Page 82 of Muted

Swallowing deeply, I watch for his reaction when I tell him. “Pulled her onto my lap and held her. Reassured her that whatever is bothering her will be okay. Told her I was there if she needed help. Anything that I could think of, to be honest.”

He doesn’t ask, but I know he wants to know more.

“It took her over an hour of sobbing until she exhausted herself and fell asleep. I spoke briefly with the roommate to see if she had any idea what was going on, but she didn’t know. Apparently, they’re on opposite schedules and Susu hasn’t spoken to her either. I just put her to bed and left. I figured she wouldn’t appreciate me sticking around to watch her sleep.”

Theo pulls his phone out, studying it and then hesitating before he starts to type. “I want to text her, but I don’t want to wake her up.”

“Let her sleep.” He should, but he’s fighting it.

Setting his phone down face up, he keeps his eyes on it when his face hardens. “Who the fuck did she see before we got there?”

“Not Vance. He showed up right after I did. They were supposed to practice today.” My fingers take up the tapping rhythm on the table once again, then an idea flashes in my head. “Was the door locked when you got there?”

He shakes his head quickly. “No, the backdoor was unlocked.”

I sit up straighter and fold my arms on the table. “I let her in through the front and locked it behind her.”

Theo hisses, pissed. He grabs his phone as I yank mine out of my pocket. We’re both on the same page as he races to text Cliff. Fuck texting that asshole. I pull up my contacts and hit call.

The phone rings a few times before he finally answers, sounding winded, while the noisy air distorts our reception. He sounds like he’s in a tunnel. “What’s up, man? You see how crazy this wind is? Shit has to fucking stop already!”

I immediately cut to the chase, not giving a rat’s ass about making polite conversation. “You still out of town?”

He doesn’t answer me right away, but eventually admits, “No, I got back in last night.” Theo is watching me as I meet his eyes before asking my next question.

“You stop by the bar today?” I watch my friend as his muscles flex, holding back until I get confirmation. This isn’t going to go over well. If Cliff was there, Theo is going to murder him for being the cause of Susu’s shutdown.

Another long pause, and instead of answering me, he sounds defensive when he asks, “Why?”

“Doesn’t fucking matter why. Were you at Sonority earlier today?” My voice drops lower, a hint of threat behind it, and I know Cliff hears it.

“Yeah, I stopped by. Had to grab some stuff from my desk. Why? Am I not allowed to go to MY bar?” I know I need to tread lightly, or I’ll never get a straight answer from him. He’s been on the edge for months with his mood, which is one of the main reasons I need him gone. None of us can function with him like this.

Nodding my head once to let Theo know he was, in fact, there, I ignore the way he cracks his neck to probe more information from Cliff. “Of course I’m not saying you’re not allowed there. Don’t be ridiculous. I asked because I had locked the door after dropping off Susu, but Theo mentioned finding it open.”

It almost sounds like I hear a relieved breath before he chuckles into my ear. “I was going to ask what your problem was. I heard Theo come in, so there was no reason to lock back up.”

I cut in, asking so Theo can hear me, “Theo was there when you were?” but he keeps talking.

“Which, by the way, what are you doing, leaving that girl in the bar alone with access to our files? She was in our office, digging through shit, you know that?”

I roll my eyes at his attempt to throw her under the bus. Guaranteed she was gathering things to get to work, but I decide to play along a bit to see if he’ll reveal anything else. “Huh, maybe she was just getting the receipts. I’ll talk to her about it, unless you already did?” Keeping myself calm, like I don’t care one way or the other, works like a charm.

“I already took care of it.” He says it like I should be proud of him. Staying collected, I force a smile to hopefully sound more curious rather than pissed the fuck off, like I actuallyamfeeling.

“What’d you say?” Theo stands up, but I wave my hand to keep him here. Then cover the phone to whisper, “Calm the fuck down. We know he was there.”

I almost miss the beginning of Cliff’s monologue as he dives into his explanation of how he put ‘that girl’ in her place, too busy glaring at my best friend until he plants his ass back down.

“Start over, would you? You broke up there,” I interrupt him, and he does.

“I was watching her go through shit on your desk and when she came out, I stopped her. Asked her what she was doing and OF COURSE, the girl didn’t say anything. Still don’t know why we’re putting up with that shit when we all know she’s being stubborn. I told her it’s not appropriate for her to be in there alone. Gave her a warning and told her not to let me catch her again or I’d write her up. Oh, and I mentioned not to give us reasons to distrust her. Shit looks fishy if you ask me.”

I can only blink.What a load of horseshit.“You do realize that she has to be in there. It’s where we store everything.”

“She was going through your things, Chester. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want her riffling through my shit. It’s an invasion of my privacy.”

Scowling at nothing, I snap out, “What the hell do you keep in there that’s so fucking private? Was she going throughyourstuff?”

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