Marc (Bowen Boys, #4)(5)
“Yes. But I don’t….” Jonny looked at the table again instead of the nice woman. “I can’t work for you. I have to find a job that I can get paid in cash. I can’t…I can’t be found.”
“You let me worry about that part. I’m in charge of this little office. Marc may think he is but I run the place. What’s your name, or is that going to be a problem too?” Jonny nodded. “Okay, I have to call you something. How about…Joan? Joan Savior?”
“Why?” Jonny looked confused. “Why are you helping me? For all you know I could be some kind of mass murderer and want to work here to hide until the next job is complete.”
“You could be, I suppose, but I doubt a mass murderer would have helped a rotund woman who nearly got knocked on her ass by a semi. And you were honest with me. You didn’t have to be. You could have let me fall, then kicked me when you passed me.”
“No I couldn’t have.” Mia smiled, and Jonny flushed again. “You’re going to hire me and pay me under the table because you nearly fell and feel grateful. In the morning, you might feel differently.”
“I doubt it. Come on, Joan, let’s get you trained.” They walked back out to the desk after cleaning up. “You now work for Bowen Investigations. The owner is Marc Bowen, and he’s about the best boss in the world. And he’s cute. I’m not sure if anyone would call him handsome, but I am married to the most handsome man in the world.”
After giving her a note pad and a pen, Mia went through the entire office. She didn’t once wobble and Jonny had a feeling she’d been had. She wanted to ask her about it but she didn’t want to make her mad. She had a job and it was going to keep her off the grid so that Roy wouldn’t find her.
At five o’clock Mia was telling her how to turn the phones over to the service. “You’ll need a cell phone and I’ll have it for you tomorrow. Sometimes when it’s an emergency the service will call me and I can call Marc. He trusts my judgment on when to call him. I do if I can’t decide if he needs to be called or not. Sometimes it’s nothing, but there are enough times that it’s something. He’s okay with the occasional blunder.”
After locking down the office, Jonny turned to her. “My name is Jonny Thomas. I’m being chased and I can’t go back there.”
“Thank you. You don’t know how much it means to me that you trust me with this. I won’t tell anyone and we’ll keep calling you Joan. Your paperwork will be just enough that you can get paid, and from there we’ll work something else out.” She handed her some money and Jonny backed away. “You have to eat. I’ve taken it out of petty cash and you can pay it back when you get your first check. I assume you have somewhere to stay that’s safe?”
She nodded. “I’m living in an empty building. I’ll…as soon as I can I’ll find somewhere else, but for now this is all I can do.”
“You’ll be safe, that’s all I care about right now.” She locked the door and turned to her. “I’ll be in at eight-thirty tomorrow morning. The rest of them will be in around nine or so. Marc won’t be back for a couple more weeks unless he can figure this case out. I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
“Yes, I’ll be here. And thank you for everything.” Jonny watched her walk to her car and she moved up the street. She walked past her building and to the next block before she went down an alley and returned. She never left or came back to her building the same way twice. Careful of the streets and watching for Roy, she entered her building and went up the stairs before she took out the money.
Five hundred dollars. She’d given her a fortune. Jonny was dancing around the room when she realized that she could go and get some food for herself. Not to mention some of the basic needs of her living there. She needed soap and shampoo. The cleaning solution she’d been using was hot to her skin and her body was drying out from it. Her hair, too, needed something more than the dish detergent she’d found. She counted out the money again, and leaving all but two hundred dollars of it, left to find a store.
It took her nearly an hour to find a Wal-Mart. She spent ten minutes trying to find the right shampoo, having so much fun that she nearly left after getting it just to go and wash her hair. Then she got the rest of the things on her list, including a large backpack to carry things in. She got her a plate and silverware, along with a single pan. She wasn’t much on cooking but might want a cup of tea sometime, and she could heat up soup too. When she left she’d filled the pack and had three bags as well.
Putting things away was also fun. She was careful when purchasing things to make sure she could leave them without problems if she were found. The place didn’t have electricity, but it did have hot water and a gas stove. Keeping things cold was a problem, but she hadn’t bought anything that needed to stay cold, so she thought she’d be all right. By nine she was putting her twenty-two dollars in her stash and went to bed.
~~~
Reed watched the girl while she worked. He knew that she was a panther and figured she knew he was one as well. She never said anything to him about it, and he, too, let it go. For now. Reed knew that no one in Marc’s office knew he was a cat and figured that was fine. When Mia had called him last night to ask him to come by and set up access for her new employee, as well as a cell phone, he’d been happy. He wasn’t sure what to think now.