Kai doesn’t notice. He keeps chatting away, queuing up another recording, his voice warm and animated. “So, how did your parents handle you staying in town longer?” he asks, glancing over at me. “Did you tell them the truth?”
I pull out the document dated six months ago, when Kai had barely arrived in Pine Ridge to do his work.
“What’s this?” I ask, pointing to a column labeled “Potential Sponsors.”
Kai leans over to look. I can see the tension in his shoulders immediately. “HelixGen Corp,” he reads under his breath.
He scrolls through the document, his jaw tightening. “I got an email from them early on. Before I really settled into the work here. They said they were interested in ‘community engagement initiatives’ and wanted to discuss ‘partnership opportunities.’”
“What did you tell them?”
“I ignored them. I didn’t like the tone of the email. It felt extractive—like they wanted to use the project as a means to an end, not support it for its own sake.”
I sit back in my chair, processing this. “That’s weird, right? A major tech company interested in a small-town oral history project?”
“Very weird.”
Kai goes back to the recording, but my head is buzzing like I have a swarm of bees inside it.
I pull out my phone and message Jordan.
Atlas:
What interest could HelixGen Corp have in a small town?
It doesn’t take him long to answer.
Jordan:
Whatever it is, it can’t be good. Do you want me to look into it?
Atlas:
Yeah, if it doesn’t put you in a dangerous situation.
Jordan:
You know me. Danger is my middle name. Besides, I’ve been waiting for the chance to take them down since you gave up on exposing them.
Atlas:
You know why I couldn’t. Besides, this is probably nothing.
And I really hope I’m right, because the last thing I need is my former employer having any dealings with my home town.
Kai’s phone buzzes, making me jump. He checks it, and his expression shifts. “There’s a town meeting tonight. Seven p.m. at the community center. Mayor Whitmore called it.”
“I haven’t been to one of those in years,” I say. “Are you going?”
He chuckles. “Considering I work for the town, I should.”
I message my parents, and Dad confirms he’s going too, so I try to put thoughts of HelixGen out of my mind.
Kai suggests we grab dinner at the diner before the meeting, and I agree—partly because I’m hungry, but mostly because I need the distraction. Seeing that name again really threw me off balance.
The community center is packed by the time we arrive.
I’ve never seen it this full. People line the walls, sit in folding chairs, and stand in the back. Aren’t these things mostly to discuss the allocation of funds to festivals and events?
