Lady Superior Read Free

for once, she regretted the sweatshirt. “They did, but I didn’t take it. I’m cool with it being a hobby, you know? And Joel calls me up whenever he needs someone to lift something heavy.”
    Jack laughed. Kristen eyed him, sliding back the pen and paper. He bagged her books and passed them over. “Same time next week?”
    She flashed a toothy smile. “Yeah, definitely. Can’t wait.”
    He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter. “In that case, Joel did say we’d go out drinking tonight. You could come along. Bernice is going, so…it’s not just the guys.”
    Kristen brushed a lock of hair from her face. “I’m guessing barcade?”
    “We wouldn’t be enough of a stereotype if we went anywhere else.”
    “I work nights, so I wouldn’t be able to drink. Could get some food, though. I’ll think about it?”
    A bell rang, heralding an opening door. Bernice’s voice shouted through the opening. “Kris, your ride’s here. She won’t take Kris is flirting with my employees as a good enough reason to wait.”
    Kristen winced, flashed Jack a nervous smile, and scurried from the store. “I hate you.” she muttered, passing Bernice.
    “Love you too, sweetie.”
    A black Chrysler sedan sat perfectly parked within the rectangle of shade beneath the massive Otherworlds sign at the far end of the lot. A woman leaned against the vehicle, her dark brown hair into a ponytail. A pair of Ray-Ban aviators covered her eyes. She wore a white tank, heavy boots, and what appeared to be black leather biker chaps over her jeans. “Hop in,” she called, popping open the driver’s side door and sliding in.
    Kristen jumped in the passenger’s side, tossed her bag into the back, and removed her hoodie. She buckled her seat belt and glared. “You told me that wasn’t going to be on TV, Jane.”
    Jane started the car and the AC. “I know I did, and I’m sorry about that. My boss decided to let them run it. It wasn’t up to me.”
    Kristen started shouting the moment the car rolled out of the parking lot. “Your boss? Who’s that? You didn’t tell me anyone else knew about this. And holy shit, is picking me up in a car like this supposed to be inconspicuous? Is it your job to screw me over?”
    Jane kept her eyes on the road, easing into traffic. “You weren’t a fan of my bike, so I took the company car.”
    “The company car? What company? What the hell, Jane?”
    Jane glanced at her in her peripheral vision, then turned back to the road. “Uh, Temple Financial? You know, the company where I gave you a job?”
    “You didn’t give me that job. You told me they had an opening.”
    “Yeah, an opening I made for you. You seriously didn’t figure that out?”
    Kristen threw her arms out as far as the confines of the car would allow. “I shouldn’t have to figure it out! You should tell me these things. So what, I work for some creepy bankers now? That’s why you sent me after those guys yesterday? And Jesus Christ, you forgot to mention the fucking bomb in that building.”
    “Look, it doesn’t matter who pays you, alright? There were people who needed your help. I helped you help them. And no, I didn’t forget to mention the bomb. There was no bomb. I took care of that myself.”
    Kristen’s face fell into her hands. “Ho-ly shit. What did you get me into? Who even are you?”
    “I told you who I am.”
    And she had—in a sense. The first time Kristen ended up on the news—three months prior—she’d intervened in a domestic issue, if a wife and two kids taken hostage by her estranged husband at gunpoint could be called a domestic issue. After a few hours of SWAT inaction, Kristen had walked in the back door and knocked his block off before he could even think about pulling the trigger. She thought she got away clean, but someone had recorded her visit on their phone’s camera. The second time, there hadn’t been an opportunity for caution. Not beyond taking off her wig and