Killer Blonde Read Online Free Page B

job,” she said. “You’re too good to work for Vicki. I’ll make sure you get the money and the appreciation you deserve. We’ll make a terrific team.”
    With her white dress and long pale hair, Jennifer looked like an angel pleading for Minnie’s soul.
    But Minnie wasn’t the first—or the last—to refuse an angel’s plea. “Vicki’s getting better, Jennifer,” she said. “Look how she changed her mind about my evaluation.”
    Jennifer was too modest to take credit for Vicki’s change of heart. Instead she said, “Did Vicki give you the A-plus you deserve for your work?”
    â€œNo.” Minnie’s sharp nose turned a discouraged red, like a squashed plum. “But nobody’s perfect. I know that.”
    â€œMinnie, why do you stay with that woman?” Jennifer said.
    â€œShe needs me,” Minnie said. “You only like me.”
    â€œWhat kind of answer is that?” Jennifer said. “You must like being abused. Vicki gives you nothing, yet you run after her, hoping she’ll change for the better. She’s never going to like you.”
    Minnie stayed silent. She didn’t know why she stayed with Vicki. Some people didn’t believe they deserved good treatment.
    Jennifer sighed. “I can’t save you if you won’t save yourself,” she said sadly.
    I waited until Jennifer was gone about an hour. Then I told Vicki that it appeared our former employee had already taken everything from her desk, including her Rolodex with hundreds of client names and addresses.
    Vicki paled. “Thank you, Margery. There’s no need to tell anyone else. I’ll take care of it.”
    I bet. Mr. Hammonds would spit a brick if he found out.
    Minnie was heartbroken when her friend left. She cried at her desk all day. I found her there, slurping lentil soup and crunching raw carrots. I ask you: Is that food? No wonder that woman didn’t have the strength to put up a good fight.
    I tried to talk with Minnie. I tried to get her to leave. I all but ordered her to pack up and follow Jennifer. But she refused, in that stubborn way weak people sometimes have.
    Later, I told myself I tried. I really did. I knew it was Minnie’s last chance.
    But I didn’t know everything, the way Jennifer thought I did. I didn’t know it was also Vicki’s.

Chapter 4
    Minnie was different after Jennifer left. She was even quieter, if that was possible. But her silence had an angry edge. Now I heard things slammed around on her desk.
    Once, I caught the high-pitched sound of breaking glass. In the mood she was in, I was afraid Minnie might slash her wrists. I ran over to see if she was okay. Minnie was weeping over a broken coffee mug, hot tears mingling with the shattered blue glass.
    â€œIt slipped,” she said. “It was a present from Jennifer.”
    But I saw the gouge in the plaster by her desk and the milky coffee running down her wall. Minnie threw that cup in a fit of rage.
    So why didn’t Minnie get angry when Vicki loaded her with Jennifer’s work? Why didn’t she demand that Vicki give her a raise for doing two jobs? Why was Minnie such a dishrag?
    Little Vicki was a big bully. I knew that. But now I saw that side of her unbridled. When Minnie didn’t fight back, Vicki began to openly torment the poor thing. A few men walked away when she started, but the boys joined her. Picking on Minnie became the new indoor sport.
    Vicki started it, with her cruelly accurate Minnie imitations. She would hunch her shoulders, screw up her face, cry, and creep about.
    Bobby was equally vicious. His cries of “Squeak! Squeak!” followed Minnie down the hall.
    Trust Jimmy to use sex as a weapon. He brought in the infamous April issue of
Penthouse,
the first national magazine to show pubic hair. He left the thing open on her desk. It was pretty dirty for those days. Minnie blushed so violently, I