The Trouble With Murder by Catherine Nelson Read Free Book Online

better
than Paige, five-year-olds included. Case in point, I don’t want Paige’s
job.
    “The good news is I finally got
something on you! Not even White can turn his back on it.”
    “And that would be?” I asked.
    “You falsified documents and stole twenty
thousand dollars from this company! I can finally fire you!”
    “Wait a minute!” I shot back. Now I seemed to forget Pezzani’s presence. Leaning over my desk, I pointed an angry
index finger directly at Paige’s nose. “I don’t have any idea what you’re
talking about. I didn’t steal anything. Sure, I hate working for you, but I was
perfectly content making you miserable by showing you up. What would I gain by
stealing from White? Stealing isn’t my speed.” Not anymore.
    “What about the evidence that says
otherwise? You gonna try to tell me it’s all a lie?” he demanded, waving an
angry hand over the desk, indicating the papers he’d thrown at me.
    “Yeah!” I answered. “I haven’t
stolen so much as a paperclip from this company.”
    Actually, that isn’t true. I’ve borrowed several items from the office, including paperclips, staples, sticky notes, the
occasional highlighter, and once or twice I’ve used company resources to look
up background on people I wasn’t planning to lease anything to. What I hadn’t
done, however, was embezzle twenty thousand dollars. I can’t even remember what
twenty thousand dollars looks like. Had it been me who’d figured out a way to
embezzle money, I would never have made it to twenty thousand. I’d have stopped
at five, maybe ten. That would have been more money than I’d had in years; it
would have bought a lot of shoes. I would have taken it and split. The very
fact I kept showing up everyday was evidence I had done nothing of the sort.
Idiot.
    Paige walked around the desk and, at
my height, came practically nose-to-nose with me. His pinched features were
distorted with joy, a happy twinkle in his eyes.
    “I didn’t like you from the
beginning,” he hissed. His breath was rancid and hot on my cheeks. It was hard
to resist the urge to step away from him. “You’re nothing but a spoiled brat
who throws a temper tantrum every time you don’t get your way.”
    I temporarily lost control of my
thoughts, enjoying a moment of blissful insanity. I saw myself slug Paige. I
saw his eyes roll back in his head and him drop to the floor like a sack of
potatoes, out cold. Through a colossal exertion of will power, however, I managed
to keep my hands to myself.
    Pezzani easily wedged himself
between Paige and me.
    “Why don’t we take a walk?” he
said.
    With unexpected speed and agility,
he reached under the desk and grabbed my bag, then closed his huge hand around
my upper arm. He began steering me around the desk and down the hall. I
attempted twice to free myself, my attention still on Paige. Fire burned inside
me as the look of satisfaction spread deeper into Paige’s face.
    “We’ll finish this later,” I said.
    Paige just laughed.
    Pezzani had me out of the building
and in the parking lot before I even registered a change of scenery.
    “Let me go,” I snapped, jerking my
arm. His grip held firm.
    “Not until I’m sure you won’t go — ” The rest came out in an
anguished whoosh.
    In a move similar to the one I’d
used last night with the masked assailant, I applied a small amount of pressure
to Pezzani’s diaphragm, doubling him over and causing him to immediately
release his grip on me. I snatched up my bag and slung it over a shoulder. I
was shaking with adrenaline and anger.
    Pezzani leaned forward, his hands
on his knees, and sucked in air. After a long moment, he forced himself
upright, rubbing at his diaphragm. There were tears in his eyes when he looked
at me.
    “Your thank-yous suck,” he said.
    “Hilarious. You shouldn’t have
interfered.”
    “Oh, yeah, sure. It would have been
better to knock the guy out.”
    “I don’t know what you’re