Page 98 of The Morning After (Savannah 2)

“’Course I am. They’re right there.”

“Mmm. So how can you hear me?”

“What?”

“Even though you’re supposedly plugged in to your music, you can hear what I say no matter how quiet I whisper. I find that a little peculiar. So, what’s with the earphones…Are they not working or are they just part of a disguise so that you can listen to everyone else’s conversations?”

“Man, are you paranoid, or what?” A red flush stole up his neck, blooming through his patchy beard shadow. “Norm’s right about you.”

“Is he?” She blew across her cup but kept her eyes trained on him.

“Yeah. I—I was just taking a break from the music.”

“Most people do that by taking off their headsets, Kevin.”

“I’m not like most people.”

“I’ll second that.”

His flush deepened and a vein throbbed over one eye. His jaw tensed and for the first time she was aware that beneath his baggy shirts and jeans, he was a fit, able-bodied man. A young man. One who outweighed her by nearly a hundred pounds. One who could possibly have a rage problem.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” he said, defending himself.

“Take it whatever way you want.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “I bet you know everything that’s going on here, don’t you? You pretend to be in your own little world all the time. But when you work on people’s computers, you’re eavesdropping on conversations and reading other people’s E-mail.”

“I don’t—”

“Save it for someone who believes it, okay?” She walked away then, making a beeline for her desk and sloshing some of the hot coffee over her wrist and onto the sleeve of her shirt. “Damn.” Celeste waved some messages frantically at her and she collected three scraps of paper indicating that Dr. Francis had called.

“She wouldn’t leave a voice mail,” Celeste said, tossing her streaked locks over one shoulder.

“Hey, where the hell have you been?” Trina rolled her desk chair away from her cubicle. “Wow, Nikki…you look like you haven’t slept in a week. Make that two weeks.”

“That’s probably being kind.” She pulled a Kleenex from the box on her desk and dabbed at the spill. “I feel like it’s been forever.”

“So, being a crime reporter is killing you.”

“Something like that.” She tossed the tissue at her wastebasket and missed. From the corner of her eye she noticed that both Kevin and Norm had retreated to their own desks. “So, what’s been going on around here?”

“I think you have a secret admirer.”

“A what?” She took a sip of her coffee.

“Look what came for you today.” Trina reached around her monitor and retrieved a glass vase filled with an explosion of red and white carnations.

“You kept them?”

“Who knew when you’d get here. No reason for them to go to waste.”

“I suppose.” Shoving aside a ridiculous, fleeting thought of Pierce Reed, Nikki opened the small envelope and read the note.

Congratulations on all your success. Dinner soon?

Love,

Sean

Her stomach turned sour. “Man, he’s laying it on thick,” Nikki whispered, adjusting a few of the blooms and setting the vase on her desk.

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