The Job by Claire Adams Read Free Book Online Page B

at
night? All the noise we’re making has to be what’s driving away all her
customers.”
    “I
don’t know,” I tell him. “I think it’s a trust thing. If we’re here at night,
you and Alec would probably end up stretching out all the lingerie.”
    Ian
smiles and, in as jovial a way as a person can say it, he says, “Fuck you,
boss.”
    “Hey
guys!” Linda says. “What are you doing out here?”
    “The
store’s locked,” Ian says. “You got a key?”
    “No,”
Linda says. “Jessica’s always here, so I never needed one.”
    “Does anyone else have a key?” Ian asks.
    “I
really couldn’t tell you,” she answers. “I’m going to give her a quick call.”
    She
pulls the phone out of her purse and walks away.
    “You
fucking dog,” Ian says.
    “What?”
    “You
slept with her, didn’t you?”
    I
can feel my face growing warm, but my only real option here is denial. Of all
the people on my crew, Ian has got to be the least discreet.
    “Of
course not,” I tell him. “I wouldn’t jeopardize the job like that. You should
know better.”
    “Then
why do you have that stupid fucking grin on your face?” he asks.
    “Because
I think it’s hilarious just how much you think about what I do with my dick,” I
tell him.
    He
doesn’t have a comeback.
    “Where’s
everyone else?” I ask, looking at my watch. “They’re running late.”
    “José’s
looking for another entrance to the store,” Ian says. “I don’t know what he
thinks he’s going to find, but you gotta respect the
guy’s work ethic. Alec called a few minutes before you showed up, asking if
you’d gotten here yet. I told him that the store was still locked and you
hadn’t shown, so he told me to call him when one of those changes.”
    “Have
you called him?” I ask.
    “No,”
he says. “Why the fuck should I cover for that lazy asshole?”
    “Call
him,” I tell him. “What about the new guy, Drake?”
    “He
quit, boss,” Ian says, “probably because you kept calling him Drake.”
    “Shit.
Is that not his name?”
    Ian
laughs. “His name is Charlie.”
    “Well
that sucks,” I chuckle.
    “Eh,
I wouldn’t worry about it. I think the guy was just trying to stay on long
enough to pay for his next weed shipment.”
    “His
what?” I ask.
    “Yeah,
the dude deals the reefer,” Ian says. “I would have gotten some off of him, but
he’s been clean out ever since he started working with us.”
    “Not
on the job,” I warn.
    “I’m
not stupid, boss,” Ian says.
    “That’s
debatable.”
    “She’s
coming in,” Linda says, approaching us, “but it’s going to be another half
hour. I guess she got into traffic on the way back from her mom’s.”
    “Do
you know what happened?” Ian asks.
    “That’s
really none of our business,” I tell him.
    “Yeah,
I think this is something she’s going to want to keep to herself,” Linda says.
I’m avoiding Ian’s gaze as the young woman smiles seductively at me.
    “You
fucking dog,” Ian says, laughing.
    “Aren’t
you supposed to be calling Alec?” I ask. “And while you’re at it, see if you
can find José. I appreciate the dedication, but we’re not breaking into the
store.”
    “Uh,
boss?”
    “What?”
I ask.
    Ian
taps my shoulder then points through the store window. José’s inside and he’s
unlocking the door.
    “You
know we have an alarm system, right?” Linda asks.
    “Shit.”
The alarm, for whatever reason, hasn’t gone off yet, so I knock on the window,
shouting, “ Get out of there!”
    José
either can’t hear me or assumes that I mean he should get out of there through
the front door, so he unlocks it. And that’s when the alarm starts blaring.

 
    Chapter
Five
    Blind
    Jessica

 
    “How’s
Mom doing?” Kristin, my sister, asks me as I sit smack in the middle of traffic
on my way back to the city.
    “I
don’t know,” I tell her. “We talked for a while, but you know Mom. The most
emotional she ever gets is the use of the word