Page 22 of The Inmate
Great. What does my boss want from me? I’m not sure I want to know.
After Kim leaves, I plop down in my chair, not eager to run over to see Seth. I pull my compact out of my purse and check my reflection. I look even worse than yesterday. My eyes are slightly bloodshot, and there are purple circles underneath. I tried to cover them with concealer this morning, but I obviously didn’t use enough. I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night, and when I did fall asleep, I tossed and turned.
I start to log onto my computer, but before I can boot up, my phone buzzes. I pull it out of my purse and look down at the screen. There’s a message from Seth:
Please come to my office as soon as you get in.
I sigh. Looks like I’m taking a trip to my boss’s office.
ChapterEleven
Seth doesn’t lookany better than I do.
His dark hair is disheveled, and his shirt is a bit wrinkled, which is unusual for him. Seth is all about crisp white shirts. I was never sure if he took them out to be dry-cleaned or if his wife ironed them for him. Given the continued absence of his wedding band, the latter could explain why his shirt is wrinkled.
“Hey, Nat.” His brown eyes are full of concern when he sees me. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” I croak out as I settle into the chair in front of his desk.
“Jesus, what a mess.” He rakes his fingers through his hair, which makes it even messier. “I’m sorry I didn’t take you seriously yesterday.”
“It’s okay. I can’t blame you.”
“I’m kind of surprised you didn’t call out today,” he says. “If you need the day off…”
I shake my head. “No, I’d rather work.”
“You sure?”
“Absolutely. Better to keep my mind off of it.”
“Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.” He closes his eyes and rubs them with his fingertips. “I hope Dawn is okay.”
I want to say something like,I’m sure she is.But that wouldn’t be what I really think. So I keep my mouth shut.
“I spoke to a detective on the phone this morning,” Seth adds. “Detective… Santoro? He said he’s going to come by and interview everyone.”
“Oh.” I squirm in my seat. The last thing I want is to get grilled by that detective a second time. He was nice enough, but the thought of talking to him again makes a cold sweat break out on the back of my neck. “You know what? I think I might go home after all. I just… I feel like my head is spinning. And I hardly slept at all last night.”
“Of course.” Seth’s eyes soften. “Take the day off. If you want, you can forward all your calls to my office.”
My shoulders relax. “Thanks, Seth.”
“Just stick around until the detective gets here, then you can head home.”
The cold sweat returns. “What?”
Seth looks down at his Rolex. “It’s no big deal. He should be here in thirty minutes. Maybe less. He said before ten.”
“Yes, but…” I press my fingers into my left temple. “I have a splitting headache. And I already talked to that detective yesterday. So I’m sure he doesn’t need to talk to me again.”
“Actually, he specifically asked me if you would be there and said he needed to talk to you.”
“Oh.” Fantastic. “I guess I’ll stay then.”
I shift in my seat, wondering what else that detective could possibly want to ask me about. I already told him everything I know. It seems like a waste of time, but now that Seth has told me I have to stay, I don’t have much of a choice. I can’t walk out and claim ignorance.
Seth toys with a ballpoint pen on his desk. Once again, my eyes are drawn to the tan line from his missing wedding band. He follows my gaze to his ring finger. I look away, but it’s too late.
