Watch Them Die by Kevin O'Brien Read Free Book Online Page B

again. She told herself that anyone could have taken the tape. The building’s maintenance man, the newspaper deliverer, or maybe a neighbor had absconded with it.
    After walking Guy to Alphabet Soup Day Care, she returned home and called the video store. She told Scott she needed a mental health day. “I think it’s sleep deprivation,” she explained. “Can someone cover for me?”
    “Yeah, there’s Cheryl,” Scott said. “I hate her with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns, but I’ll call her for you. Hope you feel better.”
    “Thanks. Listen, can you do me another favor? Do we still have our copy of Rosemary’s Baby in the store?”
    “Yeah, hold on a sec.”
    Hannah waited. She wanted to know if the tape had been stolen. She hadn’t noticed an Emerald City Video label on it, but someone could have peeled it off.
    Scott got back on the line: “Hannah? It’s here. Do you want me to hold onto it for you?”
    “No, but can you do me one last favor? Could you go into the computer and see if it was rented recently, maybe returned early this morning? Sorry to be such a pain.”
    “Want me to donate a lung to you while I’m at it? Ha, just kidding. I’m here to serve. Okay, Rosemary’s Baby was last rented two weeks ago by Laheart, Christopher. Returned on time. Anything else?”
    Hannah sighed. “No, thanks. You’re a doll, Scott. I’ll be back to work tomorrow. See you then.”
    After Hannah hung up with Scott, she called Joyce and gave her the night off. Then she phoned her apartment building manager. After some haggling, she persuaded him to let her change the locks on her front door, and add a second dead bolt. Then Hannah called a locksmith and made an appointment for that afternoon.

    “I’m sorry.” The twenty-something Asian man with the Seattle Mariners sweatshirt shook his head at him. “I can’t give out anyone’s phone number.”
    Ben stood at the counter, in front of an open sliding glass window. The man refusing to help him was alone in the community college’s administration office.
    “I understand,” Ben said, drumming his fingers on the countertop. “But this woman and I are in the same film class, and last night she accidentally left her Palm Pilot on her desk. I want to get it back to her. Her name’s Hannah, but I’m not sure about the last name—”
    “Tell you what, leave the Palm Pilot with us,” the clerk said. “We’ll call her.”
    Ben shook his head. “I don’t have it with me right now. I—”
    “Then leave us your name and a number where she can reach you.” The man slid a pen and a pad of paper across the counter at him. “We’ll phone her for you.”
    Running a hand through his blond hair, Ben sighed. “Listen, I’ll be honest. I’m in the same film class with this woman, and I really want to ask her out. I was hoping you might give me her phone number—or at least her last name. Could you throw me a bone here? I mean, I look like a decent enough guy, right?”
    The clerk frowned at him. “No, not really. What’s your name, anyway? Whose film class are you in?”
    Ben took a step back. “Forget about it. Sorry I bothered you.”
    He turned away from the counter and almost bumped into a tall, thin black woman with tangerine hair. “Excuse me,” he muttered, continuing down the hallway.
    “Well, hello, Ben!” the woman called. Her tone was singsong, teasing.
    He stopped and stared at her. “Oh, hi. How are you doing?” He recognized her from the class. She sat in the back row.
    The woman sauntered toward him. She wore jeans, a white peasant blouse, and gobs of silver jewelry. The orange-colored hair was done in a pageboy flip with bangs. It looked like a wig. Her eyelashes were false, too. In fact, Ben had always figured she was really a man. This close, he could see her Adam’s apple.
    “You don’t know my name, do you, Ben?” she asked, one hand on her hip. “Are you embarrassed at the social faux pas?”
    He stole a glance at