. “Not a word about the undercover and I’ll let you vet my hook-ups.”
    â€œGood. I mean, we’ll probably spot him a mile away. We had a cop in town before. A narc. I would have known even without Richie saying anything.”
    â€œHow?” Clare doubted Jana could spot a cop unless sirens were blazing, but she was curious what she thought the tells might be.
    â€œHe never inhaled.”
    Clare took a deep drag and made sure it went into her lungs.
    â€œYou know the one thing a cop would never do? Drop acid. Richie even agrees.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œThey just wouldn’t. Anyway, that’s why we came to Whistler. Sacha dragged me up here for the acid.”
    â€œ LSD ?”
    Jana nodded. She fingered the jagged blue crystal that hung from her neck.
    â€œLike, the Magical Mystery Tour drug? The one that was in style in the same decade as this wallpaper?” Clare nodded at the living room walls with their bright orange and lime green floral design.
    Jana grinned. “Kind of retro, huh? I’ve had some crazy nights tripping to these walls.”
    â€œSeriously though, that’s pretty rad. You came to Whistler because Sacha heard the drugs were good.”
    â€œBetter than good. There’s this tab called Mountain Snow. Purest high she’d ever had.”
    Clare laughed. “So because this tab is called Mountain Snow, Sacha wanted to live at a ski resort? Was she high when she made that decision?”
    â€œNo, silly. The drug is made here. Sacha tried it in New York when some guy who had just been to Whistler gave her a tab he brought home. But it wasn’t available in the States. I mean
isn’t
.”
    Score another point for Amanda — she’d been smart about landing Clare this roommate. Clare let the wasn’t/isn’t slide — for now. There was obviously something illegal — something more than casual pot smoking — that Sacha’s friends were involved in. Or they wouldn’t be so concerned that an undercover was coming to town.
    â€œUm . . .” Clare had a zillion questions. “So you lived in New York, too?”
    â€œYeah, we went to college there. Sacha finished her degree a semester early, and I was just ready to get the hell away from school. I only need three courses to graduate.”
    â€œWhat did you study?” Clare asked, mostly to be polite, but you never knew what would be relevant.
    â€œHotel and tourism management. Sacha’s degree was in international relations. We met at a frat party and clicked hard. There was no separating us after that. So when she said she was coming up here, even though I wasn’t
quite
finished school, I thought
yeah, that’s kind of perfect.
Because where better than Whistler to finish my education about tourism?”
    Right. As long as she could, you know, find a way to get credit. But Clare wasn’t here to be anyone’s guidance counselor.
    â€œLast time I took Mountain Snow — like, a week ago — I asked the universe to bring Sacha back into my life. The very next day, I put the ad on Craigslist for a new roommate.” Jana set down the joint and grabbed Clare’s hands in hers. “We have to do Mountain Snow together. How about tonight?”
    Clare gulped. “I’ve never done acid. I’m actually kind of afraid to.”