One Night Stand by Clara Bayard Read Free Book Online Page B

But it was sweet anyway, so I smiled. "See you later, Sam."
    "Absolutely." He cupped my shoulder in one big hand for a second and then walked down the street towards the police station and whatever his actual destination was. I watched him go for a little while, but the warmth and excitement from our conversation faded as his wide back retreated in the distance.
    Completely thrown, I realized I wasn't in any condition to talk to the cops or anyone else just yet. If I went in looking and feeling like I did they'd either lock me up or laugh me out of the building. I needed time to think and prepare. I realized I was stalling, but seeing Sam reminded me that I had a lot to lose if I handled things wrong. After casting one last glance over my shoulder I walked back up the block to the bus stop and waited for a ride home.

Chapter Six
    The next day at work I was as jumpy as a cat. Every time the door opened or the phone rang I freaked out. I'd barely slept the night before, turning the situation over and over in my mind, trying to find a perfect solution that didn't exist. My nerves were completely shot by the time Mitchell showed up, but I managed to at least act as if everything was okay.
    "Good morning," I said, getting up to fetch him a cup of coffee like always.
    "Anything important happening right now?"
    "No. But…there is something I want to talk to you about."
    "Fine. Bring my coffee back to my office and give me an hour. I'll let you know when I'm ready." With that he stomped down the hallway and slammed his door. Even for The Slug that was rude.
    I dumped the usual tooth-ache inducing amount of sugar into his coffee and stirred it, wondering how to approach him. I knew I couldn't come right out and accuse him of being involved in selling drugs. But maybe there was a way to find out what he did know without being so obvious.
    With a derisive snort I rolled my eyes at myself. "Yeah right. Because you're Veronica Mars and Nancy Drew all of the sudden?"
    The fact was, I had no idea what I'd gotten into and the only people I could turn to were the police. I delivered The Slug's coffee and went back to my desk, but got very little accomplished.
    Finally, Mitchell yelled through his door for me to come back there. Why he couldn't use the intercom button that was three inches from his hand I've never understood, but he never did.
    I switched the phones over and went back, chewing on my lower lip relentlessly. I knocked on the door and pushed it open.
    "Sit down and shut the door, Carly."
    I did, perching on the end of the metal folding chair that serves as his "guest seat."
    "Before you start justifying your behavior, just tell me what happened yesterday."
    "I…Well, I was in early, as you requested. Dr. Kent called to check in on his pick-up because Darius was running late. I tried to find him, but-"
    "Stop. I don't give a shit about some flakey bike messenger. Tell me why this office was locked up tight all day."
    "What?" I'd been so busy rattling off the little speech I'd practiced that I forgot to actually listen to what he said. "Oh. The two things are related."
    He sighed and pursed his slimy little lips. "Fine. Go on."
    I gulped. "So, like I said, I was trying to hunt down Darius but I couldn't. And Dr. Kent seemed kind of impatient. I didn't want to lose an important customer so I told him I'd take care of it."
    "And did you?"
    "Yes."
    "How?"
    "Well no one else was here so I borrowed one of the bikes and made the delivery myself."
    He shot to his feet, face going bright red. "You what?"
    "I picked up the package and delivered it. A little late, but that was better than nothing."
    I couldn't tell what the look on Mitchell's face meant, but it wasn't good. A vein in his forehead pulsed and I shrank back instinctively.
    As if he'd just noticed he was standing, Mitchell looked down at his desk and then sat back down, but his face was still the color of a ripe tomato. "Okay. Then what?"
    "When I got back I um…didn't feel