Page 25 of Burning for You

“Pretty much.”

We head down to the subway. While I’m eager to catch my next train, my brother saunters. “You’re walking like a pussy! This is New York,” I grunt, payback for what he called me when I was at the ranch.

He laughs. “So, what’s the plan now?”

“We’ll have to think about it. For now, just behave, okay? You stay in my apartment unless I tell you otherwise.”

Jesse flicks the last strands of Carolyn’s hair off my pants when we sit on the subway. Putting my brother together with the blond hair makes my mind wander to Lucy.

Like me, my little sister had blond hair, thanks to Dad. While hers was stubbornly frizzy, which often upset her (I thought it was cute), at one stage she became obsessed with brushing her Barbie’s sleek golden hair. I made her cry once, asserting that the doll wasn’t real; no one had hair like that. But inside one of Brilliance Holdings’ bathrooms, I had in my arms the live specimen of that impossible Barbie hair—so perfect, so silky, so shiny.

Carolyn is no Barbie, though. She breathes, she asks questions, and it pains me to realize I will have to un-remember the closeness I encountered with her today, for my own good.

The vibration inside the subway carriage seems to have sent Jesse to sleep. As he drools away on my shoulder, my phone rings. It’s Grant.

“Where the fuck are you?” he says.

“I’m on my way home.”

“Good. Geez! That was too close with Bright’s secretary.” He has no idea what I’ve been through. “Did you get what you want?”

“Barnesy, the project is bigger than what Jesse found at Teller’s office in Bozeman. The whole Random Valley is in jeopardy.”

“What are you gonna do?” Grant says regretfully. “Tell me how else I can help.”

“You’ve done what you can. You just keep quiet and pretend nothing has happened.”

“Of course,” Grant says. “You know, Rupert Teller used to be Caro’s lieutenant at Sass. I’m sure she is in it, Holt.”

All evidence points to her.

It’s black and white, and even the gray means certainty in this matter.

My whole being shrinks. If I’d had any more bad news today, Jesse would’ve had to carry me home.

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