Page 10 of Small Sacrifices

The pain from Reid's fingernails digging into his palms only grows more pronounced when they slacken in surprise. What? Reid bites the tip of his tongue. He didn't know that. Has Mr. Wright done his own research? Intrigued, he sits back. If Mr. Wright has taken his idea and further refined it, he's interested in how he plans to solve the obvious problem.

But the man only continues to drone on about how perfect it would be to visit her and her son at home—which is presumptuous—and assure her that her medical bills will be paid—which is too little too late. No mention of her tweet posted the day before the article was released, hastily deleted when her account was discovered by the public at large. Reid had barely taken a screenshot before it disappeared."The governor poisoned my son. It sounds ridiculous, but what else is the silence meant to make me believe? Take responsibility, @CALgov!"

That tweet wasn't in Reid's write-up. It was gone so quickly that he wasn't sure she meant it—this is the sort of thing that he'd want a second opinion on. Maybe from Mr. Wright.

Only Mr. Wright seems to have gone and appropriated his idea and his research without warning. He must be unaware of the tweet, or he wouldn't be advertising Ms. Greene as their miracle solution so unreservedly. And maybe his eyes wouldn't be shining so brightly when Governor Mackenzie says: "That sounds like an excellent idea. Have you contacted her already?"

Mr. Wright freezes, but only for a moment. "No," he says. "I didn't want to take her away from her child for something that was so vague." The way his eyes wander makes Reid think that he's lying.

But it's the right thing to say. The governor laughs and moves closer to pat him on the shoulder. "Good man. Well, please do. If we can get someone like her to cooperate, that could really help. But before anyone else proposes any strategies, let me say this: We're not going over there this week."

He pauses to allow for the hissed whispers that fill the room. "Now, we're going to release an official statement later today. But I don't want to go with empty hands and make empty promises. I want to know exactly what's going on. And for that, we need to let the task force do their job. I have a meeting with them in—"

His eyes widen as he looks at his watch. "Twenty minutes, damn. We'll need to be quick. But I want to know what's happening and what they're doing about it before I go blazing in. That way, I'll know what help to offer that will genuinely be of use. And I'll avoid looking stupid if our current information is bad. That's why we'll go next week. Mr. Wright will assemble a team to travel with me, but I need all hands on deck."

And there's that winning smile again, lighting up the room. "Most of you will be working on this. And you will all saythe same things: I did my due diligence on Agrifarm and was working with them in good faith. Yes, they have contributed a lot to my campaigns over the years, but they have not influenced my politics. They just already liked them. I did not know that plot of land was contaminated, or I would never have accepted it on behalf of the city, and I certainly wouldn't have asked them to build a school on it. I am devastated that families are suffering and furious that it took me this long to find out about it. Yeah?"

Nods and murmurs of agreement ripple through the room. Reid nods, too. It's admirable that the governor can be so calm about it. Reid would be an absolute mess by now. But that's why Reid is doing what Reid is doing, and the governor is the one in the public eye.

Mackenzie's face is smooth, and his words are level. There's not a hint of defensiveness that Reid can see, just calm conviction. And that calms Reid's own mind. Yes, this is horrible. It never should've happened. But it was an accident, and they can only move forward now.

"Great!" Mackenzie exclaims and claps his hands together.

Reid startles so violently that his butt leaves the chair for a second. Next to him, Marisol laughs. It makes him want to shove her, and the urge is so unexpected that he's only half listening when the governor excuses himself from the meeting so that he can still… change his shirt before he has to be on a video call with the secretary of CalEPA? Reid isn't sure.

He's distracted by the way Marisol giggles and the sight of Mr. Wright shuffling the papers on the desk. The last slide of his presentation is still bright on the wall, a jarringly happy group picture of teachers, community members, the mayor of Chesterton, and the governor in front of the newly opened school, congregated around a sign that proudly proclaimsLacrimosa Elementary Schoolin a jumble of colors.

As soon as the governor leaves, Mr. Wright starts delegating tasks. Marisol is reassigned from her infrastructure research to digging into Agrifarm's connections with the governor—seeing what a journalist might uncover through public resources. Someone else is tasked with researching soil contamination from pesticides and potential removal methods.

Reid doesn't get an assignment.

Heat churns deep in his stomach. Is Mr. Wright serious about this? The way that his eyes kept catching on Reid while he was assigning the tasks makes it obvious that he hasn't forgotten him. So what is going on? Reid did good work, obviously, or Mr. Wright wouldn't have taken it and passed it off as his own.

Chairs start scraping across the floor as the people around him get up and leave the room. He himself is still a bit numb and lost in thoughts, but Marisol pinches him as she walks by, which wakes him up enough to follow.

He's almost reached the door when Mr. Wright calls his name. "Mr. Reid! We'll meet in my office in an hour. I think we have a lot to talk about."

Somehow, Reid thinks they want to talk about very different things.

Chapter 6: Just do the work

When Reid returns to the office and settles at his desk, his head feels like it's packed in cotton wool. Marisol, who is already doing some light googling on Agrifarm, keeps shooting him concerned looks. But Reid can't focus over the ringing sound in his ears.

He didn't plan for this. Nowhere in any of his projections is the option that his supervisor might just pass Reid's work off as his own and then ask to speak to him in private. Does he just want to make sure that Reid won't say anything? Does he want to fire Reid now that he's served his purpose?

Reid has to close his eyes against the barrage of questions ping-ponging around in his head. He doesn't notice he's chewing his cuticles until Marisol's office chair whirs over the carpet, and she gently slaps his hand away from his mouth.

"Okay, stop it. Tell me what's wrong." It's not a question; it's a demand. Ordinarily, Reid would bristle at such abruptness. But Marisol's wide eyes and the tiny furrow between her brows suggest genuine concern.

With a sigh, Reid relents. He recounts yesterday's meeting in Mr. Wright's office: how he stayed late to ensure his research was perfect, preparing himself to present it if needed. And how Mr. Wright took that very work and presented it as his own.

"And then he didn't even give you anything to do?" Marisol hisses.

Ah.Warmth spreads behind Reid's ribs, making it easier to breathe. Maybe he's right about this. Maybe he's not making a mountain out of a molehill.

He nods and Marisol huffs. "That asshole. I heard he does that sometimes, but he's never tried it with me. Do you have proof?"

Reid explains how Mr. Wright copied most of the contents of the presentation word for word, but he can already see on her face that this is not as good as it could be. "And you don't have an email with a work assignment?" she asks.

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