Page 103 of Never Forget

I bite the inside of my cheek. “He talks as if he has someone powerful in his back pocket, but he could be bluffing.”

“The problem is, with all the changes happening at the label, we don’t have anyone backing us up if this goes wrong. We need to tread carefully.”

“Who do you think he’s setting Scott up to meet?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll be curious to see if Francis shows his face.”

“Me too.”

The silence that fills the cabin feels oppressive. I don’t want to go home. I want to be on that bus with Scott. Or better yet, stowing him away on a private flight where he has plenty of room and no one can touch him but me.

“I think you should stay here with the other guys and your grandparents.”

“Not happening.”

“Going through a breakup and being in hiding don’t really make sense if you’re seen running around New York again. And we don’t know who we can trust.”

“Don’t start with the Emmy thing again. There’s no way he had anything to do with the bug.”

“Maybe not on purpose, but it still needs to be investigated. Quietly. I’m supposed to go up tomorrow to meet with Blake and his contact at the Waves App, so I’ll be in the city if Scott needs me.”

“How are we so sure we can trust them?”

“We’re not. But it's all we have right now. Blake has his connection at the Waves App digging into the label's systems and will find the leak.”

We don’t speak again until we’re pulling into the driveway. Cory drives me up to my trailer, but I don’t get out. I stare at the door, at the lights I left on inside, at the space that used to be mine but now feels suffocating. And I have to stay in there, because I can’t tip Francis off that I know I’m being listened to.

Fucking Francis. He took both of my safe spaces from me. This was my paradise. And Scott… I still have Scott, and we can still have good sex, but those sessions were about so much more than sex. I don’t know how I’ll ever find it in me to let go like that again.

“I’m going tomorrow,” I tell Cory, still looking out on my ruined happy place. “You can take me with you, or I’ll get there on my own.”

I step out of the SUV, not looking back or giving him a chance to try and reason with me.

“We leave at oh-six hundred hours.”

Giving him a little salute, I trudge up the steps to my trailer.

The door buzzes at exactly the right moment, saving me from having to explain to Blake why I’m here, much less why I’m wearing a security uniform and have makeup covering all the tattoos from my neck down to my fingertips.

He gives me a stern look before moving to open the door, stepping aside as Kit Quinley and a smaller person with bubblegum pink hair and a thigh-length translucent yellow raincoat walk in. They’re both holding their fingers to their lips, instructing us to be quiet.

Without a word, Kit guides their companion into the apartment and gestures to the kitchen island. Pink hair friend sets a device on the surface, a cylinder about two inches in diameter and about eight inches tall. They push a button and the cylinder opens into what looks like a camera tripod. After a few seconds, a thin green ring begins circling the top of the cylinder.

Kit and friend nod at each other before Kit turns to acknowledge us. “Okay, now we can talk.”

“What is that?” I ask.

“It checks for wireless transmitters and blocks any attempts to record or listen in to our conversation,” Kit’s friend says.

“And who are you?”

Blake steps in front of me. “You must be Sunni. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person. Thank you again for all your help.”

This is the tech expert? They seem really young for a genius cybersecurity analyst.

“Sunni is a student at NYU. She just started working for the Waves App about eight months ago and has become a huge asset to the team.”

Sunni waves, showing off perfectly white teeth with a gap in the middle that makes her look even sweeter. Her name suits her.