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Ifound myself behind the wheel of my car the next day, driving to south Boston, not really even knowing why I was going. I had just decided to get in the car and drive. With no destination in mind, I had cranked up the radio and just gone. Now, I found myself cruising along, just a mile or two from the pub where she worked and realizing that was where I was going. I was going to try and find Julia.
My head still hurt a little from overdoing it the night before, and I had woken up in one of Sean’s luxury hotel suites. I didn’t even know where I was when I first came to, but Sean had decided to stay in one of the bedrooms and was up before I was. He had apparently wanted to check the suites out himself and hadn’t had a reason to sleep there yet. Me being drunk and needing a place to go that wasn’t home was as good as any.
When I called Wade to come get me and bring me to my car, parked still at work, he was hesitant to let me drive. But I was sober now. Tired, headachy, and sad, but sober.
My phone showed I had a call, and I pressed the button on the steering wheel to let the car take over the call and answer it.
“Hey, Leo,” I said, turning down a street that was only a few away from the pub.
“Evening, Hunter,” Leo said. “How are we feeling today?”
“Terrible,” I said. “But functional.”
“You had a hell of a lot to drink last night,” Leo said. “Haven’t seen you put them away like that for a long time.”
“Haven’t wanted to,” I said. “Don’t think I will again for the foreseeable future either.”
“Probably a good call,” Leo said. “Meanwhile, I have a question to ask you. It’s about Wade.”
“Sure,” I said. “What’s up?”
“Well, I wanted to make sure you were positive Wade wasn’t the one leaking the details.”
“Wade?” I asked. “No, it’s not Wade. I rarely ever do work calls in front of him, and he isn’t privy to any of the other information. Why?”
“Well, I don’t want to alarm you, but the participants in your meetings the other day were outed in some internet groups. I only know about it because my assistant keeps up with them and knows you and I are friends.”
“The names of the people in those meetings was confidential,” I said. “Only a handful of people knew about them.”
“Which is why I asked about Wade,” he said. “Who else knew?”
“Well, me, Bobby, Julia… that’s about it,” I said, hating the list I just created.
“No one else?” he asked. “No one who maybe would see the names, but not know exactly what the meeting was about?”
It dawned on me very suddenly. Ididknow someone who would know who was at the meeting, at least in person. Someone who would have a list handy of who came in and out of the building, even if they didn’t know exactly what for. Someone who heard all the gossip and could leak the information out if they wanted to.
“Katrina,” I said.
“The receptionist?” Leo asked. “The one in the lobby?”
“She’s the only one,” I said. “Bobby and I kept the list of names to that meeting between ourselves because of some government red tape in China. Didn’t want those names leaking back and them kiboshing the deal.”
“Well, you might be shit out of luck on that,” Leo said. “But really? Katrina? I thought she was nice.”
“Nice if she has a reason to be,” I said, remembering a couple of off-handed remarks Julia had mentioned about her. “Thanks for the call, Leo, but I have to go.”
“Of course,” he said. “Keep your chin up, my friend. All this will work out. I’d fire Katrina, though.”
“Oh, I will,” I said, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
I pulled into the tiny parking lot of the pub and found a space to park. It wasn’t the kind of place that people often drove to, so parking was rather limited. Most people who came here did so by foot, meaning it was a very local traffic situation. I was lucky to find a spot, and as I got out, I immediately ran into a couple of the people I had met the first time I was there.
“Hey, if it isn’t Hunter,” Slim said, my name coming out as if it were spelled “Huntah.”
“Hi, Slim,” I said. “Rosa, Sammy, nice to see you again.”
“Welcome back,” Rosa said. “What brings you down here? I heard you were big-shotting it with Julia now. Whisking her around in a limo and shit.”
