Free Color Me a Crime by Tonya Kappes Page A

mutter.
    “Here’s the deal.” He leans closer. “This place has been crawling with cops. We have to be on the up and up. You know what I mean?”
    Slowly, I nod my head, when I really have no freaking clue what he’s talking about.
    “Linda said you’d take care of everything. So I’m going to give you a shot in Bottoms Up.” His flimsy hands flip and flop in front of my face. “This is your shot to make it big. Don’t screw it up!”
    He claps his hands and the Lucy Liu look-a-like rushes over. He walks away.
    “Here.” She hands me a thick packet with Bottoms Up printed on the front. “Be here at nine AM. Not a minute late.”
    I watch her walk away, my mouth still open. I’m not sure, but I think I just agreed to be an actress in a porno movie. That’s not what is disturbing me. What did he mean when he said that Linda said I would take care of everything? What is everything?
    I know nothing.

Chapter Eleven
     
    The message light on my phone is rapidly blinking like those twinkling Christmas lights. That only means one thing…Erin is in desperate need to get in touch with me.
    A million ideas running through my head include jail, murder, setup, and…jail.
    Before smacking the dashboard so the radio will come on, and throwing the old Toyota in gear, I thumb through the messages to make sure that Joel or Cop Carl doesn’t have a warrant out for my arrest and Erin is warning me.
    Where are you?
    Don’t forget about the mixer.
    Where are you?
    I’m not kidding anymore!
    Okay, so I’m getting nervous. I don’t know where you are.
    Fine! I’m calling Matilda and Carl! And Joel!
    Okay…I’m not calling the cops. Please just show up tonight.
    Crap! It totally slipped my mind that I have to go to the mixer and match Buddy’s aura with one of the girls.
    Erin rents out the Coffee Shop after hours to host the mixers. We only serve coffee, sodas, and teas along with a couple of desserts. We used to include alcoholic beverages, but once it got out of hand, the cops were called, and we were smacked with a big ole fine for not having a liquor license.
    My role is to stay in the kitchen and peek through the small window into the coffee shop to get a good look at the auras and pair them. Believe it or not, there are some auras that just go together. Like blue and yellow. The blue aura is sensitive and loves to nurture; they are drawn to the yellow aura because yellow loves to be taken care of.
    Buddy, on the other hand, is going to be hard to pair. I don’t get to read the potential dates before the mixer, because they are coming from a pool of people who have filled out online applications. Erin invites them based on what they have filled out.
    The phone buzzes as soon as I pass over the Park City County line.
    Joel.
    I need to bring you in for questioning. When can you come down to the station?
    Never ! I hit the delete button on the phone. I don’t have anything to hide, but I’d been in this position before, and I’m not going to let this happen again.
    What kind of questioning? He was there the entire time. And he took me home.
    With one eye on the road and one eye looking at my rear-view mirror, I pull down Main Street and around the strip mall where Color Me Love, The Surplus and The Coffee Shop are located, and park in the alley. I can slip in the back door so no one will see me. If I know Park City’s finest, I know they are watching out for me.
    Plus I really want to run into The Surplus and use Vive’s computer again. Surely, 4Play has some other positions available I can apply for.
    “Hey, Olivia.” Salvatore shoves the cardboard box in the big metal garbage bin that every shop owner shares. Unfortunately, The Surplus takes up so much of the dumpster with all their boxes. “Everyone has been looking for ya. Where ya been?” He questions me.
    “Just here and there,” I mutter. Salvatore is the last person I would give any information to. He’d use any and all information to get in my