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Malus Custodial Management was her baby.
“I’ve gotten a report from Hawk Danielson,” she began.
The sound of Hawk’s name did absurd things to my insides. My body temperature rose. My ribs squeezed tight.
He hadn’t said anything to her about me, had he? Forget the fact that he didn’t know where I worked—I doubted he’d know of my connection to her at all, since our last names weren’t the same.
“It isn’t often the owner of the company contacts me directly, but there have been reports of missing office supplies. As the only ones in this building—besides security—who carry keys that can access any room, naturally, they are suspecting the thief to be one of you.”
The tension in the room strung tighter than last year’s jeans.
“But we don’t all have access to every key,” Charlotte argued. “We’re assigned keys for the day, depending on which area we’re cleaning.”
A few others nodded their agreement.
My foot began to jiggle. “Have they checked surveillance of the areas where things went missing from?”
“They have,” Stina said. “But it seems the feed has been deleted. An odd thing, definitely. They’re still trying to figure out who’sbeen accessing the cameras.”
“What’s missing?” Charlotte asked.
“Reams of paper,” Stina said. “Along with print cartridges, printers, and a few tablets that were purchased for employee use. A new order was delivered, and the packaging was opened before management had even noticed. That means someone was in Distribution, someone with access others don’t have.”
“We’ll all keep an eye out,” I assured her, hoping to end this lecture sooner rather than later.
I liked the idea of being suspected of something I didn’t do about as much as a bout of the flu. This made me feel just as nauseated.
Stina’s heels stopped clacking right in front of me. My entire body clenched. I hated when she singled me out in front of everyone.
“See that you do,” Stina said in a too-sweet voice. “I’d hate for your job to be at risk.”
Please. I was leaving in two more weeks. Two blessedly beautiful weeks, and I’d walk away from all of this. Even so, she continued lording it over me, probably because she knew once I got that stipend, I was gone.
The condition was that I had to work for Malus Custodial Management for five years. I would then be granted the amount of a thousand dollars allotted for a learning initiative of my choosing.
My five years would be ending at the first of the year. Stina taunted that the check was ready for me, but it wouldn’t be deposited into my account until January first.
I hadn’t yet told her what my learninginitiative was—or my dad yet, for that matter. I hadn’t told anyone but Adelie and Chloe.
In two weeks, I was walking away from all of this. Thanks to my grueling labor and putting up with the awful torture of working with my stepmother, I would have one grand to use toward my housing or books when I did so.
And Stina would find out the morning I didn’t show up. I couldn’t wait to stick it to her.
Her eyes narrowed in a way I was all too familiar with. She couldn’t possibly think I would stoop low enough to steal anything, let alone office supplies. And to compromise a camera feed?
In spite of what I’d told Hawk in answer to his Truth or Dare question on the plane, I was a seamstress and a fashion designer, not a criminal mastermind.
I glanced at the clock. Eight-thirty a.m. was looming nearer by the second, and I had to get out of here. I was meeting with one of Ever After Sweet Shoppe’s secretaries, Samantha Holbrook, about some fabric donations for the kids at the hospital.
I was planning a big donation this year. Samantha had heard of my project and happened to have some extra material on hand she wanted to contribute to the cause.
Stina skulked back to her desk. Done for the day, crew members began zipping out of their jumpsuits, slipping them off to reveal their everyday clothes beneath, and stuffing them into their lockers.
I began doing thesame when Stina called my name.
Exasperated, I zipped up my suit once more. Bottling my frustration, I approached her desk.
“You called?”
