Page 59 of Mountain Security

The man had been surprised that there had been no second date, but Yvette knew she’d done the right thing. Though there was arguably nothing wrong with Aristide, there had been nothing between them. No spark, no joy. Nothing like what she felt when she looked at Alex.

If she closed her eyes, she could still feel Alex’s hands on her hips last night, his—

She opened her eyes again, shifting impatiently in her seat.

Her office wasso notthe place to be thinking about this.

Sighing, she dropped her phone and turned her attention to the pile of mail on her desk. The last thing she wanted to do was waste time opening envelopes, but she was the kind of person who couldn’t start thinking until her desk was clear. It was the way she’d always worked, and she wasn’t about to change that today.

She opened three letters, all of them invitations to events that had been mailed before the party. She’d have someone from the team call and reply in the affirmative. Now, more than ever, Pierre needed to be seen.

They’d decided to host a press conference. She was doing it as much for the community as for her team. They needed to see that everything was okay, or at least that they were going to fight this head-on.

It’d been the easiest press release Théo had ever organized. Every single local journalist, and several regional ones, had picked up on the story, and wanted to know more about it.

All the gritty, dirty details.

She sighed. She didn’t envy Théo the job of getting everything ready in less than forty-eight hours. But then, that’s what Théo did best—he himself admitted his best work was done under pressure. That was one of the things that made him an incredible comms expert.

The last item on the pile was a package—about the size of a shoe box and covered in yellowed wrapping paper and twine.

Twine.

Who uses twine in this day and age?

Yvette pulled out her scissors from the top drawer and snipped through the twine, began unraveling layer upon layer of paper.

She caught sight of Alex standing right outside her office.

“Hey, Yvette,” he began. “I wanted to—“

She pulled the lid open.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Yvette’s mind sloshed drunkenly through the options.

An alarm clock.

A big watch.

A—

The box slipped out of her hands.

Something large tackled her from behind, sending her flying under her desk.

“Bomb!” Alex shouted, his voice loud in her ears.

It took her a moment to realize the words weren’t addressed to her. It was a warning for others to get away.

Celine.

Théo.

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