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Yep. He’s gone.
Somewhere in this great big earth there’s a hidden artifact that explains the relationship between winking, condoms, and octopuses but I’m not confident I’ll uncover it in my lifetime. I guess that’s something for our future mini Larindas to tackle.
“What’s going on?” I mumble under my breath.
“No idea,” Larinda whispers.
Her phone rings, and she goes pale.
“It’s Rena. I should take this.”
I swallow hard and force a nod. We already know what’s coming and have agreed to face it. Might as well get it over with so we can start the recovery process.
She grabs my hand and leads me back into the hall.
Once we’re out of sight, she answers the video call and angles the phone so we’re both in the frame.
“Larinda, hi!” Rena says, as cheery as we’ve ever seen her. “And Val! What a pleasure.”
What the hell? Is the bar already open at 6 AM in LA?
“Oh. Uh. Hi,” Larinda says.
I take her other hand and lace our fingers.
“Just wanted to check in and see how you were. We heard the terrible news, of course. We’re so sorry. Just know you have the full support of all of us here at Lakebend.”
Hold up.
Larinda stiffens and sends me a confused look.
I shrug back.
Maybe we’re still asleep on her bus. If an accountant walks by railing against the IRS for punitive tax evasion laws, it’ll all make sense.
“I guess you just never know with people,” Rena says. “We were as shocked as anyone, of course.”
“You were?” Larinda asks.
“Oh yes. Who could have guessed Jarvis would do such a thing? He seemed like such a wonderful, devoted partner.”
I manage to contain my snort.
Now I know this is a dream.
“He… I’m sorry. What are you talking about?” Larinda asks.
Rena’s eyes grow three sizes as she quiets and looks ready to throw an assistant at us.
Instead, she clears her throat and shifts uncomfortably in front of her stash of tiny cactuses.
“The report, darling.”
“The report?”
“It leaked last night. It’s everywhere. No one knows who wrote it or why, but apparently there’s been a mole on tour this whole time. Someone’s been documenting everything, including the years-long affair Jarvis was having with Sage and Coriander.”
Oh.
