In Deep Shitake (A Humorous Romantic Suspense) by Patricia Mason Read Free Book Online Page A

hold her up anymore.
    “I never told him any such thing. And you can see both my arms are fine. What did he claim I wanted you to do?”
    “Get into the car and pay particular attention to the content of any papers inside. I guess looking back, it was odd.”
    “No wonder the dear boy didn’t show up for work this morning. That Clarence is another handsome devil. You’d think I’d learn and stop hiring the little darlings. I’d fire his cute ass if he wasn’t so good at all those computer thingies.”
    “But why would Clarence want me to break into Ross Grant’s car? It doesn’t make sense,” Mo wondered aloud.
    “I don’t know, but I expect you’ll find out when you go over to his house and speak to the boy.”
    Mo rose and turned to exit the office.
    “Don’t forget your meeting with Mrs. Nelson at eleven a.m." Harry’s words interrupted Mo's departure.
    “Is there any way I could get an advance on my salary?” Mo asked with tentative hesitation. Harry didn’t like to be parted from her money.
    “Don’t push your luck, honey.” Harry slid on reading glasses and then picked up a paper from her desk.
    Mo tried to avoid a desperate edge to her voice when she added, “You said you’d consider a bonus at the end of the month.”
    “And I will.” Harry didn't even glance up from the paper as she said the words in a distracted tone.
    Mo released the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. She'd have to be satisfied with that small assurance.
    “By the way,” Harry said, lowering the paper. “Have you stopped swearing?”
    Mo nodded. “I haven’t dropped the F-bomb in thirty-three days, twenty hours, and two minutes.”
    “Good. The clients might swear like rappers trying to make a hit record, but they don’t like it when you do.”
    “I know. I know,” Mo said, trying not to tap her fingers on the doorframe. She’d heard the lecture before.
    “And stay away from Ross Grant,” her boss warned. “I don’t want that hunky boy suing the agency or anything like that. I’m afraid I’d have to fire you for real if that happened.”
    “Yeah, I understand.” Mo walked out of Harry’s office. On her way past the reception desk, she grabbed her purse.
    “Oh, honey?” Harry called through her still open office door.
    Mo stopped with her hand on the doorknob and glanced over her shoulder. “Yeah?”
    “Were you actually stuck in the sunroof?” Harry gave a bark of laughter.
    Striking a pose by sticking her backside toward her boss, Mo slapped one cheek of her bottom and made a smoochy sound.
    Then she ran down the stairs and through the front door of the building.

 
     
     

 
    Chapter Four
     
    Outside, Ross waited for Ms. Imogene Tuttle to emerge from the building. He leaned against a tree at the center of the park-like square facing the agency door. His car was parked illegally on the opposite side of the square, a few yards away. A meter maid had just placed the tenth—no wait, the eleventh—parking ticket he’d received since arriving in Savannah on the car’s windshield. This too was Ms. Tuttle’s fault.
    Of course, he’d almost felt sorry for Mo during her firing. She seemed so stricken. However, Ross felt it was unlikely Ms. Hutson would truly fire her hapless employee. If there was one thing Ross Grant knew, it was bad acting. He’d been on the receiving end of it in enough movies.
    However, the boss would probably put enough fear in Mo to send her running to the client. And Ross wanted to find out who was so interested in his comings and goings that they would go to the trouble to track his car and arrange for a break-in.
    It briefly occurred to him that he waited here for Mo Tuttle because he was fascinated by her quirky blend of beauty and feistiness. But then he dismissed the thought. He was only here because her mysterious client might threaten his film project. That was his only interest in Mo , he insisted to himself.
    At midmorning a dozen people milled