Page 68 of Rival Hero

I left Tomer’s office a few minutes after you did. Start talking.

Mia

Awful bossy of you. Where are you?

Klein

The Twistee Treat around the corner. I wanted ice cream.

Mia

Really?

Klein

No. I’m in my office.

Mia

Okay, give me a minute to collect my thoughts.

While I figureout how to tell him some of the shit racing through my mind, a notification on my phone appears.

Odd.

One of my intel-gathering programs always runs in the background on my personal laptop, scouring public records and some not-so-public sources for certain keywords and names.

And I’ve got a hit.

Normally, once I’ve completed my entirely legal aboveboard research— cough, bullshit, cough— I turn off my alerts for the search unless it’s something I suspect might change in the near future. But I must have missed turning this one off after I was done investigating my new coworkers.

A missing persons police report has been filed south of here in Sarasota County.

Someone very important to the Redleg family has gone missing.

Shit.

Mia

I need to pause this conversation until after work. I want to tell you all the illicit thoughts I have about you, and I promise I will. But something urgent just came up with a case.

Son of a bitch.I promised myself I wouldn’t lie to him anymore.

But did I just lie to Cal?

Well, I suppose that depends on how you look at it. It’s not a Redleg case. Not yet. But itisa police case. Ergo, not a lie.

Yep. Perfect justification.

Chapter14

Tell me why (ain't nothing but a mistake)

KLEIN

Well,thatwas anticlimactic.

I toss my phone on the desk and sag in my chair, letting disappointment wash over me.

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