Read Online Bite the Moon by Diane Fanning - Free Book Online

yearned for a trip to the restroom but dared not ask my hostess for the location of the facilities. I rose to walk off the urge. My movement provoked a frosty glare that drove me back to my seat. I tried not to squirm.
    As if a hidden mechanism ejaculated her from her seat, Ms. Arbuthnot popped up like a jack-in-the-box behind her desk. She stared at me until she was certain she had my full attention. “The offices are closed now.”
    “ Is there any possibility . . .?” I began.
    “ You must vacate the premises immediately,” she insisted.
    I concentrated on my posture as I walked with measured steps to the elevator door and pressed the button. On the way down, I decided I had to give it one more day. I’d hole up in Houston for the night. After ransoming my car, I stopped and picked up a toothbrush and other necessities, a handful of paperback books and a leather portfolio from the distressed merchandise rack. It had a stain of indeterminate origin on one side but if I held it right, no one else would know.
    The next morning, I flashed a fresh smile at the refrigerated visage of Ms. Arbuthnot. She looked much like she did the day before but unlike me, she had a change of clothes. She wore a navy blue suit, its cut as severe as its predecessor, but the look was buffered a bit by the gleam of blue topaz on each earlobe.
    Her eyes narrowed. She recognized me, but she was not about to acknowledge it. “May I help you?”
    “ Certainly, Ms. Arbuthnot,” I smiled. “I need a moment of Mr. Travis’ time.”
    “ Do you have an appointment?”
    “ Alas, no,” I said. Rein it in, Molly . “But I am certain Mr. Travis would like to hear what I have to say.”
    The eyebrow cocked up again. “I am sorry but Mr. Travis’ calendar is far too full today to accommodate you.” She flipped the pages of a day planner. “He does, however, have a small opening available two weeks from Thursday at eleven a.m. Would you care to make an appointment for that time?”
    “ No, I would not. But thank you just the same. I’ll just wait here until he has a free moment.”
    “ As you wish,” she said, slamming the planner shut.
    I took a seat as far from the officious woman as I could. I laid my portfolio on the coffee table, damaged side down and slid out a paperback, Jolie Blon’s Bounce, by James Lee Burke. I suppose I should have selected a book with a more dignified title, but I knew I could depend on Burke to make the wait seem much shorter.
    I was three-quarters of the way into the novel when I realized Ms. Frosty was standing in front of me. “Yes?” I asked.
    She stared down at me with a look of distaste distorting her mouth. Her eyes were focused on my upper arm where the bottom of my cow-pie beaker winked below the sleeve. I tugged the arm on the jacket down and smiled.
    She switched her gaze to my face. “I am going to lunch now. I would prefer that you would go, too. In fact, it would be best if you did not come back. You are wasting your time here and disrupting our office.”
    “ Lunch sounds great. Where should we go?” I asked, beaming a high-intensity ray of artificial innocence in her direction.
    Her eyes flared wide. She pivoted on the ball of one foot and returned to the fortress of her desk where she stared straight ahead, her peripheral vision keeping me in view.
    I surrendered and went to find something to eat. But never fear, Ms. Arbuthnot, I shall return.

Chapter Thirteen

    I returned from lunch before the dragon at the gate. I was tempted to slip past her fortress in her absence and sniff out the lair of the elusive Mr. Travis. Before I could act on that impulse, Ms. Arbuthnot returned to her desk. She glared in my direction. I pulled out my book and began to read. Before I reached the bottom of the page, she was looming over me again.
    “ I asked that you not return, Miz Mullet.”
    I inserted my bookmark, closed the book and lifted my eyes to hers. But I did not utter a word.
    “ Miz Mullet, I