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It’s always fun to render her speechless.
But there is something I need to talk to her about. I sit on the adjacent armchair and study her. “Halley.”
My serious tone makes her look up from her ongoing sulk and she grouses, “What?”
My lips twitch at the little display of temper but it doesn’t deter me from asking the question that’s been bothering me ever since our trip. “Why did you panic on the road when we were going back to the hot
el?”
Halley stills and then a helpless expression flits on her face. “I don’t know.”
“You looked scared out of your mind. And you said that your mother told you not to go there.”
She looks uncertain and her fingers pull at the edge of the pizza box, tearing off a bit of the cardboard. “I don’t know. I just…” She hesitates. “…I’ve never acted like that before. The rain and the road and…” She pauses as if trying to get her thoughts in order, and then after a moment, continues slowly, “This might sound a little strange but it felt like I was living in two different moments in time. The weather and the way the road looked, I don’t know what it reminded me of exactly, but it was like I’d gone down that road before with my mother.” Her face pales with signs of strain and her breathing goes ragged. “I can’t remember! I’m sorry.”
“Hey, hey!” Her face is white as a sheet, and I grab her gently. “Forget it. Look at me.” When she does, the stark look in her eyes leaves me shaken.
“I’m too scared to remember,” she whispers. “Every time I try, my whole body just grows so cold.”
Whatever trauma she went through probably had something to do with that path. It was very likely her mother took her down that road when they were escaping and something had happened there.
My eyes narrow as I recall the map I’d seen crudely drawn on the case file. If one began on that road and then ran through the woods surrounding it, they were very likely to end up at the parking lot Halley had been found wandering in.
Had Lily Cooper not even made it out that far?
I keep my thoughts to myself, and drag Halley towards me, distracting her.
I have a feeling we’ll find plenty of answers on Monday.
“Those are two new accounts. I managed to secure the smaller one with no problem but Pizenro wants to meet with you once, since you’ll be heading their project.”
Raymond looks vaguely irritated.
I flash him a look of concern. “You all right?”
A small frown settles on the face of the usually soft-natured man. “I don’t understand these new generation cell phones. It keeps asking me for touch verification every time I try to open it.”
I glance at the phone he’s holding up and grin. “Halley got you that, didn’t she?”
When he blinks, I inform him, “That’s the latest model. You should have just gotten the same model you had before.’’
Raymond lifts his new phone and stares at it. “But she said this would suit me. And she said it can take really good pictures. See?” He shows me a picture of the two of them at dinner from yesterday.
I grin on seeing the chandelier type multicolored earrings hanging from Halley’s ears. Their outrageousness steals the whole picture. I also see the soft happiness in Halley’s eyes and the love shining in Raymond’s as he has one arm around his adopted daughter.
I haven’t yet told him Halley and I are together as I have a feeling he won’t take it so well. Maybe I should tell him after her internship is over. “That’s good quality,” I tell him as I see Kendall in the doorway. “Tell her to give you the guide. That would be helpful.”
“I never needed one before,” he mutters just as Kendall knocks on the door. “Caleb wants to see you and Halley.”
“Kendall.” Raymond smiles at her in greeting and then shoots me a worried look. “Is Halley in trouble?”
“No,” I assure him. “We were supposed to brief him on something. I’ll see you later.” Then with an afterthought, I add, “You should get that picture framed.”
The older man beams at me. “What an excellent idea.”
At times like these, I often muse that Raymond is more suited to being a doting grandfather than an office drone. I watch him leave.
Kendall grins at me. “So, you and Halley, hmm?”
