Darlene Read Online Free Page B

doors, I peek my head out.
    He looks back. "Come on," he says, laughing. "Wasn't that the awfully damned good time you wanted?"
    All I can do is smirk and let the doors kiss just before I'm whisked above a few floors. I'm used to getting what I want and this is not going according to plan. Perhaps I've underestimated the nice guy that I think is Kevin MacInness who still has my wet panties in his left hand.
     
     

Chapter 6
    As usual, the weather's nice today. I finish my cheese and egg white omelet, fresh berries and almond latte on the patio overlooking the pool. People are milling about already, the sun worshippers on duty at their respective stations next to the pool. For a minute, I'm slightly jealous, but I remember that I'm here to do a job and that's it. I'll vacation later in a far more fabulous place. I've only got another day to prepare for my heist and slip the hell out of town before I'm noticed.
    And I'm thinking about Mister Kevin MacInness too. Bastard, I think to myself as I sip my coffee. A mischievous smile plasters my face. Get me all riled up sucking the hell out of me on an elevator and then slips off like nothing happened. I'll be prepared for him next time.
    I'd printed the flyer for the gem show from the Internet and I study it intensely. I see an impressive list of dealers from all over the country. I get excited just thinking about all the sparkly diamonds and colored gems I'll hold after I steal them. Maybe I'll cover myself with them and lay in the bed naked afterward. A slight smile crosses my face. I'm soon jolted from my little fantasy, however.
    "All set, ma’am?" My friendly redhead—definitely not natural—waitress is collecting my plate and hovering over me again.
    I growl inside. She called me ma’am . "Yes, that'll be it." I'm curt with the young waitress as she hands me a receipt showing my meal to be billed to my room. I push my chair back haphazardly and toss my napkin on the table.
    I'm low key today with a pair of black Dickies, a matching black tee shirt and sneakers. My hair is pulled back into a pony tail so that I can pull my ball cap on with ease. It's in my bag, a natural-colored canvass number made for the beach but it'll hold all of my tools just fine. The sun beats down on me in front of the hotel as I start to walk south toward the convention center. No cab today. I don't want anyone remembering that they saw me.
    When I get to the massive, gray-brown stone building that is the Pricewater, I slip around the side to a loading dock door. I look up in several directions trying not to look too suspicious. I already know that there are two cameras: one on the loading dock door and another attached to a telephone pole that looks like the scanning variety. That means it can get video from the building side entrances as well as the street. I make a mental note about the scan as I slide my fake name tag onto the tee shirt. I move quickly, my head slightly down. As I suspected, there are deliveries coming in this time of morning. The produce truck and its driver provide a needed distraction.
    "How you doin'?" the driver asks me as I walk by.
    "Good, thanks." I slip in the door without taking a breath until I see the shadow from the sunlight outside fade. I'm in. I meet two hallways moving in opposite directions and pause for a minute.
    "This your first day?"
    Th e pace of my heart quickens sharply.
    "What?" I look at the gray-haired, slightly disheveled looking man trying to hide my surprise. Of course, he's dressed in a black tee and black pants like me. Or, I'm dressed like him, seeing as I'm supposed to pass for maintenance.
    "Didn't mean to scare ya."
      It didn't work, apparently.
    " You looking for the office?"
    "Oh. Yeah," I finally sputter. I avoid eye contact and push my cap down a little more over my eyebrows. "I'm looking for Rita." She would be the woman I hung up on this morning when I called to ask for the maintenance supervisor. Never would have suspected a Rita