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had more files, and boxes stacked on the far end. A credenza
with bottles and glasses and tumblers, as if Claire hosted
people in here all the time. This was as private and intimate as
seeing her naked, and Haley was there without permission.
She wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass her by. She
knew she should just leave and go to the kitchen to find Jean
or someone to ask where Claire was. She didn’t. She walked to
the bookcase instead and inspected it, running her fingers
along the spines of books. There were so many, all different
types and genres. If Claire actually read them and didn’t just
have them for show or décor, then she liked a wide variety of
topics.
Finding nothing of interest on the bookshelf, Haley moved
to the desk. Once she started rummaging around in files, she
couldn’t stop. She knew what she was looking for, and when
she found it, she let out a tiny squeak. She knew every location
of her dad’s restaurants and they all had the same variant of
her last name. That’s all she needed. She was staring at
numbers. Spreadsheets.
She didn’t know what to look for. It was financials of some
sort, and it was clear that all of the restaurants were losing
money, but she already knew that. Her dad wouldn’t have
needed a loan otherwise. It wasn’t private information by any
means.
The office door banged open so suddenly that Haley jumped
back, hit herself on the desk chair with the backs of her thighs,
and fell with a scream onto her ass. She missed the chair and
hit the floor. Hard. Her teeth clacked together, the top one just
about going through the bottom, and she let out a hiss of pain.
She stared up, way up, into Claire’s scowling face.
