Touch and Go (A Mercy Watts Short) Read Online Free PDF Page A

would head for baggage. He didn’t. I guessed that whatever happened to the Jag happened to the rest of his stuff, too. Claire hesitated and looked back at me. I nodded and she went in. She collided with him and spilled her purse. Stevie helped her pick her things up, they stood and started talking. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Claire was working it. She tossed her hair, hand on hip, and strategically fiddled with her collar and pulled it lower. It was high school all over again. At least this time she was working for me instead of against me.  
    When they stopped at the elevator, I dodged around them and sprinted up the escalator. I was huffing when I got to the car. I needed a gym membership bad. I opened the driver’s side door, pulled out the taser, and charged it. There weren’t too many people walking around and I could hear Claire’s voice when they entered Level G. I hid behind the Suburban furthest from them and waited. Their voices got very close and I heard Claire pop the trunk. I peeked out from around the truck and saw Stevie standing with his back to me.
    Sweet!
    I stepped out and said, “Hi Stevie.” Before he turned, I zapped him on the butt. He bonked his head on the bumper as he went down, but he didn’t make a sound. We pulled him by his feet to the back door. I zip-tied his hands and feet twice and hoisted him in. We laid him, none too gently, on the floor and covered him with Dad’s emergency blanket. The whole thing took a half hour.  
    Five minutes later, Stevie got control of limbs. He kicked off the blanket and stuck his head between the seats.  
    “Hey Mercy. How you doin?”
    “Fine and you?”
    “Got a headache.”
    “Sorry. Couldn’t be helped.”
    “I thought it’d be your dad.”
    “Nope, he’s in Florida.”
    “Oh yeah. Where are we going? Home?”
    “Fat chance.”
    “Who’s this?” Stevie said as he checked his reflection in my rearview mirror.
    “This is Claire.”
    “Claire. What a great name. You from around here?”
    “I already told you.”
    “Oh, yeah. You busy tonight, Claire?”
    Stevie gave her his best shelter-dog look. It was the patented if-you-just-take-me-home-and-train-me-properly-I-could-be-a-good-boy look. It’d worked before, and it was on the verge of working on Claire.
    “I’m hungry. Who wants Arby’s?” I said.
    “Me. Let’s eat.” Stevie wiggled his way into eating position on the back seat.
    We mulled over our choices at the Arby’s drive-thru and then Stevie ordered enough to make me think about getting reimbursed by his father. Claire ordered a diet soda and some grilled chicken thing. I was going to order two Beef and Cheddars with curly fries, but thought better of it after Claire ordered.  
    While we ate I did a little minor interrogation. “I have to ask, Stevie, why did you come back? I’m mean, seriously, are you crazy? You knew my dad was after you.”
    “I needed some money.”
    “Who’s gonna give you money?”
    “Mom.”
    “What about her Jag?”
    “What about it?”
    “You stole it.”
    “No way! I’d never do that. I borrowed it.” Emphasis on the borrowed.
    “For a month? Where is it?”
    “A friend has it.”
    “A friend. Would this be a friend from the track?”
    “Yeah, he’s there a lot. How’d you know?”
    “Lucky guess.”
    Claire turned to him. “Your father could have you arrested.”
    “He’d never do that. Mom wouldn’t let him. Besides, I borrowed it.”
    I let that go and drove in silence. Stevie was going to be arrested. Big Steve had reported the Jag stolen and Olivia didn’t know. I didn’t want to be around when she found out. Stevie probably wouldn’t clue in until he was fingerprinted.  
    I pulled around back of the Crown office building and called up. Big Steve and a couple of his associates came down. They pulled Stevie out of the car and cut the zip-ties around his feet and hands. Big Steve watched a few feet away and ran his fingers through his