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Twenty-Four
I walkedthrough the front door and kicked my heels off in a pile next to the stairs. It turned out that being a receptionist was exhausting work. Only two or three people bothered asking my name before handing me a memo to send out, asking me to make reservations, or to lead guests to their meetings. It felt like every time I sat down, something pulled me away from my desk once again.
I hadn’t overheard anything of interest, but it was clear people didn’t care what they gave to me. They included me in emails and messages that appeared to be somewhat proprietary or personal but didn’t give it a second thought. If this continued, I would have something to report back in no time. I might even end up with blackmail-worthy knowledge we could use if we had to.
Sky’s day didn’t seem to go any better. His boss, Matt, was rude and barked orders without proper instruction. He wasn’t able to bring up Robert’s absence, but he was confident it would happen soon.
“Ave?” I froze at my dad’s voice. I wasn’t expecting him home. I glanced down at my dress. How was I going to explain this? I started up the stairs, but he stepped into the foyer before I could disappear. “Hi, honey, how was your day?”
“Oh, good. How was yours?”
“Fine.” He looked me over. “You look nice. Did the school’s dress code change?”
I calculated, then spewed out a lie. “I had a presentation, and my teacher wanted us to dress professionally.”
“Was that the project you were working on last night?” he asked, giving me the perfect excuse.
“Yeah. Yup. I might have to dress like this all week.” I figured I might as well stretch this for as long as possible.
He chuckled. “Welcome to the real world. You should ask Juliet if you need anything. I’m sure she has plenty of dresses for you to borrow.”
That was a completely reasonable suggestion. One I would never take. “That’s a good idea. Is she here?”
“No, she stayed in the city. I wanted to get a decent ride in, so I came home early.”
“Right.” I paused. Was now the best time to ask him about her? How many chances would I get without her around? Not many. “Did you ever ask her more about the file you saw?”
His brows bunched as if he’d forgotten about it entirely. I wished I could. “Yeah, sorry. I thought I told you. She didn’t know what the address was, but the rest was just details about your schedule, school information, and doctor, so she knew who to contact in case of emergency. She had some grocery lists and gift ideas too.”
Did she show him or did he simply believe her? “Oh, that’s funny.” It wasn’t, but I forced a smile. “That’s weird about the address, though.”
Why wasn’t he more concerned? He drove there then lost his memory. Wasn’t that something worth questioning?
“Yeah, we searched it on the internet, but it was abandoned several years ago.”
Shocking. The AS wiped any mention of its presence. Juliet probably had known exactly what to type to get the results she wanted.
“I’m going to start my workout. Don’t wait for me to eat if you’re hungry.”
“Okay.” I watched him walk toward the gym before hurrying to my room.
I pulled off the dress and changed into sweats before calling Gavin.
“Hey,” he answered on the first ring.
“Juliet lied to my dad. She said she didn’t know what the address was and even searched it and showed him how it was an abandoned building.”
The truth was slowly sinking in. I wanted to keep making excuses for Juliet and believe that while she might not be completely honest, at least she wasn’t lying to Dad. At least not directly or about AS things. Because secrets were different from lies.
But that fantasy came crumbling down. “She’s lying.”
“I know, Ave. I’m so sorry.” The pain in his voice told me he didn’t want this happening either.
“It was dumb, but I was hoping . . .” I couldn’t admit it out loud.
“I know. Me too.” Gavin watched. He saw things we didn’t realize. He knew me well enough to have guessed I’d been holding on.
“Did you see anything today?” I asked.
