Page 33 of Hate Notes

Kora rolled back and clapped her hands as she let out a shrill laugh. “Oh my God. Troubled youth? Now that you say it, I can totally picture it. Was this before or after juvie?”

“Shut up,” I said, smiling. “I wasn’tactuallytroubled. I just thought it was funny to talk back to people. And play minor pranks. And occasionally get into trouble…”

Kora gave me a look, so I threw a few pieces of popcorn at her.

“Anyway!” I said loudly, changing the subject. “Like I was saying. Orion is hilariously uptight. Yesterday he went on a five minute rant about the size of the margins on a client report I sent him. Who even notices that? And he's always lurking around my desk with his stupid perfect suits and his stupid perfect hair, probably plotting new ways to try to catch me breaking his ridiculous rules..."

"Sounds awful," Kora said, failing to hide her smirk.

"It is! He's impossible. And he has this thing he does when he's annoyed where his jaw ticks and his nostrils—" I caught myself. "I mean, not that I notice things like that. I just happen to have eyes. In my head. Which sometimes see things. Completely normal, non-obsessive things."

Kora’s face said her bullshit detector was blaring at full volume. To her credit, she only smiled patiently and nodded.

My phone buzzed. Cole's name flashed on the screen.

"Speak of a different devil," I muttered.

"You should probably answer it this time," Kora said. "Before he gets suspicious."

I knew she was right. With a deep sigh, I picked up the phone. "Hey, Cole."

"Finally," his voice crackled through the speaker. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten our arrangement."

The word 'arrangement' made my skin crawl. "No, just been busy. It's not like I could just walk in and ask for the company secrets at Foster Real Estate. I have to actually build trust first."

"And? What do you have for me?"

I caught Kora's eye. She made an encouraging gesture.

“Nothing yet,” I said slowly.

“That’s not good enough, Ember. You need to give me something right fucking now, or this whole thing is over.”

I felt a stab of panic.Shit.

"Well..." I said, scrambling for something I could toss out that wouldn't really help Cole but might get him off my back. I needed something that sounded important, but it was vague enough that it wouldn’t actually hurt Orion or help Cole. “I mean, I’ve heard them talking about a guy named Davenport a lot, I guess? But like I said, I’m still trying to get more trust so I can do more than eavesdrop.”

"Davenport?" Cole's voice sharpened with interest. "Tell me more."

My stomach dropped at his tone. Something in the urgency and hunger there made me think even the vague tip was something Cole would cling to like a dog with a bone.

“I really don’t know more yet. If you give me more time, maybe I can find out, though. But honestly, I’m not even sure Davenport is really worth looking into. It’s just a name.”

“Your clock is ticking, Ember,” Cole said. “Give me more on this Davenport guy soon, or you’re done.”

I hung up and immediately felt like I might throw up my entire body weight in popcorn.

"You okay?" Kora asked.

"Yeah, I just..." I shook my head. "I’m worried I gave him more than I should have there. I panicked.”

"If just the name of some guy is enough to screw with Foster Real Estate, then they're operating on shaky ground anyway, right?"

"Yeah," I said, though the sick feeling in my stomach said otherwise. I couldn't shake the sense that I'd just knocked over the first domino in a very long line.

My phone buzzed again. This time, it was a text from Remmy.

Remmy:Hey! Remember how I said Orion wouldn’t be at dinner tomorrow night? Mom’s making him come and he’s being a total baby about it since he learned you’d be there. He tried to back out and our mom won’t let him. So youhaveto come just so we can watch him squirm.Please?My mom’s lasagna is amazing, and there may or may not be Orion’s baby pictures up for viewing if you come…

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