Pick up, pick up, pick up, she silently urged her friend, and then bit her lip in dismay when she heard Jake’s voice-mail message kick in. James wouldn’t be in for another hour, so it was just Robert and the pregnant lady for backup. She’d have to handle Porn Shop Bill on her own.
“Hey, Jake, it’s Darla,” she told Jake’s mailbox, doing her best to sound as if she was talking to the real thing. “No, not so good. We have a situation up here. Can you come up right away? Great.”
Hanging up, she said to the man before her, “Security will be here in a minute. If you’re not already gone by then, I’ll see that you’re arrested for trespassing.”
“Yeah? Well I’ll slap you with a civil suit for unfair business practices,” the porn shop owner threatened right back, stabbing a bony, nicotine-stained finger in her direction. “Tell ya what. Let me talk to the kid a minute, and I’ll be on my way. No harm, no foul.”
Before Darla could whip out another bluff, she heard Robert call from behind the stacks, “Hey boss, can you, like, tell me where to find—”
The teen’s question broke off abruptly as he poked his head around the edge of the reference section and caught sight of his old employer. Bill, meanwhile, had swiveled in the direction of Robert’s voice. Spying the youth, he bared his teeth again.
“You, kid, c’mon out. You and me, we gotta talk.”
“Robert, you can go right back to helping your customer,” Darla countered. “This . . . gentleman . . . was on his way out the door.”
“It’s okay,” Robert said, looking equal parts frightened and defiant as he started toward them. “I’ll talk to him.”
“If you’re sure,” she reluctantly agreed, phone tightly clutched in one hand and ready to step between the two if the situation warranted it. “But I’m staying right here. If things get out of hand, I’m dialing 9-1-1.”
The teen shot her a grateful look before turning to his former employer. His voice small, he asked, “How did you find out I was working here?”
“Them teenage girls, they gossip about everything. I stopped one of your little friends outside the shop, and she told me.” Now, the bony finger was thrust in Robert’s direction. “So where you been the past week? I’ve been shorthanded for three nights running. I should fire your butt.”
“Don’t you remember? You, like, already fired me a few days ago.”
Bill gave a rusty chuckle, though Darla spied no matching humor in the pale eyes. “Naw, I was just in a bad mood. I didn’t expect you to off and take another job. C’mon back to the shop, and we’ll forget all that nonsense.”
Robert shook his head, his confidence seemingly returning. “No way, dude. I work for Ms. Pettistone now.”
“Yeah, well I need someone tonight. So have your butt at the store seven thirty sharp,” the man told him. “Besides, I paid you for two days you didn’t work. You owe me.”
“I figured that was severance,” the teen replied, and then turned an uncertain look on Darla. “I wouldn’t have taken it if I didn’t think he wanted me to have it. I’d give it back, but I already spent it. Do I really have to go work for him again?”
“Certainly not,” Darla declared before Bill could reply. To the porn shop owner, she said, “If you overpaid Robert in error, I’ll advance him the money to repay you so you two can call it even. How much are we talking?”
“Give or take a few cents, a hundred bucks.”
Darla looked over at Robert, who nodded. Slipping her phone into her pants pocket, she punched in the code to open the register and then withdrew five twenty-dollar bills, which she handed over to the teen.
“There you go, Robert, an advance on your first check. Go ahead and repay the man . . . and be sure you count it out so there’s no question later.”
While Robert obediently laid out the money on the counter one bill at a time, Darla pulled out a receipt book from beneath the register drawer. Swiftly, she filled out the top copy and handed the pad to the teen. “I suggest you have Bill sign a statement that he received the money from you, and that it repays him in full.”
“I’m not signing nothing. Now give me my—”
Bill broke off abruptly, eyes widening as a sleek black shadow spilled across the