AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We’ve been summoned to Hawk Sunday brunch when my parents come back from their cruise. You can say no, or wecan postpone. No pressure. You don’t need to go. It’s not like a super-important thing. My mom will understand if you aren’t up to it. I’ll under?—”
“Stop it.” I interrupted his nervous rambling. “I’ll happily accompany you.” This put us squarely in boyfriend-girlfriend, not-pretending territory. “When?”
“Uh… Okay… I’ll have to check.”
“Is that why you wanted me alone?”
“No. We also have new information. You mentioned earlier that your coworker Katelyn’s fiancé died not too long ago.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Leo passed away about six months ago. Why?”
“Where did he work?”
“Here at the EPA.”
“Tell me he died of a disease.”
“You’re sick. No. He was in a car accident.”
“Shit.”
“What?”
“You were supposed to have a car accident.”
The words knocked the breath out of me. The room suddenly felt chilly. I asked the unthinkable. “Are you telling me you think somebody is bumping off EPA people because we work here?”
“We’re going to find out.”
I decided this wasn’t the best time to broach the subject of moving back to my house. After we hung up, I was still shivering. The idea that I was in danger because of my career? I’d chosen this to save families from the dangers of contaminated water. How could some ogre be against that?
If I quit, would I be safe? It didn’t matter. When I pulled the picture of Carmen from my wallet again, I knew quitting was not an option. People deserved to trust that we kept their water clean.
After a minute, I went back to my desk to work, but fear made the screen go out of focus and swim in front of me.
“Serena?”
I turned to find Katelyn. “Yeah?”
“Oh dear, you look awful. Did something happen?”
I pasted on a smile. “I had a fight with my parents.” It was best to stick to true things.
“I hate when that happens,” she agreed. “I’d hoped we would get a chance to talk at Disneyland…”
“Sorry about that. I was bushed.” From more nonstop hot sex the night before than I’d ever had in my life.
“Maybe tonight we could go out for dinner or drinks—just the two of us.” She wanted girl time, and I couldn’t put her off forever.
“Leo?” I asked softly.
She nodded. “I miss him so much it hurts. His death screwed me up, and now the bills are totally screwing me over.”
I wanted to accept the invitation, but I remembered Duke’s warnings. “Not this week, maybe next.”
Her face dropped. “Yeah, whenever you can fit me into your busy schedule,” she said, walking away.
My stomach twisted. I’d just won the shittiest friend award.
