Chapter 22 #2
I nod, but it feels like my head is floating somewhere above my body. “Thanks for checking.”
I turn before he can say anything else because if he’s kind, if he asks if I’m okay, I might crack in the middle of Emergency.
The walk back to my office feels like miles. My pulse thumps in my ears, and every step makes the knot in my stomach tighter. What am I going to do? How do I sort this out? I need someone who believes me.
By the time I get back to my desk, the numbers have blurred on the page. My hands tremble as I sit, pull out my phone, and text Trinity.
Me: Can I come over tonight?
Her response appears almost instantly.
Trinity: Of course. I’m giving you a key. Come over whenever you need to.
My throat tightens. I set my phone down and look at the clock. 3:12 p.m. I have to find something to do with myself.
Time crawls, but I update the numbers in the report and start to second guess everything Misty has ever given me. When five o’clock comes, I gather my things as fast as I can because I can’t risk running into her on the way out. Not today.
I walk home, dump my bag inside, and head immediately to my car. I drop into the driver’s seat and sit there, gripping the wheel so tightly my knuckles go white.
I came to Paradise for more responsibility. I hoped for better balance, a place where I could belong, where my work and my life could finally make sense together. I never expected this level of politicking. At North Vancouver, I never saw anything this brutal.
I spent a week in Hawaii, and somehow, everything went sideways. Then, this mistake could have ended me for good.
Not just the job. The entire life I’ve been building here.
I drop my forehead against the steering wheel and breathe until the pressure behind my eyes eases enough for me to get it together.
I text her that I’m on the way and drive to Trinity’s, my stomach in knots. She and Theo are in the lobby of her building when I arrive, her face tight with concern.
Theo runs into my arms, and we walk to the elevator. He wiggles out of my grip when the doors close, and Trinity looks at me. “What happened?”
I shake my head until the doors open into her living area.
I walk out into the living room and kick off my shoes, the familiar comfort of her space doing nothing to settle the dread clawing at my ribs. “It’s Misty,” I say. “She’s trying to sabotage me.”
Trinity’s eyebrows pull together. “Liz, that’s a big accusation.”
“I know.” My voice cracks. “But it’s true. I asked her for a spreadsheet, and the numbers she sent me weren’t just off. They were wrong on purpose. Greyson pulled the real stats. They’re nowhere close.”
She sinks onto the couch, rubbing her hands together. “I’m having a hard time believing she’d go that far.”
I drop beside her. “You said yourself that she wanted my job.”
“She did,” Trinity admits. “She wanted it more than anyone. But she wasn’t even close to being qualified. Hudson told her that, so she knows. Doing something like this… I didn’t think she was that devious.”
“I didn’t either,” I whisper. “But it’s been something at every turn.
” I pull in a shaky breath. “Trin, you know my room situation was messed up in Hawaii, and when I asked her about not booking me a room for the conference, she got very upset and told me I’d asked her not to book it.
Why would she say that? She was supposed to transfer Hudson’s reservation to me.
We never talked about the room. She just told me everything was transferred and gave me the travel file. Why would she do that?”
For the first time, Trinity’s disbelief cracks. Her eyes widen with something that looks an awful lot like recognition.
“Oh my God,” she whispers.
My panic rises. “There’s no innocent explanation,” I finish. “She wants me gone.”
Trinity covers her mouth with her hand. The fight drains out of her skepticism. “Oh, Liz…”
Finally. She believes me.
“I moved here for this job. For more responsibility. To be closer to you and to Mark, and Sam and Nicky. I wanted a life here. And now, one week at a conference and this level of sabotage are the things that might ruin my career.”
“We’re going to get this figured out.”
I stand abruptly because the room feels too small. “How does this happen? How does a work trip turn into…all of this?”
Trinity rises too and reaches for my arm. “Hey. Breathe.”
“I can’t.” The words spill out, breathless.
“I can’t lose this. Not after everything I gave up to come here.
Not after finally feeling like I could find a place to belong.
Now, Hudson will think Alaric slept with me so he wouldn’t have to do his CMEs, and Misty is feeding him lies, and the numbers are a disaster, and—”
“Liz.” She squeezes my arm. “You’re not alone in this.”
Tears burn the back of my throat, but I swallow them down. “It feels like I am.”
She pulls me into a hug before I can fall apart. “We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
Her words settle against me, warm and steady. But worry still swirls beneath my skin. Coming to Paradise was supposed to be the beginning. Instead, it feels like it might be the end.