Page 32 of Hunted By Them

“You know what I mean.”

I swallowed. The sun had turned the windshield into a bright, glaring wall, and beyond it, the office building glittered as if nothing bad had ever happened to anyone.

“I’m okay, just tired,” I finally admitted.

She huffed, skeptical. “You really should call Connor and let him know you’re alright. He’s been very worried.”

“I’m sure he has,” I said, closing my eyes and searching for the strength to finish this conversation. “How did he even get your number?”

“I gave it to him the last time I was up for a visit. Sage…he cares about you. I know he made a mistake, but we all make mistakes.”

That was Mom-speak for: He’s not so bad. You two are sweet together. Why can’t you date the nice boy who cheated on you, who has a fancy job, and doesn’t chase storms?

“He said he saw the news and wants to take you to dinner.”

“Noted.”

I wished there was some sophisticated way to get rid of Connor. Apparently, he didn’t understand the words Fuck and Off.

“Please text me when you’re home tonight…and Sage?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t go into the woods alone again,” she ordered, and I rolled my eyes.

Yes, the trees were the problem.

I bit the inside of my cheek so I wouldn’t say something sarcastic.

“I love you,” I said instead.

“I love you, too.”

We disconnected, and I sighed as I set the phone face down like it might bite me. Well, that was one done. Grabbing my purse, I got out and locked my car on the way to the front door of the building.

Inside, the air smelled like coffee, carpet cleaner, and the recycled despair of a corporate office. I swiped my badge, nodded to security, and stood with the small group waiting for the next elevator. It dinged as it arrived, and we all rushed in like a group of ants.

“Fourteenth floor,” I said to the guy looking at me for a number.

It was really the thirteenth floor, but because people were superstitious, they skipped it. Just because they labeled it differently didn’t make it so.

The doors slid open, and I stood there staring at the waiting area. I didn’t want to step off. But as the doors started to close, I stuck out my arm and stopped them.

Dammit.

My shoe crossed the threshold into what had once felt like a hive, but now it looked like an ant farm. Every head turned in my direction. People glanced up or did double takes, then either rushed over with wide eyes and asked questions or pretended not to notice my entrance like decent human beings. I kept my chin up and my answers short. None of these people were real friends. Attending business lunches and the Christmas party hadn’t made us BFFs.

Margaret’s door opened like the snap of a trap.

“Sage,” she called, voice clipped enough to freeze me mid-stride. “My office. Now.”

Of course.

I had not missed this part. My boss was a Grade-A bitch. Normally, I avoided her wrath because…well, I was her hardest working employee, despite the snub. Apparently, being lost in the woods wasn’t going to get me out of whatever hell she was about to bring down.

Margaret’s secretary, Mary, gave me a sympathetic look. She always took the brunt of Margaret’s tantrums.

I followed her into a glass cube decorated with expensive minimalist elements and a framed certificate that said she had completed a leadership seminar in Scottsdale. She shut the door with a click that felt like she’d locked us inside.