can’t,’ James interrupted.
‘It’s staff only down there. You’ll have to wait here.’
JD kissed her on the forehead.
‘You gonna be okay on your own if I wait here with this guy?’
‘Yeah.’ Beth looked up at him,
unable to mask the worried look on her face. She was about to head into a
confrontation with Simmonds and she was going to have to do it on her own. ‘I’m
probably going to get fired,’ she whispered.
‘You’ll be all right,’ said JD.
‘Just be confident.’ He stroked her hair and kissed her on the lips, bringing a
gentle smile back to her face momentarily. He still knew exactly how to make
things better for her just with a simple gesture. After a deep breath and a
squeeze of his hand, Beth headed off down to Cromwell’s old office to see her
new boss Elijah Simmonds.
JD stood in the reception hall
with James the security guard and watched her walk away. Her body language
spoke volumes. The walk to the new boss’s office clearly filled her with dread.
Once she was out of sight, James
wandered over to him and slapped him gently on the shoulder. ‘I doubt she’ll be
very long, buddy. Simmonds gets to the point very quickly.’
‘Is she gonna lose her job?’
‘Probably.’
‘Why? What’s this Simmonds guy
got against her?’
James laughed quietly, almost to
himself. ‘You don’t know her all that well, do you?’ he said. ‘I can tell,
you’ve clearly only just met her.’
‘Kind of, yeah. Why? What do you
mean?’
James patted him on the shoulder
again. ‘No offence, buddy, but you’ll find out soon enough, so I might as well
tell you anyway, she’s known around town as Mental Beth. She’s not quite right
in the head.’
‘What?’
‘Seriously, man. Ask if you can
meet her friends.’
‘Why? What’s wrong with her
friends?’
‘Nothing, man. It’s just that
she ain’t got any! No one around here likes her. If I can give you some advice,
I’d say get out of here quick. Give her a wide berth. She’s bad news.’ He
lowered his voice slightly before adding, ‘She killed herown mother .’
JD nodded. ‘I see what you’re
saying.’
‘Yeah, you can do a lot better,’
said James, patting him on the shoulder one more time. ‘Right, I’ve got other
places to be, see you later, man.’
As James walked away, JD
followed after him. ‘Hold on a sec,’ he said catching up with the security
guard.
‘Whassup?’ James asked.
JD pointed at James’s chest.
‘You’ve got something on your shirt.’
Ten
Sanchez wasn’t entirely sure how
it had happened, but somehow he’d ended up in a Volkswagen Beetle with Flake.
And he was on his way to the police station to enrol as a member of law
enforcement. Not a proper officer by any stretch, but if he couldn’t work out
an acceptable way to weasel out of it pretty soon, he was going to find himself
in a uniform as one of those useless part time cops with no authority.
Flake babbled on at a hundred
miles an hour about how excited she was to be joining the force. She spoke so
bloody quickly that Sanchez couldn’t get a word in. He’d had to accept a ride
from her after discovering to his dismay that some local kids had vandalised
his car outside the Ole Au Lait. All four of his tyres had been slashed. “ No
doubt unprovoked,” he thought.
Flake had promised she would
drop him off at the tyre repair place. But it now seemed that her plan was to
go there after they’d been to the police station. As a contingency plan to
avoid joining the police, Sanchez was fully prepared to pull out the old “bad
back” excuse.
Flake drove like she spoke too.
This girl didn’t stop for anything. Red lights, stop signs, pedestrians,
snowmen, she just zipped through, over or around them. Her constant chatter
would have done Sanchez’s head in under any normal circumstance. At the moment
he was unable to concentrate on anything other than clenching his butt cheeks
and pressing both hands against the
‘It’s staff only down there. You’ll have to wait here.’
JD kissed her on the forehead.
‘You gonna be okay on your own if I wait here with this guy?’
‘Yeah.’ Beth looked up at him,
unable to mask the worried look on her face. She was about to head into a
confrontation with Simmonds and she was going to have to do it on her own. ‘I’m
probably going to get fired,’ she whispered.
‘You’ll be all right,’ said JD.
‘Just be confident.’ He stroked her hair and kissed her on the lips, bringing a
gentle smile back to her face momentarily. He still knew exactly how to make
things better for her just with a simple gesture. After a deep breath and a
squeeze of his hand, Beth headed off down to Cromwell’s old office to see her
new boss Elijah Simmonds.
JD stood in the reception hall
with James the security guard and watched her walk away. Her body language
spoke volumes. The walk to the new boss’s office clearly filled her with dread.
Once she was out of sight, James
wandered over to him and slapped him gently on the shoulder. ‘I doubt she’ll be
very long, buddy. Simmonds gets to the point very quickly.’
‘Is she gonna lose her job?’
‘Probably.’
‘Why? What’s this Simmonds guy
got against her?’
James laughed quietly, almost to
himself. ‘You don’t know her all that well, do you?’ he said. ‘I can tell,
you’ve clearly only just met her.’
‘Kind of, yeah. Why? What do you
mean?’
James patted him on the shoulder
again. ‘No offence, buddy, but you’ll find out soon enough, so I might as well
tell you anyway, she’s known around town as Mental Beth. She’s not quite right
in the head.’
‘What?’
‘Seriously, man. Ask if you can
meet her friends.’
‘Why? What’s wrong with her
friends?’
‘Nothing, man. It’s just that
she ain’t got any! No one around here likes her. If I can give you some advice,
I’d say get out of here quick. Give her a wide berth. She’s bad news.’ He
lowered his voice slightly before adding, ‘She killed herown mother .’
JD nodded. ‘I see what you’re
saying.’
‘Yeah, you can do a lot better,’
said James, patting him on the shoulder one more time. ‘Right, I’ve got other
places to be, see you later, man.’
As James walked away, JD
followed after him. ‘Hold on a sec,’ he said catching up with the security
guard.
‘Whassup?’ James asked.
JD pointed at James’s chest.
‘You’ve got something on your shirt.’
Ten
Sanchez wasn’t entirely sure how
it had happened, but somehow he’d ended up in a Volkswagen Beetle with Flake.
And he was on his way to the police station to enrol as a member of law
enforcement. Not a proper officer by any stretch, but if he couldn’t work out
an acceptable way to weasel out of it pretty soon, he was going to find himself
in a uniform as one of those useless part time cops with no authority.
Flake babbled on at a hundred
miles an hour about how excited she was to be joining the force. She spoke so
bloody quickly that Sanchez couldn’t get a word in. He’d had to accept a ride
from her after discovering to his dismay that some local kids had vandalised
his car outside the Ole Au Lait. All four of his tyres had been slashed. “ No
doubt unprovoked,” he thought.
Flake had promised she would
drop him off at the tyre repair place. But it now seemed that her plan was to
go there after they’d been to the police station. As a contingency plan to
avoid joining the police, Sanchez was fully prepared to pull out the old “bad
back” excuse.
Flake drove like she spoke too.
This girl didn’t stop for anything. Red lights, stop signs, pedestrians,
snowmen, she just zipped through, over or around them. Her constant chatter
would have done Sanchez’s head in under any normal circumstance. At the moment
he was unable to concentrate on anything other than clenching his butt cheeks
and pressing both hands against the
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