Page 6 of Miss Understanding

“Are you sure?”

This. This was the reason I wanted a little doll of his likeness to jab pins into. Although I wasn’t familiar with the art of voodoo, I could fucking learn to jab a doll dressed in a suit for this guy.

“I’m quite sure. Unless you’d prefer to charter a private jet.” He’d done it before, but it had been for a client emergency and at their expense.

“No. It’s fine. What time do we arrive?”

“After four o’clock in the afternoon.”

“That late?”

Here is where I should’ve stayed quiet, but his obvious questions were grating on me. “There’s a three-hour time difference and a connecting flight, so yes. That late.”

“Fine, book it. And make sure to get an SUV for the rental car.”

“Okay. As far as hotels go, there’s not a lot to choose from. In Tazewell, there are two local inns and a bed-and-breakfast. The next town over has a Red Roof Inn?”

He simply stared at me. I imagined in his mind I’d just asked if he’d like to take a bed in hell. I wasn’t sympathetic as I was already in hell, knowing I would be traveling with him.

“None of those options will do.”

I figured he’d say as much. “There is a Hilton or Residence Inn in Blacksburg.”

“Blacksburg is an hour and a half away. It won’t do, either.”

Evidently, he wanted me to pull a Four Seasons out of my ass along with a nonstop flight while I was at it.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know what? Just figure it out.”

Right. Just figure it out. I loved it when my boss took the luxury of uttering those words, thus absolving himself of the problem. I prided myself on being savvy, but what the hell did he expect me to do?

“Also, I need all of the case files for the deposition to come with us.”

Although everything was available electronically, I knew my boss preferred paper copies he could hold in his hands. “I’ll prepare to ship them now.”

“No shipping. They are too confidential, and I’m not taking chances.”

“All of the files?” There were at least three full boxes. He couldn’t mean to take them all.

“The important ones.”

Which were? I could feel the heat rising in my neck. Did he mean the red folders which were confidential, or did he want the other witness testimony files, too? And if I couldn’t ship them, then what the hell did he expect me to do with them? I was about to ask him these questions, but he held up a hand.

“I’m done talking details, Ms. Tate. Just get it done. I’m heading home. Email me the itinerary, and I’ll see you tomorrow at the airport.”

With his departing words, he walked out. I had to keep myself from chucking my stapler at him. But then I remembered his father had died. Although he might not be displaying grief the way I would’ve expected, it didn’t mean he wasn’t upset. Plus, I liked my bright pink stapler too much to subject it to the abuse.

Chapter Five

Kendall

It would take three trips to get all of the boxes from the street up to my second-story garden apartment in Torrance. Since I had no idea which files were the important ones and Liam had taken shipping off the table, I’d had little choice but to bring every single one of them. I’d taken my normal bus from the office to class, then a Lyft car back to the office so I could load up all of the files into boxes, and grab another Lyft ride home, cursing my boss the entire way. Nothing like having to ask one of the janitorial guys to help me to the curb with three heavy boxes after nine o’clock on a Thursday night. I still couldn’t believe I was having to facilitate my boss’s unreasonable request.

At least the driver had been nice enough to unload the car and take the boxes to the bottom of my apartment steps. Too bad the complex didn’t have an elevator to help schlep them up. Which meant I was on my own.

When I opened the door, my roommate, Chloe, was studying sprawled on her futon sofa—which doubled as her bed. Our studio apartment wasn’t much, but it was in a safe area and seven hundred square feet. Since rent wasn’t cheap, we’d both compromised on a small studio instead of paying twice the rent for a two bedroom. It made things cozy, but considering all we both did was work, go to school, and sleep, it worked for us.

She glanced up, frowning. “What’s with the box?”