First Drop Read Online Free PDF Page B

it’s possible to stride in flip-flops. “Will you tell your guys to get their butts into gear? How can they have let this happen?” He let out a frustrated exclamation of breath, shook both fists in the air and whirled away.
     
    “Now just calm down, Keith,” Gerri snapped. “Until we find out exactly who leaked that information to the media I’m not having my guys taking any heat.”
     
    “The media?” Keith Pelzner said, his tone rising to an outraged squeak as he spun back to face her. “Who gives a shit about the media? I’m talking about my son, for Chrissake. I’m talking about Trey.”
     
    For a moment Gerri was silent. Whatever the phone call in the car had been about, I realised, that wasn’t it.
     
    She glanced at Lonnie and Chris, neither of whom would meet her eyes. “OK,” she said in the falsely controlled voice of one who is hanging on to her temper by the slenderest of threads. “Now I’ve just had a call saying one of the top financial weekly magazines has run with an article blowing our supposedly top secret project wide open to the world, and laid the company open to hostile takeover bids that could see us all out of a job, which I personally feel is something we ought to ‘give a shit about’ huh?”
     
    She emphasised the last few words using her fingers to scratch twin quotation marks in the air, casting a ferocious look in Keith’s direction, but he was just staring at her with his mouth open. “OK,” she went on. “Would anybody like to fill me in here on what else has gone wrong today?”
     
    “Um, well Ms Raybourn,” Lonnie said. “Trey’s been AWOL outta school again and this time he’s been caught shoplifting down at the Galleria.”
     
    Even Gerri was momentarily speechless to that one. “And where is he now?” she managed eventually.
     
    “The cops are bringing him home,” Keith told her. “Jim and the limey have gone to smooth things over with the store but he shoulda had somebody watching him, for Chrissake. Anything could have happened!”
     
    “Well now we have someone to watch him,” Gerri said, gesturing towards me. My heart sank.
     
    Keith seemed to notice me for the first time. “Oh, hi. Keith Pelzner.” He wiped his hand on his shirt and held it out for me to shake. “And you are?”
     
    “Charlie Fox,” I said, and couldn’t resist adding, “Another limey.”
     
    He gave a nervous laugh but was saved from having to find a way out of that verbal hole by the appearance of another group of people at the double doors where the lanai joined the house. The same Hispanic maid who’d let us in came out first and pointed wordlessly in our direction. Two policemen strolled out next, with a junior version of Keith between them.
     
    The kid had his head down and was dragging his feet, but insolence rolled off him like sweat. Whatever it was he’d been caught doing, he was totally unrepentant about it. His gaze floated briefly over me, the newcomer, and carried on without interest.
     
    One of the cops came forwards and looked straight at Lonnie. “Mr Pelzner?” he asked. He had sergeant’s stripes on his sleeve and a belly big enough to ensure he had to use a mirror to check his fly.
     
    The real Keith Pelzner stepped forwards. “I’m Pelzner,” he said, sounding resigned. “What’s he done this time, officer?”
     
    “Well, sir,” the sergeant said, glancing round meaningfully. “Maybe we could talk about this some place more private?”
     
    Keith sighed and started to lead them back towards the house.
     
    “I think I better be in on this one,” Gerri said. “Lonnie, get Juanita to show Charlie her room, then contact Jim and find out what the score is.”
     
    “Yes, ma’am,” Lonnie said smartly, and to me: “If you’d like to come this way?”
     
    “So,” I asked as I fell into step alongside him, “does the kid do this kind of thing a lot?”
     
    Lonnie rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah,” he said, a slight smirk