Page 17 of Duplicity

Rebecca was talking, but Cat couldn’t make out the words that seemed to ring in her head. She was focused on him. She wouldn’t invade his privacy, so if she was going to learn what had broken Simon Olson, then he would be the one to tell her.

And if he wanted to know her, then she would tell him everything she’d been through.

It could be a bad idea: two broken hearts trying to find healing. She was supposed to find that in Jesus, not in the good-looking man who sat beside her. Someone who could drag her down with his pain.

“I don’t see how a group is going to help me ‘find myself’ or whatever this is.” Simon shifted in his seat. “I’m just here so I don’t lose my job.”

His tone indicated he believed it was little more than a waste of time. But it wasn’t Cat’s job to convince him the group could be a huge help in freeing him from the past.

“I’m sure you’ll find benefits even if you’re only here to check a box,” Cat said with all sincerity, mostly because she was convinced that he would have a breakthrough soon.

But this cemented it for her. He wasn’t the guy she needed in her life to lean on and find contentment with. Simon might be good-looking, and if he worked for Vanguard, then he’d been vetted, but she just couldn’t jeopardize her own recovery with someone so new in theirs. If he even wanted to heal.

They could be friends, but she couldn’t risk any more with her history.

Simon only shrugged in response to what she’d said, but it wasn’t off-putting. Just a way to protect himself from the risk of peeling back the scar to finally allow the wound to heal. She should know. She’d barely worked through the worst of it, and a lot of that had been under protest because the people in her family hadn’t allowed her to suffer.

Catalina’s phone rang, loud enough she winced and hopped up out of the chair. The young woman across the circle grinned.

Cat said, “Busted. Sorry, guys.”

She pulled out her phone and silenced it but left it to ring. Why was Romeo calling her while he was on shift?

Her whole body stiffened, and a hundred things raced through her mind. Horrible scenarios. One or both of her parents. Her brother.

“Everything okay, Cat?” Rebecca asked.

“I should take this. Sorry to be rude.” Cat swiped the screen, winding between her chair and Simon’s. “Hello?” She rushed to the door so she could talk at a normal volume in the hallway. “Romeo, is everything okay?”

“It’s fine, but it’s not.” He didn’t sound hurt.

“Mom and Dad?”

“This isn’t about them. It’s about one of the students at your school. Lots of reports with your name on them. Marianna Barker? Her parents reported her missing tonight, and there are indications she was abducted.” His voice lowered at the end, meaning he had to be in public. “The mom asked for you to come, or I wouldn’t have called you.”

“You should have, regardless.” After all, she could provide insight to the investigating detectives.

“Cat—”

Fire burned in her abdomen. “Text me the address. I’m on my way.”

Her brother didn’t think she had any business being a cop any more than the rest of them did. She’d been shot in the line of duty.

Exactly what else did she have left to prove?

EIGHT

The group pretty much wrapped up after Cat left to take her call. She’d looked so worried he skipped out on talking to Rebecca—even though she looked like she wanted to talk to him. He’d already had her sign his paper when he arrived. Maybe this could be as painless as possible.

Then again, the name of the game was trauma recovery.

Cat had shared about her injury, and the pain he’d seen on her face was more than just physical. She grieved. He saw the same look in his sister’s eyes when she didn’t think anyone was looking—usually on the anniversary of their mother’s death.

Simon stepped out into the hall and found her pacing. He’d stopped for a second and heard her say she would be there soon. Whatever it was didn’t look good. He walked near to her before she could rush off. “Everything okay?”

“No,Simon. It’s not okay.”

Yeah, so he deserved that one. “I wasn’t going to tell you my real name when it wasn’t necessary for you to know.”

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