Page 53 of Wild Cub

I drop my phone, my hands shaking with fear.

“Seth” I whisper out. “Seth!” At this point, the whisper’s more like a yell. He strides into the living room, rushing to my side. My hands quake with anxiety

“What is it?” he asks, staring at my hands as he picks up my phone. He searches through the messages and finds the video. He stares at me as I stare back, fear and shock reflected back at me. Words don’t do this justice.

“I’m calling it in,” Seth says as he walks away with his phone to his ear.

I keep wondering why these people think I’m a threat. Does this mean I’m close? I look back over my shoulder as Seth returns

“I take it he knows.”

Seth just nods. “Yes.”

“Anything else I should know?” I ask, telling myself that I wanted to be in the know.

“You’ll have a detail again. Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more than one. Rawlings will be in touch.”

I grimace. Another detail? Great. “And Jackson? He asked about me, didn’t he?”

The only response is a nod. “He’s giving you space.”

Yeah, and he knows full well what space does to me. Then again, he told me not to hide. He doesn’t sway my thoughts anymore. The pain is still there, but anger is emerging, ready to fight.

Chapter 17

Mondaycomes,markingthemiddle of May. Walking into the office after my personal days will be a task. Reva and Sam have been quiet but not distant. I flounce into the building, knowing what lies ahead of me. Surprisingly, I feel lighter, poised. Perhaps the lighter feeling is due to my shorter hair brushing against my shoulders, wavy and bouncy but lighter.“Siochan leat.”Peace be with you.

Reva gawks at me, then her jaw drops suddenly. “Okay, anger and heartbreak looks good on you, boss.” I grin back at her. “Before you go in, you have a visitor.”

My heart drops. Who do I have to deal with now? “Will I like this visitor?”

“Well, she flew on her broomstick,” Reva whispers. Oh great. Carla.

I straighten my black blazer, holding my head high. Marching into my office, I find Carla sitting in a chair near my desk, legs crossed. She peers at her phone; I don’t have any inkling why she’s in here.Deep breaths.

“Carla. To what do I owe this pleasure?” I let out with a hiss, sitting in my desk chair, adjusting myself.

“I heard through the grapevine, that you’d taken some personal days last week and I wanted to check in and see if you needed anything,” she lets out, allowing her accent to pop out. Is that a hint of sincerity?

“That’s considerate of you. Um.. I’m okay. The stress of it all has come and gone.” I start clicking away to get into my schedule for the day and week.

“Well, whatever happened, you look amazing. The hair suits you. Well, I know when I’m not needed. If you need anything, we women have to stick together,” she says, pushing herself out my door. Jesus, hell’s frozen over.

I start to think that I need to find Jeremiah. It’s been a while, and I still feel like I need to apologize. Nothing about our last conversation sits right with me. Going through these reports and notes, I feel numb. I can see where the decline started. The question is, when did it become noticeable?

“Boss, you got a call on line one,” Reva yells back to me. Weird, I’m not expecting a call or conference. The line one blinks at me, and I press it, readying myself.

“This is Tessa Bjorn,” I answer.

“Bjorn,” the devilish gravel voice on the other line rasps.

Chills run through my body. “Rawlings. Coming to check in on the clown?”

He laughs lowly. “My dear, you’re no clown. Right now, I imagine you’re the bucking bull.”

“Except I don’t need eight seconds,” I hiss out.

“I’m glad to hear that bite didn’t disappear.”

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