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A twisted, poisonous snake wooing these men so that I can get my hands on the patent plans to ensure my mother stays in good health?
Did the reasoning justify the means, or was I just lying to myself?
I couldn’t decide.
20
CALLIE
“Chick, when I got that call I swear I thought I was going to have a heart attack!”
Bianca nudged me with her shoulder as we walked together, trailing behind the six dogs we’d taken from the shelter for their walk. Thankfully, Eli’s dog wasn’t among them.
“I honestly have no idea how they got your number.” Pushing hair away from my face, I fought with the wind to keep the loose strands behind my ear. “It’s a little impressive.”
“Sure,” Bianca snorted, “but getting a call saying you hadn’t turned up for work and they’ve been looking everywhere for you? I thought I was about to see you on the evening news all chopped up in a trash bag!”
I laughed, watching Bianca’s face melt from shocked to amused. “I’m sorry, I really am. Things just got on top of me, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Honestly, when they found me, I thought I’d only been at the cafe for ten minutes or so, not three hours.”
“Shit, chick.” Bianca clicked her tongue and brought the three dogs under her care to a stop. “What on earth happened?”
“Eli.”
“Fuck.”
I stopped just ahead and turned to face her, fighting the strain on the leads as one of my dogs wanted to keep going. “Yup.”
“Alright, spill it.” She resumed walking. “I want all the details.”
“Well, he was at the facility when I turned up to see Mom.”
“What the hell?”
“I know, right? He was there and wanted to chat. I told him that none of this made sense because I had nothing or worth to give him, and I sure as hell wasn’t sleeping with him.”
“Thank god,” Bianca muttered. “I’d support you but you’re far too precious to give that up to a scumbag like him.”
Turning into the park, our pace picked up slightly.
“He doesn’t want anything from me, not directly. He wants me to get all the information on the new project we’ve been working on at work and give it to him. He wants the patent and everything else that goes along with it, I guess.”
“This is because of your boss?”
“Not directly. They’re crazy business rivals, and Eli has it out for Sawyer. He saw me as the weak link, apparently, because he says Sawyer is soft on me.”
“Well, we know that,” Bianca remarked. Gravel crunched underfoot as we headed through the fence. The dogs started to back, tails wagging furiously. I passed my leads over to Bianca, then closed the gate behind us.
“Sure, but he doesn’t know that. Not really. So he wants me to be a rat and steal things from Sawyer. That’s why he’s basically kidnapped my Mom and put her in that place. Because if I saw no, then he’ll still tell Sawyer god knows what, and I won’t have a leg to stand on. Then I’m jobless, loveless, and with no way to care for her.”
“Oh, chick. I’m so sorry.”
“Either way, I lose. So when they all turned up at the cafe, I was so numb. I couldn’t believe they came looking for me. Together.”
We both crouched, releasing each dog from their leash and then stepping back as they took off toward the other dogs milling about the dog park.
“I hadn’t even noticed they cared about me beyond the sex, y’know? It was all supposed to be just a bit of fun, and then yesterday it was suddenly real, and I didn’t know what to do.”
Bianca took my hand and led me to a nearby bench. We sat on the sun-warmed wood and I sighed deeply.
