Free Green-Eyed Monster by Gill McKnight Page A

with your precious code. Believe me, I will find out who it was, but you’ll be incarcerated long before then for this joke of a kidnap. No wonder you’re such a loser. You’re greedy and you’re lazy.” She snapped both arms behind Mickey, turned off the water, wrapped Mickey in a huge towel, and then led her back to the bedroom.
    “Why the hell didn’t you turn to me with a complaint instead of rohypnol?”
    ❖

    Now in a big terry robe, Mickey sat tied to the bedroom chair. Victoria hummed tunelessly, as usual, fussing around her as she braided and played with the long, damp hair.
    “But I don’t want braids! Ow, that hurts. Stop tugging,” she said, trying to twist her head away.
    “Can it, Heidi. It’s braids for you and your rat’s nest.” Victoria continued working with the hairbrush. “As a little girl I always wanted a Barbie, and you know what Santa brought me? A toy supermarket. So much for lesbian feminist parenting.” She wagged her hairbrush in Mickey’s face. “But let me tell you, that was the best run play supermarket on my street. All the neighborhood kids dropped in to fill their little toy wheelie carts with the mixed candy I bought for a dollar and sold at thirty percent mark-up!”
    Mickey rolled her eyes. It was easy to see where the Business Woman of the Year—several times over—had learned her trade.
    “So you’re saying if Santa had gotten you a Barbie doll you might be Hairdresser of the Year now? How good would that be?  Ow. Be careful.”
    “Have you got a sensitive scalp or something? I’m barely touching you,” she said. “This is great fun. I’ve always wanted to do this, just never had the right sort of girlfriends.” Mickey almost felt a twinge of pity for her, until her braids were clipped in a pretzel shape to the top of her head. Victoria grinned mischievously. “Oh Princess Leia, you look so cute.”
    “Enough with the stupid edelweiss hair! You really are one evil little bitch.”
    Victoria dangled the cuff keys suggestively. “Okay, new Plan B, Mickey. Whether we recover the money or not, you’ll go free. But if you help claw most of it back, then that bonus you’re owed? Let’s call it double or nothing.”
    “Then you need to give me the security details for all the shell accounts you hold.” Mickey got down to the real business.
    “Especially the ones Ginette hasn’t gotten to yet. Best bet is to empty whatever’s left into a new account we’ll set up. At least that money will be safe and she’ll have no idea where it is or how to find it.”
    As she stood to unbraid her hair, Mickey’s short terry robe rode up, revealing the curve of her bottom where it met the gentle swell of her hamstrings. Victoria stilled as she drank in the rounded sweep of tanned flesh. Her throat closed, causing her to swallow hard. She was a little surprised at how caught out she felt at such a simple thing as the flash of this woman’s thigh. It made her completely lose focus on her plans for life, never mind the next five minutes.
    “As for Ginette’s new accounts,” Mickey said, gathering enthusiasm for her subject, “I can try to hack them, but I’ll need as much information as possible. Dates, names, places, phone numbers, lucky numbers. Anything she might use to set up account security for herself.” Mickey stopped talking as she realized Victoria was ogling her rather than paying attention. Her eyes darkened and an unsettled look flitted over her face.
    Victoria felt her own face flush in an abashed mixture of blatant longing and stinging embarrassment at being caught staring.
    “Don’t worry. I’m not into sexual molestation,” she snapped, surprised at the aggression that crept into her voice.
    “I didn’t think you were.” Mickey came back just as sharp.
    She was tired of the never-ending implications that last night had not been mutual. That she had forced herself on Victoria, that her kisses and caresses had not been welcomed. It was not