Page 5 of Dr. Off Limits

“Hey, Angie?” She stopped and turned around. “Can I buy your headphones?”

She pulled out the ear bud that was in her ear. “What?”

“Your headphones. How much?” I grabbed my wallet from my back pocket.

Angie frowned at me. “They’re not special. They cost me about five pounds. Why do you want them?”

I didn’t have time to explain. Pulling out a twenty-pound note, I said. “Would you give them up for twenty pounds?”

She shrugged, handed them over but didn’t take the money. “Just give them back to me tomorrow.” Angie earned minimum wage.

“Please let me buy them from you.”

“You can have them,” she said.

I stuffed the purple note into her hand and she handed them over.

“You’re strange, Dr. Cove,” she said in a tone that told me she didn’t really care—she was just going with it.

“Thanks so much,” I said and raced back to Barnaby.

Maybe I’d make it to the restaurant on time after all.

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