Page 124 of Captive Omega

First Sadie and her talk of a private clinic that helps people who can’t afford medical treatment. A place that only exists because of Garrison. Now this talk of hiring inexperienced assistants and giving them a purpose and a job it looks like they love.

I know how the world works. Yet I keep running up against things that make me wonder if maybe I don’t.

"And Marie, did she get why you quit?" I ask, setting aside my unease for the moment.

"That was her dream, but she knew it wasn't mine. She gets it."

"You're lucky to have her."

His cheeks turn even more pink, and he ducks his head. "I know."

That’s really sweet.

He nods and walks away.

"And Lex?" I call after him before he’s taken more than a step down.

He twists to face me.

"Thanks."

"What for?" His brow wrinkles.

"For solving my case."

"I did?"

"You did."

"Cool." He walks down the stairs like he's in the habit of cracking cases every day. He probably is.

I stare after him. "A genius, and I bet he doesn't even know it."

Then I close the door and get busy stuffing my face with Thai food and figuring out what to say that will get Dexter Pieter to call me. I’m sick of chasing after him. He can come to me.

I must eat too much pad thai, chicken satay, and dim sum because I wake up surrounded by empty food containers in a dark room.

I think I rolled onto a container and that’s what woke me.

It isn’t.

I angle my head toward the window, stare at the midnight-blue sky outside, and then I hear it again.

Muffled music.

It’s so bizarre that I get up and cross over to the window. The big pink flamingo is still hanging out in the pool, but there is no one outside. The lights are on in the pool house and someone is blasting music from inside.

“Did they decide to throw a party after cleaning it out?”

I stand there, chewing my lip as I figure out what to do. There’s going to be no sleeping with someone playing music out there. And even if it was at a volume I could tolerate, I’m curious. Why of all days did Garrison, Blaine, and Vaughn decide to clean out the pool house and have a party?

To celebrate my fiancé deciding to marry someone else?

Isn’t that a little cruel, especially right outside my window?

No one enters or leaves while I have my nose glued to the window. My forehead is getting cold, so I peel it off the glass and consider my options.

Ignore the music and hope it stops soon, or go down and shove whoever is playing the music so loudly into the pool.

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