Page 38 of Dream Chaser

Why would Nova sleep at the office? Did she forget her keys? There must’ve been an explanation. A reason. Anything.

We sat in the back. I ordered espresso for both of us, although I wasn’t sure I could stomach mine. The waitress set our drinks on the table. I thanked her and took a sip.

“What makes you think Nova slept there?”

“It struck me as odd that she kept refusing to go out with us. She seems friendly, but I’ve invited her to lunch at least ten times, and she always says she needs to work.” Eleanor tore a packet of sugar open. “She might have money problems.”

“What was the address on the form Nova filled in?”

“Millford.” Eleanor dumped sugar into her cup. “It’s a town—”

“Yeah, I know.” I also knew who was running for mayor. Nova didn’t say the divorce was amicable. What if—no, impossible. She had a family. Friends. She’d stay with them.

But what if she didn’t? What if she didn’t have anyone?

Even worse, what if she didn’t have a place to stay?

She said no when I offered to take her home. If she’d forgotten her keys last night, she would’ve told me, wouldn’t she?

“Fuck.” I dragged a palm down my face. “Do you think she’s slept there before?”

Eleanor sipped from her cup. “I’m not sure. She often comes to work early, but I’ve never seen her there before me.”

“I need to talk to her,” I said.

She put her espresso down. “What do you know about her life outside of the office?”

I tapped my fingers on the table, my thoughts spinning in anxious circles. “Not much. She did say she recently asked her husband for divorce.”

“Well.” Eleanor pressed a napkin to her lips, her expression thoughtful. “That’d explain a lot. I’ve been there. Divorce attorneys aren’t cheap. If she needs one, she’s probably trying to save as much as she can.”

“I don’t know.” I looked out the window at the gray cityscape, chest heavy with suspicion that Nova was in a way more vulnerable position than I’d assumed after seeing her curled in the uncomfortable office chair.

“I can’t just ask her if she’s got a place to stay,” I said. “I’m not sure she trusts me enough to tell the truth. Every time we talked about something personal, she disclosed the bare minimum.”

Not to mention, I was her boss. She didn’t owe me any answers. For ethical reasons, I should stay away and not cross the line between behaving like her superior and treating her like a friend.

“That’s why I didn’t want to wake her before we thought this through,” Eleanor said. “I’m glad we didn’t. She’d probably be embarrassed, and we don’t want that. Let me talk to her. Maybe we’re overreacting, and she just forgot her keys. There could be a million reasons someone would spend the night at the office.”

“I hope so.” I downed the rest of my bitter coffee. “Find out everything you can. Then we’ll discuss our next steps.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Nova

August

“Nova.”

I jolted awake. Daylight doused the office, and Eleanor stood by my desk, faintly smelling of coffee and her signature vanilla perfume.

My desk.

Shit.

As I sat straighter, the blazer I’d covered myself with slid to the floor.

Eleanor picked it up and handed it back to me. “It’s eight a.m. Nobody’s going to be here until nine. Do you want to go for coffee?”