“What if it’s a waste of time? It could be Pine Mountain. If it’s not Black Mountain, we’ll have to wait until the next day when another clue comes out,” Calder argued.
“Several of the trails on Pine Mountain have been shut down because of the fires last month. It has to be Black Mountain. That’s why I want you to stay the night at my house—no one will see us leaving, and we can get there first.”
“What time do you want me there?”
“I get finished at eight.”
“I’ll pick up a pizza and meet you there at eight-thirty.”
“What excuse are you going to tell the brothers for you spending the night?”
“Does it matter?” Calder shut her car door as she started the motor.
“No, as long you don’t say something happens that doesn’t.”
“I’m sleeping on the couch?”
“You can have Fat Louise’s old room.” She put her car in gear, releasing the emergency brake.
“What if I’m afraid to sleep alone?” he joked, hastily stepping back when the car started rolling backward.
“If you get scared, I won’t make you sleep alone.” She blatantly stuck her head out of the window as she backed up, giving him a sensual smile that had Calder moving toward her car.
“Don’t fail me now,” she muttered to her old car, its tires squealing as she peeled out of the parking lot, shooting gravel into the air. She left him eating her dust as she drove to work.
Her day was filled with appointments, her last being one she wished she could have avoided. It was a set of eighty-year-old twin sisters who wanted their hair colored and cut exactly alike. Sex Piston had offered to take one of them, but the younger by two minutes wasn’t having it.
“The last time I let Sex Piston do my hair, Sharon’s color lasted longer than mine.”
Crazy Bitch was tempted to tell the woman that her sister didn’t have as much grey.
“I tried.” Sex Piston came up behind her when she was mixing the color in the back room.
“It’s cool.” Crazy Bitch absently checked the color chart.
“Did you figure out the clue?” Sex Piston asked, pretending to search for gloves to place at their stations.
“No,” she lied. “You?”
Sex Piston flickered her eyes away as she grabbed the box of gloves. “No.”
The bitch was lying.
She bit her lip to keep from calling her out on the lie.
They spent what was left of the day staring at each other suspiciously. She and Sex Piston had never been on separate teams before. For that matter, their crew had always stood together against everyone else.
As she gloomily worked, she didn’t feel bad for not sharing information with Sex Piston or the others. They had been the ones who had chosen their husbands and boyfriends over her. She had been forced to work with Calder when they had left her with no choice. Even T.A. had chosen dick over her, and Bear had no intention of putting a ring on her finger, despite T.A.’s demands.
She was checking out the twins when Sex Piston left for the night with the bank deposit. All she had to do after they left was turn out the lights and lock the door. Thankfully, Sex Piston had already cleaned.
She tiredly walked to her car, glad it was summer and just now getting dark.
She had just gotten inside her apartment and changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top when she heard a knock on her door.
Opening it, she was greeted with the appetizing aroma of the pizzas Calder was holding.
“Hungry?”
“I’m starved.” Crazy Bitch shut the door. “You can set them on the counter.” Going behind the counter, she took out paper plates, setting them next to the pizza boxes before going to the fridge to get beers.
Calder had opened the pizza box and was putting a couple of slices on a plate. She handed him a beer before he handed her a plate.
“We can sit on the couch. What movie do you want to watch?”
“What you got?”
Her ass had just sat down when she heard another knock on her door.
“You want me to get it?” he asked, the pizza poised at his mouth.
“I got it.”
Opening the door, she instantly regretted not looking through the peephole.
“What the fuck do you want?” She held on to the doorknob, preventing Sam from coming inside.
“You haven’t been answering my calls or texts. I wanted to talk to you. You accu—”
“I have company, and if I wanted to talk to you, I would’ve answered when you called. I have nothing to say to you,” she shut him up before he could say anything else.
“Who’s here?” Sam tried to look around the partially opened door.
“Sam, get lost and lose my number.” Slamming the door, she turned and ran right into Calder’s chest.
“Is he bugging you?” He aggressively started to go around her.