Page 55 of Boss Level

She looked past me at Claire.

I glanced over my shoulder to see the other woman trying hard to look anywhere but at us, then looked back at Rosie with a nod.

“No worries,” Rosie said. “Take care of her and you and my boys.”

I smiled. “I always do.”

It was as if the classic station wagon had been restored for Claire. She looked both wrong and right sliding behind the wheel. I had her follow me to the nearest service station, and shut down any protests before they could start when I told her to grab some snacks.

My house wasn’t exactly stocked for people to eat there.

While I was wandering the aisles, the conversations of various commuters flitted around me. Some grumbled to themselves, others were on the phone—

“It’s not that simple.” A voice caught my attention. “Yeah, they want you to play, but there’s a difference between interesting game content and a dopamine rush designed to program your system to keep coming back for more. It’s practically like they’re making junkies.”

“Don’t even joke about that, man. Basement dwellers aren’t the same as meth addicts.”

What the…? I couldn’t help myself. I followed the voices to the coffee station, to find a uniformed police officer talking to a man in a suit.

The officer gave me a quick nod. “Sorry ma’am. Are we in the way?”

“No. Definitely not.” The coffee at work was better, because shitty work coffee was an affront to God. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but what you were just saying…” Was exactly the kind of conversation I wanted to insert myself into. The Skinner box part of it. I loved discussions like that.

Suit guy rolled his eyes. “Sorry about him. Carl thinks he’s going to build the next big game in his basement.”

“Really.” Now I was intrigued for different reasons. “Are you a programmer, Carl?”

He gave me a dry chuckle and thumbed his badge. “Do I look like one? Nah. This is the best an Associate’s Degree in Computer Science gets a guy like me.”

Maybe, but I’d worked with coders who had proved otherwise. I plucked a business card from my purse and handed it to him. “I can’t promise anything, but give me a call if you want to find out if there’s more to that degree.”

Carl took the card and looked between it and me, his eyebrows rising higher with each pass. “Thanks.” He pocketed the card.

I told them to enjoy their morning, and found Claire near the register. The random conversation evaporated from my mind as I saw her worrying her bottom lip, glancing everywhere like she might need to bolt at any minute.

“Hey.” When I joined her, she jumped. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just… Yeah.” She sighed in a way that said she really wasn’t.

I nudged her into line, so I could pay. “I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but it’s going to be okay.” I had no idea how. For her, for Elliot, for any of us. But I’d make sure of it.

That was what I did. I got things right. I made things happen.

And as soon as I figured out what to do about Elliot, how to help Claire, I’d do more of that.

19

dominic

Iwasn’t surprised to wake up to an empty bed—Xander and I rarely woke up at the same time—but I was a little shocked to wander into the kitchen and find him already dressed, ready to go.

“Hey.” He gave me one of those warm smiles that made my pulse race after all these years. “I have to drive out to Haddarville this morning, check on things out there, meet Maddox for lunch, and I want to beat traffic.”

That made sense. Most of it. “You’re meeting Maddox for lunchthere?” The two of them worked a few blocks aparthere.

“He’s got the day off. His turn in the rotation.”

Right. Judith was staggering their days off to make sure everyone got a break, without everyone disappearing at once. “Okay. You be back tonight?”

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