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“How did it go with Pel?”
Hesitating, she considered how to proceed. She assumed Pel had already emailed Jim about the tragic events of last evening, along with a bill to cover dry cleaning for his overly priced designer jeans.
Was this a test to see if she’d fess up?
“Uneventful, but I’m working on it.”
Long pause. Then. “I see.”
“Listen, there’s something I wanted to run by you.”
“I’m not awake enough for this, McLeedy.”
Nonplussed, she hurried on. “Did you know that the residents of Dingle enacted new rules to protect the environment against the tourist influx caused by the Dingle lights? What they’ve done is fascinating–”
“You’re done with the clean air assignment. Get back to the office.”
“W-what?”
“I’m reassigning the story. You’ve completely wasted my time, my money, and my patience. Get your ass back here so I can find something useful for you to do. You haven’t earned a vacation. Don’t you dare charge another thing on the expense account. It’s all on your dime starting now.”
The line went dead.
Stunned, she stared at the phone. What had just happened? Sure, she’d wanted to wash her hands of Pel Cappa and his bullshit, butaftergetting the interview.
Slumping in the chair, she let out a slow breath to hold back an influx of tears. Her life was a shitshow. The curse had followed her to Ireland, hadn’t it? Instead of leaving her past behind, it showed up here with a bang.
I know what I fucking saw!
Belinda’s terrified voice cut through Kimber’s mind. The barmaid didn’t like her very much. This was probably a prank she played on tourists to get her kicks. Maybe it was a marketing stunt or a stupid way to trick tourists into buying more tee shirts. Grabbing her cell, she opened Ethan’s number and sent him a text.
Call when you have a minute?
The message glitched on the screen, the little wheel icon at the bottom working as the message attempted to send. The screen went black, then popped back on and the message was gone. Opening her texting history with Ethan, she found it empty. She tried to message him again, but the wheel kept turning.
“Damn it.”
She sent Dana a text as a test and got a response almost immediately.
I don’t know what’s going on, but you should get back here ASAP. Jim basically has an effigy of you in his office ready to be used as a dartboard.
Oh, great. Just great. Her phone slid across the table as she tossed it down too hard. Expecting to hear it hit the floor, she looked just as a man bent and caught the phone with one pasty hand. He smiled up at her as he handed it back.
“Here you go.”
She did a double take. Did she know him? He looked familiar in that way you knew someone but couldn’t place from where.
“Thank you.”
Walking away, he slowly turned and looked back at her. All the hairs stood up on her arms when he offered a little wave, his voice low enough for only her to hear.
“I’ll see you soon.”
Chapter Eighteen
Kimber
Ittookanotherdayand a half to catch a flight back to Florida, and she’d spent her remaining time in Dingle avoiding everyone because she was too sick to move. Overwhelming fatigue kept her in bed, and when she woke, she was equally starving and nauseous and worried about Ethan. She’d tried to get a hold of him several times, but her calls and texts wouldn’t go through.
