Page 13 of Jaked

"It's not a story," I said. "It's the truth."

"Uh-huh. So who was this 'hacker' of yours?"

I opened my mouth and hesitated. Would it be better if Vonnie thought I was hacked by a stranger? Or someone I knew? Screw it. I took a deep breath and went with the truth. "It was this guy I used to know." I glared over at him. "And I'm pretty sure he's flat-out crazy."

"Right," she said.

"Honest."

"So what is it?" she said. "You want your job back?" She gave a humorous laugh. "What happened? Your other job fell through?"

"Other job? What other job?" I didn't recall seeing anything in that email about another job. "Thereisno other job," I told her. At least, there was no otherdaytimejob. The bartending gig was nights, so that didn't count, right?

"Uh-huh."

"You've got to believe me," I said. "I don't even know why the guy did it." I turned to give Jake another long, murderous look. Into the phone, I spoke through clenched teeth. "But trust me, he's gonna be really,reallysorry when I get ahold of him."

"You know who's sorry?" Vonnie said. "Me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," she said, "I took a chance on you. I had a stack of resumes a mile high. But I chose you." She made a sound of disgust. "And you didn't even last a month."

"I did too," I said.

"And then," she continued as if I hadn't spoken, "you wait 'til our biggest event of the year, and you quit. By email. With no notice." Her voice rose. "And you insult me in the bargain."

"But Ididn'tinsult you. It wasn't me." My palms were sweaty. "And I didn't quit."

"Yeah?" she said. "Then why aren't you here?"

I glanced around the car. "Uh, that's a really good question…"

"In case you forgot," she said, "we start at eight."

"Well," I stammered. "There was this thing at my apartment." I sucked in a breath. "Never mind. That's not your problem. I get it. Just give me a half-hour. I'll be there. Alright?"

"You know what?" she said. "I don’t have time for this. I've got a replacement to train."

I closed my eyes. "You replaced me?" I swallowed. "Already?"

"Sheldon had a friend."

Damn it. I opened my eyes, and said, "Vonnie, please."

"And just between us," she said, "I wouldn’t be using me as a reference if I were you." And with that, she hung up.

I whirled to Jake. "You jerk!" I said.

He gave me that same old cocky grin. "Told you it was a bad idea."

I wanted to throttle him. "Why the hell would you do this to me?"

"For one thing," he said, "that job sucked."

"It did not," I told him.

He turned to give me a no bullshit look. "So youwantedto work as a hotel clerk?"