Page 93 of The Usual Family Mayhem

The lock stopped me from getting in there and... what? My next move was a bit fuzzy. Find the poison first then assess. Removing it from the property or destroying it would be the next problem to tackle. No poison, no jailtime. It worked that way, right?

I could ask for the key, but Gram was already ticked off about the business pitch thing. I knew because she reminded me about it at lunch and how Harlan, Micah, Brock, or some combination of them could drop by for a visit at any time, and she couldn’t be held responsible for her actions.

Brock and Micah and their annoying texts would need to wait.

The shed wasn’t huge, but poison probably didn’t take up much space. No windows. Made of wood and freshly painted,which was interesting. I hadn’t noticed before because shed maintenance wasn’t on my radar.

I walked around the structure just in case there was some sort of trapdoor I didn’t know about. A woman could hope.

“What are you doing?”

At the sound of that voice, I lost my balance and reached for the nearest thing to grab on to. Unfortunately, that was a rosebush with no flowers but lots of thorns, which then led to a lot of swearing.

Only Harlan could cause this much trouble.

“When did you get here?” I really wanted to askWhy in the world do you keep showing up wherever I am?but refrained out of respect for Jackson.

“My assistant ordered a dessert tray for my business partner’s birthday tomorrow. She usually handles these things, but I was in the neighborhood and figured I’d save her a trip in the morning.” He nodded, clearly pleased with his pathetic excuse for informally stalking me. “I pulled into the driveway and saw you. Thought I’d say hello.”

Believable? Not really. Seemed to me a dessert tray for tomorrow would be packed up fresh for pick-uptomorrow. I glanced at the side of the house and couldn’t see anything but the side of the house. We were tucked in behind the building. I didn’t hear traffic. Only the gentle sway of the tree branches in the wind.

It sucked to foist him off on Celia and Gram, but I did anyway. “The ladies are in the kitchen. They said something about testing mini cupcakes.”

Gram actually said the whole concept of mini cupcakes wasridiculous because why not just eat a normal-sized one. Gram thought a lot of things were ridiculous. She was right about mini cupcakes. Making them smaller only meant I had to eat five of them, which meant they’d have to make a lot of cupcakes.

“I wanted to speak with you anyway, so this is convenient,” he said.

For him, maybe.

He studied me for a few seconds. Probably his attempt at intimidation. Only Gram had that power, but he could try.

“I’d like for us to come to an understanding that would serve both of our interests.”

This morning’s embarrassment looked like it might be the best part of my day. I couldn’t even hope for a rain delay. There wasn’t a cloud in the deep blue sky. “About what exactly?”

Harlan glanced at the shed. It held his attention for longer than it should have. Long enough to make me jumpy. He couldn’t possibly know why the shed mattered. Unless he planted a listening device in the house... and now I had something new to worry about.

“Look, I know you’re in trouble at work.” He smiled. “Let me help.”

He sounded so virtuous, like he was doing whatever he was doing for my benefit. Now I understood why Gram snorted all the time. Sometimes it felt right. Like now. “You’ve been hanging out with Brock.”

Harlan crossed his arms in front of him. His body language telegraphed his willingness to listen to reason. None. He had none. “Your boss and I have business interests in common. We’ve been discussing how we might help each other.”

Worst. Sentence. Ever.

“I’ve lobbied for you, of course. Explained that you’re young and inexperienced and needed time to settle into a new job,” Harlan continued.

I could see it now. Harlan’s condescending manner would fit in well at NOI. “Exactly how much time have you spent with Brock?”

“Enough to know you’re treading water.” Harlan closed the gap between us. A show of intimidation even as he used his smarmy fake charm to win me over. “I don’t like to say this, but the truth is you’re out of your league on this deal. We both know negotiations aren’t your strength.”

This guy needed a class inhow not to be a jackass.

“Brock and I have worked on a draft proposal. One that calls upon my connections in state government and one that will greatly benefit your grandmother and Celia,” Harlan said.

Gram warned me about men who wouldn’t take no for an answer. She said to avoid them and if that didn’t work to kick them where it would hurt the most. Harlan was getting mighty close to a kick in the balls.

“They aren’t interested. They really aren’t interested if I’m not involved.” The former cut off any chance of the latter, but I wanted to make the point.

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