with work,” I answered.
I never had gotten over Audrey, and it didn’t help that we were best of friends now. I never had known how to talk to her. She made me nervous because she could be so honest with me, which was why I never fully knew what to say. She was fully aware of what I did. She’d even volunteered to work for me a couple of times. I always denied her though. Audrey could never do what I did; she was too innocent of heart.
“I see. You’re not going to tell me, are you?” Audrey knew full well that I wouldn’t tell her. That would make her an accessory to any crimes I discussed, and there were quite a few of them to be discussed. “I know you won’t tell me, but I feel obligated to try. It’s a friend thing.” Her smile still made me feel new every time I saw it. I’d grown past our whole romance stage, and she had grown past it before I had. Now, all that was left was the pure essence of contradiction: love without being lovers.
“You know me, a whole Mr. Brightside thing going on.” I laughed, and so did she.
“Well, Mr. Brightside, it seems that Miss Teacher Lady has a crush on you.” Is she talking about Miss Beaumont?
“Who?” My heart began to race. How would she know such a thing?
“Oh, please, Christopher.” She used my full first name—she was actually serious. “You know exactly who I’m talking about. French, long legs, red lips, and emerald eyes. She makes me wet just thinking about her, so she obviously makes you hot.” Audrey laughed and winked, but I hardly noticed. My mind was running on overdrive.
I hadn’t spoken to Miss Beaumont since Tuesday, even though I had a class with her, which meant that I hadn’t had a chance to analyze my situation with her because I’d been so busy with work, but if she was interested in me, then that’s perfect. However, it’s illegal and she’s engaged, but I believed that I might be feeling something for her and it’d clearly been overwhelming my senses, but I was so busy with work—A.K.A. crime. I had to find out for sure though, which left me one option: find out what Audrey knew.
“What are you talking about?” I had to take this slow and steady, make sure I got everything.
“Miss Beaumont, you idiot!” That was unnecessary. Audrey knew that I understood who she’d been talking about. However, I was talking to Audrey.
“I know that, but how do you know?” Okay, mistake corrected.
“She’s trying to get to know you through me.” Audrey had always been incredibly perceptive. She had even noticed things about me that I choose not to share. “She never asks directly about you, but she has clearly picked up on us being best friends. She also tries to do the same thing with Devin, but you know Devin.”
How interesting. I was ecstatic, of course, and my heart was pounding, but I couldn’t help but feel taken aback. I had no clue why I felt this way, but I did.
“That’s new.” I didn’t have enough time to say anything else. My phone went off and I had to pick it up. I was getting a call from a blocked number. “Hello?” I answered. No response. I tried again. “Hello?”
Nothing. Audrey looked worried, and I quickly surveyed my surroundings to see if anyone was here on their phone, but no one was. I called over our waiter and paid the bill. I also asked him to grab George for me and bring him out here.
“Go to the restroom and wait there until you hear three knocks on the restroom door, do you understand?”
Audrey nodded her head yes. As she walked away, George came out of the kitchen. He noticed that Audrey was moving quickly and picked up on that something was going on. I showed him the phone—it was still on—and motioned for him to call Tim. I put the phone back to my ear.
“Hello, Mr. Wells,” came from the other end.
“Who is this?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm. It’s a talent I had—staying calm in hostile situations.
“That’s not of any concern. What is of concern,
Maggie Brendan
Barbara O'Connor
Jan Washburn
Terri Blackstock
Norah Simone
Barry Kemp
G.P. Taylor
Alan Cumyn
Linda Barnes
Lisa Jackson