Page 95 of Hesi-Dating
JOLEY
I was on my way to Seth by 9:15 p.m. Probably too early, but I didn't care. I had jitters in my stomach. I was that excited. It'd been ages since I had gut twisties over a date.
Ben seemed almost relieved when I told him we weren't going anywhere. I went halfsies with him on the meal.
The people in the left lanes going twenty to thirty above the speed limit scared me tonight. I didn't need to rush, so I stayed in the right lane.
Blue lights lit up my rearview mirror. I slowed, thinking the cop was about to dart around me to go after the Corvette that'd flown by at what had to be close to a hundred miles per hour.
The lights stayed on my tail.
I pulled over, resigned. Was my taillight out or something?
As I squinted to see through the flashing lights, I scrutinized the two people in the car. The man in the passenger seat looked familiar.I had to be imagining it.
Impossible.
It was Mitchell, Nosh's former right-hand man. Had to be.
What the hell was he doing riding shotgun in a police car?
I dialed Seth. The moment he answered I babbled fast, "I got pulled over on my way to our meetup. I wasn't speeding or anything. I think this is…the cop is riding with Nosh's lieutenant, Mitchell. Fuck, Mitchell is getting out of the car. I hope this isn't some sort of warped revenge scenario. If I get murdered, just know a San Diego cop pulled me over. This is definitely not legit."
"Where are you on the highway?"
"I'm within ten minutes of the exit to pull off for the gas station if that helps."
"I'm on my way and I'm calling for backup. You keep your car running and in drive. If he pulls a gun, you hit the gas. I'll handle any fall out from you running. Actually, just drive off now."
"Don't know if I can do that. Shit, he's almost at my car. Hurry. Please." My voice wavered. I turned on my phone's recording function to keep our conversation on record.
The cop knocked on my window, which I rolled down. "Ma'am, put your vehicle in park."
Automatically, I switched it to park. I hated my instant compliance with authority. I expected him to say, "License and registration…"
"I'm sorry," the police officer whispered. He backed away when Mitchell stepped up.
"Hey, Joley." He looked down my shirt, but his lip curled as if everything about me offended him. "Did you enjoy getting Nosh killed?"
No, I didn'tenjoyit.I stared at him in silence. No use arguing with him.
"You're going to help me with something."
"I don't owe you anything. Nosh and I had history that no one but us would ever understand. Now that he's gone?—"
"You're not understanding me. You are going to do this. If you don't, I'll kill you because you're right. You're nothing to me other than the reason Nosh is dead." He lifted a case the size of a shoebox with a digital keypad on the front. The flashing blue lights from the police vehicle gave him an extra level of menace as he leaned toward me. "Tell me what combination Nosh would have used on this."
"How would I know? What is that?" I scrutinized the solid metal box. "You had a cop friend pull me over for this?"
"What code would he have put in?"
"Break the box open. There has to be a way to get into it. What if the battery had died and you needed a back way into it? Call the company that makes it. I was the receptionist for a locksmith once. There's always another way to open it."
"Not this one. If we force it, it'll destroy what's inside."
"What happens if you guess the code wrong?"Stall him.I had to believe Seth would make it here.
"It locks up like a cell phone, but it unlocks after a few minutes."
