“Fuck, that’s a relief,” I say. “Any hint what the board is thinking? Is Leonard facing any blowback for letting me do the studies? Have they assigned anyone to my projects?”
“Not a clue. Vince did come by my office after the meeting to ask how you were holding up.”
“What a saint,” I say with an eye roll. “I’m sure he hopes I’m having a mental breakdown so he can report that to the board, too. I mean, he’s right, but not for the reasons he thinks.”
“Which brings me to my other question: Did you see that I put your period vitamins in that fridge?”
I snort. “I did. Change your mind about Todd the Dumbass Vet Tech being near them?”
“Definitely not. But I’m not sure what to do with them yet. I’ll tell you one thing, I’m glad it’s out of the lab. You were right to be worried about Vince.”
I chew my thumbnail, letting the thought bubble to the surface. “This is insane, okay, but what if Luca’s accident wasn’t an accident?”
Annie studies me for a long beat. “Are you saying that Vince was somehow behind it? Why would he hurt Luca?”
“Or maybe he was trying to hurtme.” Annie’s jaw drops and I shake my head, waving this off. “I don’t know what I think exactly,” I say, untangling a knot of thoughts that tightens every time I pull. “It just feels sketchy.”
“Because Vince is sketchy.”
“I left before he did, though, right?” I ask. “He’d only just left my office when I realized I’d forgotten about dinner.”
“I think so?” Annie rubs at her temples. She looks as tired as I feel. “Wait,” she says, turning to face me. “You didn’t leave right away. You went to cryo to get the compound.”
“But would that have been enough time for him to get to my neighborhood before me? I’m sure I broke several speed records getting home.”
“Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but what if it was someone higher up? You said yourself we work for a company that’s not exactly on the up-and-up, and thanks to Vince, you pissed off a lot of people.”
“I guess it’s possible, but people like that care about money, not revenge.” I chew on my thumbnail again, and Annie is so preoccupied with her own anxiety she doesn’t even try to stop me. “Unless they wanted to send a message?” I ask.
“A message? Like what?”
“I have no idea.” I deflate against the counter. “I would make a terrible detective.”
Annie groans. “Can we change the subject, please? Watch some puppy videos or something?”
“Gladly. Luca has enough on his plate. I don’t want him to worry about any of this until we know there’s something to worry about. Agreed?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good,” I say, and then freeze, my entire stomach bottoming out. I swear to God it’s like one catastrophe after another. “Fuck. We have another problem.”
Annie’s already shaking her head. “Sorry, no. Unsubscribe. My brain can’t take any more and I’m almost out of Imodium. My stomach wasn’t built for this much stress.”
“In all the chaos I forgot to tell you that Betty was asking to see Luca.”
Annie’s brow furrows and she glances back toward the living room. Leaning in, she whispers, “Why?”
“She wants to talk to him about what she saw Friday night.”
“Emery,” Annie says. “What did she see?”
“You know, just me stabbing my husband and dragging his body into my car.”
21LUCA
Emery seems happy to disappear with Annie into the kitchen and miss Crash’s recounting of our greatest adventures. Based on the twinkle in his eye, I can’t really blame her. I get the sense that the stories I’m about to hear are not family friendly. Once we’re alone, he comes back to the sofa to sit carefully down next to me.
Crash and I study each other for a few silent seconds. His hair is jet-black, his eyes so blue they stand out starkly against his tanned skin. He has more tattoos now than he did in the photo on the mantel. Both of his arms are covered, and when he sees me studying them, he points an index finger to an intricate leaf fading from green to red.
