His New Stepsister. His Biggest Threat. novel · Chapter 18 of 32
Chapter 18: Back In
"Handy," I said. "He had her number handy."
"Ms. Dolan, I'm aware of how that sounds."
"Is her contract signed?"
"Not until Monday."
"Don't sign it," I said, and hung up on a television executive for the first time in my life.
I didn't go back to the tug.
Not right away.
I drove home to Glendale and sat at the bar with a laptop and looked her up.
Five games in season nineteen. A real champion, good at science, bad at opera.
She'd lost her sixth game on a Last Word about Puccini.
Her wager that night was so strange the forums still argued about it.
She'd bet every dollar on a category she'd missed all night.
"Somebody paid her to lose," said the sports guy, reading over my shoulder.
"You don't know that."
"I know a dive when I see one. I've watched a lot of boxing."
Marva came out of her office with the legal pad.
"So it's the plant," she said. "Hal's got his money on you. The writer's girl takes a dive. You win a million dollars and never know you were bought."
"And then one day it comes out," I said. "And everybody thinks I knew."
"Everybody already thinks you're sleeping with him."
"Marva."
"Well, they're right about that."
I took off my apron.
"Where are you going now?" Marva asked.
"Long Beach. To make him un-quit."
The sun was going down when I got to the marina.
The gate was propped open with a cooler.
Gannon was on the deck coiling a line that didn't need coiling.
He saw me coming down the dock and stopped.
"If you're here for your sock, I washed it."
"Get your phone."
"Tilda."
"You withdrew so I'd win. Fine. Do you know who I'm playing?"
He frowned.
"A season nineteen champion. Five games. The question writer had her number handy."
I watched it go through him.
The coil of rope slid off his arm onto the deck.
"She'd throw it," he said.
"To me. With your father's money on me."
"And you'd never know."
"I'd know. I'd know the second she bet everything on opera." I climbed the gangway and stood in front of him. "You didn't save me this morning, Gannon. You handed me to them."
He closed his eyes.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–16 of His New Stepsister. His Biggest Threat. are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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