Venom by Nikki Tate Page A

discovered their secret.
    Em has obviously had a similar thought, because she’s pulled a syringe out of a box on the shelf behind Big Joe’s desk. She pierces the rubbery top of the vial with the needle and draws up a little of the liquid into the syringe. Then she puts the vial back into the sandwich box and the box back into the fridge.
    â€œQuick. Let’s get out of here.”
    The fridge door shuts, plunging the room back into darkness.
    Em opens the office door a crack and peeks out. “Let’s go.”
    We slip out and Em reaches back to make sure the door is locked again. Then we move quickly toward the open double doors at the end of the barn. My heart thuds, but I am pretty sure that we’re home free. “Em, that was—”
    We pop out of the end of the barn and turn together toward the party at the pit. And slam right into Big Joe.

chapter seventeen
    â€œWhat the—?”
    â€œJoe!” Em says.
    â€œWhat are you two doing in my barn?”
    â€œNothing,” I say. “We—”
    But I don’t have time to come up with a good reason for us to have been in Big Joe’s shedrow. It’s nowhere near Scampy’s. Big Joe reaches out to grab my arm. At the same moment, Em bursts into loud hysterical laughter. She grabs my other arm and sways.
    â€œJoe, please don’t tell Scamper Bamper Boo...” Em dissolves into giggles and falls against me. Joe and I both reach out to catch her. “Oh my god...Scamperooni would freaking kill me...” Em leans into me. “Right, Stretchie?” A lightbulb goes on. She’s pretending to be drunk.
    â€œIt’s okay, Baby Cakes. I’ve got you,” I say. To Joe I add, “Sorry, Joe. I didn’t know where else to take her. We wanted to stay far away from Scampy’s...”
    Big Joe slaps me on the back. “Hey, I hear you, Buddy.”
    Em groans and clutches her stomach. “Ohhh...I’m gonna be sick.”
    She gives a realistic retch and Joe takes a step back.
    â€œCome on, let’s go.” I drag Em forward. She leans into me and I make a big deal about holding her up. We take a few steps and she drops to her knees. The noises are disgusting. I know she’s faking it, but it still makes me feel sick.
    â€œHave fun, kids!” Joe says and heads into the barn. Em stops retching long enough tolisten to Joe’s office door open and close.
    â€œLet’s go,” she says. We sprint off and disappear into the maze of barns. We finally stop running and lean against the side of the shavings shed to catch our breath.
    â€œ
Baby Cakes
?” she says, gasping.
    â€œ
Stretchie
?” I reply.
    We look at each other and burst out laughing. We can’t stop. Tears run down my cheeks. I can’t breathe. The harder I laugh, the harder Em laughs. We laugh until my stomach aches. Em is beside me, her back against the wall. Her head tips back and her eyes close. I turn to face her and take a deep, shuddery breath.
    â€œEm—”
    She doesn’t wait for me to ask. Instead she leans into me, for real this time. Her lips brush my cheek. I wrap her into my arms and lean down to kiss her. Properly. On the lips. And for a short time, nothing else in the world matters. Not Big Joe or Tony or how the horses might run.
    Wee Jimmy doesn’t show up in the morning. Scampy is in a sour mood when he rolls in at 5:30 AM , an hour or so after Em and I arrive to start work. We both feel pretty grim. So does Scampy.
    â€œHow the hell does he think I can run a business here?” he asks.
    We ignore Scampy’s string of swear words and keep working. Everything is different and everything is the same. We work just as hard, but Em keeps catching my eye and pulling funny faces. I try not to laugh. Giggling is not so cool in the cold light of day.
    Em has told Scampy what we found in Joe’s fridge, and as soon as the testing guys get in, we’re taking