AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She jerked her chin forward. “About Lamise. It’s a shame we don’t have a position open for her, because she seems eager.”
“Or desperate,” I noted.
Avalon held my gaze. “Yeah.”
For a few seconds, the two of us stayed there in silence. I didn’t know what was going through Avalon’s mind, but I had what felt like a million thoughts racing through mine.
Suddenly, I blurted, “A homemaker might have experience with kids, right?”
Something washed over Avalon’s face. Surprise and a bit of something else, maybe? But as quickly as it was there, it was gone, and she answered, “Sure.”
I quickly looked behind me and saw Lamise moving slowly through the parking lot. The most absurd idea popped into my head.
Why I was even considering what I was about to do was beyond me. It was crazy. I didn’t know who this womanwas, and I was actually entertaining the idea of something that could only be labeled as preposterous.
I should have just let her walk away and continued with my search, as I had been doing.
Instead, I turned back to look at Avalon and asked, “Is this a bad idea?”
She knew what I was asking and didn’t hesitate to respond. “We’ve got private investigators here, Banks, and we can do a background check. I don’t think you’d be putting Rhys at risk if you considered Lamise. Just make sure you do your due diligence before you make any rash decisions.”
Avalon was right.
We could easily do a background check—something that would have been required had Harper Security Ops been hiring for any position.
I thought on it for a moment.
“It would allow me to keep Rhys home. He’d be the only priority for Lamise as opposed to one of many in a daycare center,” I reasoned, trying to justify why I wanted to walk out the door to stop Lamise before she got in her car and drove off.
“I agree. But if you’re going to try to make that happen before she leaves, you better go out now,” Avalon urged me.
I turned around again, saw Lamise approaching a car, and didn’t give Avalon another glance.
My feet carried me forward through the door, and my eyes remained pinned on the woman I refused to let walk away. And for some strange reason, the closer I got to her, the more I couldn’t deny the way something stirred in my chest once more.
FOUR
Lamise
This had been a long shot.
It had been a week since my entire world had been rocked all over again, days since I’d called my sister and asked for her advice and ultimately gone to the police with the video on Graham’s phone.
For some time, it felt like I’d been thrown right back into a pit of despair. No sooner had I left the police station, I’d gone back to my apartment and climbed into bed. I’d attempted to come to grips with the new reality I was living in, the one that meant my fiancé had been murdered. It wasn’t exactly easy.
And with the exception of my sister and the police, I hadn’t told anyone else about Graham’s video. The police had indicated they’d be opening a case as it was clear not everything was as it had originally seemed.
Jolene had called me following my visit to the police station, worried out of her mind. She was terrified I wasgoing to go back on my word and attempt to figure out what happened to Graham all on my own.
In an effort to reassure her, I had no choice but to make her another promise. I insisted I was going to do what I originally set out to do the day I wound up finding Graham’s phone.
So, I got myself out of bed and started searching for a job. But it wasn’t by pure coincidence I wound up at Harper Security Ops this morning. That had been a strategic move on my part.
Or, that’s what I had intended for it to be.
Though there hadn’t been any public postings for jobs, I still decided to make a stop there, hoping they might have something available.
I thought Harper Security Ops was the best place I could find employment, considering the uncertainty of the situation regarding Graham’s death, and there were two big reasons for that.
