Naked Frame Read Online Free PDF Page B

right."
    "I thought William Smotherburn was the
owner."
    "I'm buying the place."
    "When?"
    "Hey, what's with all the questions? We're
done." He motioned to Bobby. "Get them the hell out of here,
Bobby."
    Bobby led them to the door and opened it.
They saw another one of Joey's goons waiting in the hallway. "My
associate will assist you to the exit."
    Gabby and Rebecca walked out of the room,
into the hallway. Bobby closed the door.
    The thug said, "Follow me."
    Gabby followed, but Rebecca lingered at the
door for a moment, trying to hear what Joey and Bobby were saying
inside.
    The man turned around and saw that Rebecca
was not following him. "What the hell are you doing, Lady?"
    "Uh, sorry. My shoe fell off." She slipped
it back on and hurried to catch up.
    "Stay with me." He led them out of the
building.
    Once they were outside, walking back to
Gabby's shop, Gabby said. "What were you doing in the hallway?"
    "Listening."
    "Hear anything?"
    "Yeah. Bobby was worried about what to do if
Wiley showed up tonight."
    "That's interesting."
Rebecca could see that Gabby's mind was churning. "What are you
plotting now? "
    "A way to find out what Wiley knows. Yeah,
I'm sure it'll work. But you'd have to go sleazy. You know. A
little slutty."
    "Wouldn't be the first time."
     
     

CHAPTER 6 - Monday, 11:52 p.m.
     
    It was nearly midnight when Phillipa Thagery
drove up to the gate. She smiled at the guard. He returned a smile
and waved her through.
    All the guards knew Phillipa well. The
brilliant, attractive young black woman was Senior Research
Scientist in Product Development at Smotherburn Technologies. Big
Bill had given her a free hand and almost unlimited resources to
develop a device he hoped would make him a fortune.
    Phillipa parked her car, grabbed the
McDonald's bag from the front seat, and walked up to the retina
scanner at the back door of her lab. She inserted her key card and
leaned in to the scanner. The automatic door swung open, and she
entered.
    She walked through the ultra-modern lab to
her office, sat down, and retrieved a bottled water from the
mini-fridge next to her desk.
    As she took the Big Mac and fries out of the
bag, she told herself that someday she would eat better. It
wouldn't always be like this. Soon she would have everything she
wanted. And she'd never work nights again.
    Phillipa took a bite of the Big Mac. She
heard something out in the lab...a toilet flushing.
    She got up from her desk and walked out to
the lab. "Hello? Who's there?"
    "It's me, Phillipa. Wiley."
    William Wiley Smotherburn was Big Bill's one
and only child. And a big pain in the butt. The twenty-two year old
had recently graduated with a degree in drama. He had hoped it
would be easy to break into Hollywood. His dad could pull a few
strings, offer a few bribes.
    But Big Bill had refused to
help Wiley in any way. He wanted his son in the family business,
working a real job. He told Wiley it was time he earned his keep, and hired
him as a lab tech.
    Phillipa had told Big Bill she would quit
rather than continue to work with Wiley. He ignored her threats.
They both knew she was bluffing. She wouldn't leave. Not when all
her dreams were about to come true. "How did you get in here?"
    "Henry let me in."
    "That damn Henry had no business letting you
in. What's the point of a retina scanner, if the guards are going
to bypass it?"
    "Well, since we're both here...all alone..."
He walked up close to her. "Why don't we take a load off? Relax on
the couch in your office."
    "Don't make me file sexual harassment
charges against you, Wiley. Because I will, you know."
    He put his hands up. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry.
Please accept my humble apologies."
    Acting. Everything Wiley said or did was an
act. Nobody knew the real man. And Phillipa didn't wish to. "Why
are you here at this hour?"
    "Because I came in late this morning, and I
took kind of a long lunch."
    "No, you wandered in at precisely 11:22
a.m., and left at 12:15. You returned from lunch at