Page 64 of Spooked

Or so he thought.

“Late? What do you mean, you’re going to be late?”

“There’s a problem with the plane,” Carissa whined.

“What kind of a problem?”

“How should I know? A technical problem. They need to fix it before we can fly.”

A pity. If Carissa fell out of the sky, it sure would make life easier. Brax gave a sigh. No, he couldn’t expect several hundred other people to sacrifice themselves at the altar of his poor judgment.

“So take a different plane.”

“You think I haven’t tried that? There’s an issue with the booking system.”

“A different airline?”

“The glitch is universal. The whole damn airport is in chaos.”

“Go to a different airport, take a private flight; I don’t care. Just make sure you get here before the hearing.”

“How do I book a private flight? Sophie’s on vacation.”

Brax had reached the end of his tether with this woman. Every day, every hour, every minute, she became more unbearable.

“Work it out for yourself.”

He was debating the wisdom of one more glass of whisky when his desk phone rang. Now what?

“I thought I said to hold all calls?” Shit. He shouldn’t take his bad mood out on Meera. “I mean, please hold all my calls today.”

“Sorry, Brax, it’s Lyndsey from the front desk. Meera’s father is on line one.”

“Why are you telling me this? Put him through to Meera.”

“She isn’t answering her phone, and he’s asking to speak with her boss.”

Brax crossed his office in long strides and pulled open the adjoining door. Sure enough, Meera wasn’t at her desk. She must have gone for lunch. At least she hadn’t heard his verbal altercation with Carissa, but what the hell was he meant to say to her father? And why was he calling? She’d always given the impression that they didn’t get along.

But he couldn’t just ignore the man. He needed to make a good impression. Thank fuck he hadn’t swallowed that extra finger of Scotch.

“Put him through.” A pause. Abeep. “Braxton Vale speaking.”

“This is Bill Adams. I understand you know my daughter?”

Not as well as Brax would like. “Indeed. She works here as my assistant.”

“See, we haven’t been able to get ahold of Meera for a few days. She’s normally real good about calling.”

“It’s possible that she might have had other things on her mind. We’ve had a busy few weeks, work-wise.”

“So she’s okay? Can I speak with her?”

“She’s perfectly okay. She brought me coffee half an hour ago, but she’s not at her desk right now. I think she stepped out to get lunch.”

“Could you ask her to call us? Her momma worries.”

“I’ll certainly do that.”

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