Page 80

“That’s what her tone said?”

“No! I’m asking the question. What. The. Fuck. Is—”

Lindsey cuts me off. “I heard you the first time.” Silence fills the cab until her long sigh echoes through it.

“Lins? Wanna clue me in here? Did you and Peggy have a falling-out?” They’re like two peas in a pod. In fact, I’m pretty damn sure Peggy loves Lindsey way more than she loves me, so the possibility they’re at odds doesn’t ring true.

“No. She’s … uh, she’s upset about your, um, girlfriend.”

“My girlfriend? You mean Jackie?”

Jackie and I have been so busy staying under the radar that I haven’t allowed myself to stick the G label on her. But how we behave together when we’re alone? Definitely fits the boyfriend-girlfriend dynamic. Those close to me who suspect that Jackie’s an important fixture in my life—like Peggy—surely see Jackie that way. I haven’t shared too much with Lins because I don’t want to admit to the rest of it, like the fact that we’re going behind her brother’s back. If anyone can get the details out of me, it’s my sister, and I’m not exactly proud of this sneakfest I have going with Jackie. Besides the truth making me look like a sleaze, my sister might think it gives her permission to see someone behind my back. Yeah, I know. Double standard much?

My growing discomfort with Jackie’s and my situation is one of the main reasons I want our relationship out in the open. Correction: wanted, as in past tense. That was true before Harper’s revelation today, and now I’m not sure what the hell I want.

“Yes, Jackie,” my sister replies. Her exasperation is clear, and my confusion and alarm climb.

“Can you give your clueless brother a hint at least?” I bite, equally exasperated.

“Peggy’s going to kill me,” Lindsey replies in a worried voice. “This is confidential, Colb.”

“You let me deal with Peggy. Tell her I dragged it out of you. Now what’s going on?”

“New Horizons, that nonprofit where Jackie works and Peggy’s a sitting board member, got some kind of demand letter today from a law firm representing Jackie’s old company, Bio something.”

My gut clenches. “Roscoe Biotech.”

“New Horizons’ director——Brandon someone, I think—freaked out and brought it to the board. Since Peggy’s the governance chair, she saw the letter.”

“What are the jackasses demanding?”

“They want New Horizons to freeze Jackie’s emails and computer records since the day she started working there.”

“That makes no sense,” I scoff. “Jackie was done with Roscoe a while ago. It’s in the past.” Plus, she’s not in any kind of financial role with New Horizons and she came clean with her boss before he hired her.

At least that’s what she told me.

Lindsey elaborates. “They’re saying that Jackie’s using New Horizons’ resources for something tied to her old employer.”

My stomach plummets to the floorboard. “What the fuck does something mean?”

Lindsey’s voice pitches higher. “I don’t know. Even Peggy doesn’t know all the details, and she couldn’t share them anyway because it’s board business. She only told me as much as she did because I could tell something was off, and I dragged it out of her.”

“Did New Horizons consult their attorney?”

“Yes, and after reviewing the letter, the lawyer advised the director to preserve all of Jackie’s emails and computer records. This isn’t about what Jackie did before, whatever that was. It’s about something she’s doing now. At New Horizons.” She pauses for an intake of air. “It doesn’t sound good, Colby. How involved are you with this woman?”

“I, uh, I’m not. Not really. It’s … We’re casual.” The lie twists my already churning gut.

Now it’s my sister’s turn to scoff. “Why don’t I believe you?”

“I don’t know,” I snarl. “Because you don’t know shit about it?”

I regret my tone as soon as the awful words are out, but my sister surprises me with a soft chuckle. “And this is why, big brother, I don’t believe you. I know you, and right now you’re a little too defensive.”

Busted.

“You’ve got it bad for her, don’t you?” Lindsey sounds almost … sad.