Lie or Die: A Shelby Nichols Adventure Read Online Free PDF Page B

that it didn’t make any sense at all, since the niece he’d heard of had red hair. Hadn’t something bad happened to her? She couldn’t be me, but he’d only heard of Manetto having one niece. What a puzzle this was turning out to be.
    Uncle Joey came to my side, just in time to hear Nick’s comment about me being his niece. He glanced at me with narrowed eyes before turning his gaze on Nick. “So I see you’ve met Shelby.”
    “Yes,” Nick said with enthusiasm. “I can even see a family resemblance.” He was totally sucking up, and it was hard to keep a straight face.
    “Really,” Uncle Joey answered, pleased. Nick using that angle made his job a lot easier. Maybe he should let everyone think I was his niece. It would work since I insisted on calling him ‘Uncle Joey’ all the time anyway. “Good, then you’ll also be glad to know that she’s off limits.” He said this with a smile, but there was a threat behind his words.
    Nick stepped back in surprise. “Oh…sure. I didn’t realize…”
    “Of course you didn’t,” Uncle Joey said, giving him a pat on the back. He narrowed his eyes and smiled thinly, just to make sure Nick understood.
    Nick was now more interested in me than ever, but he took his cue and excused himself. Before walking out the door, he turned back with a smile. “Oh…and I’ll take care of that matter we discussed earlier,” he said. At Uncle Joey’s nod, he left the room.
    By then everyone else had already left, leaving Uncle Joey and me alone. “Well?” Uncle Joey didn’t waste any time.
    “Um…Jimmy will be great. He’s totally loyal to you.”
    “What about Nick?”
    “He’s got a lot of ambition,” I said.
    Uncle Joey laughed. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
    “He wants to expand his father’s business, and hopes to use your clout to do that. He’s also not opposed to eliminating anyone who gets in his way. With your resources, of course.”
    “He wants me to do his dirty work, huh?” Uncle Joey said. “Well, we’ll see about that. Anything else?”
    “Yeah, he’s also pretty interested in me, and what I do for you.”
    “I figured that much,” Uncle Joey said. “Especially after you called me Uncle.” He was sure I knew he didn’t like it, but that hadn’t stopped me yet.
    “Is that why you let him think it for real?” I asked.
    “Partly,” he answered. “But it just occurred to me that it might offer you some protection from anyone who knows me. If they think you’re my niece, they’d probably leave you alone.”
    “Oh…I see,” I said. Was he serious? Or was he just getting back at me? It seemed like it was a little of both.
    “Is that it?” he asked.
    “Yeah,” I said.
    “Then I think that’s all for today,” he said. “Thanks for coming in.”
    “Sure,” I said, eager to leave. I hurried to the hall, and caught a glimpse of someone as they ducked out of sight around the corner. Was that Doug or Nick? Uncle Joey almost ran into me.
    “What is it?” he asked.
    “I’m not sure, but I think someone might have been eavesdropping on our conversation.” I pointed down the hall. “They went that way.”
    Uncle Joey hustled faster than I would have thought possible. I quickly followed. We rounded the corner to a door that opened out into another hall. This was where the restrooms and exit to the staircase were located.
    Uncle Joey pushed open the staircase door and leaned over the railing, with me trailing behind. Footsteps echoed from below, but stopped with the swinging of another door a few stories down.
    “It won’t do any good to follow now,” Uncle Joey said, thinking the person running down the stairs could have been anyone in the building, and not necessarily the person eavesdropping on us. But then where did that person go?
    “We should see if Doug is in his office,” I said.
    “Good idea,” he agreed. We hurried from the staircase, back into the hall, and the door to the men’s room opened. Doug