Chapter Eight — Trinity
CHAPTER EIGHT
_____________
TRINITY
My elbow knocked a bunch of papers off the edge of my desk, and I groaned. “Fuck.”
It was Saturday, and the office was pretty empty, so I wasn’t worried about anyone hearing me curse the heavens for my own clumsiness. I dropped things and knocked them over so often that I needed a warning label.
I glanced down at the papers. Did I need those?
Not right this second. But I did need… that. I grabbed a bright pink sticky note from the grave of sticky notes that was my desk and typed in the email address.
I didn’t want to let my memories settle, so I came into the office to write up at least some of my questions for Amber.
If I stayed in my apartment, I wouldn’t do it.
Sometimes I worked from home, but I’d never been good at working in spaces where I also relaxed.
My brain simply didn’t see the point when it could be doing something fun.
Then again, my job was a lot more fun a few months ago than it was now.
Brushing the thought aside, I focused on the email, promising myself that I would go over to Dad’s and use the pool. A good reward for working on a Saturday.
A knock on the door made me jump out of my skin.
I looked up to find my boss, Edgar, standing in the door.
Edgar was an older Beta that reminded me of a classic old-school newspaper man.
He was tough as nails, took shit from no one, and hated technology with a passion.
But he was also kind to a fault and relentlessly protective of his employees.
“Edgar. You startled me.”
He coughed a laugh—coughing was his main mode of laughter after a lifetime of cigarettes—and stepped through the door. “You too. Didn’t expect to find you here on a weekend.”
“Won’t be here too long. Just wanted to get some thoughts down and couldn’t focus at home.”
“Your piece on Element?”
I nodded.
“How’s it going?”
“Early stages still, but once I hear back from this source, I’ll be able to get through it pretty quickly.”
“Sounds good. I won’t get in your way. I was wondering if you still had the files from the animal trainer exposé Tracy worked on last year? We’ve got some interest in a follow-up.”
“Yeah, I think so.”
I grabbed the keys to my filing cabinet and unlocked the bottom drawer, mentally preparing myself. This drawer always stuck, and I sometimes had to put my whole body weight behind it to get it open.
It resisted, and I swore under my breath.
“You got it?”
“Yeah.” I said the word through gritted teeth a second before it gave way and threw me back on my ass. Even then, it didn’t open all the way. “It always sticks.”
Edgar looked at me. “You know you’re allowed to order another one if it’s broken.”
I shrugged. “I don’t use the bottom drawer that often since it’s mostly Tracy’s old files, but I will if I need to.” I flipped through the folders and found the one he needed. “Here you go.”
He came over and took it from me before I could get off the floor. “Need help up?”
“You know, while I’m down here, I might see if I can figure it out.”
Laughing, he rapped his knuckles on my desk. “Let me know if you find anything interesting.”
Then he was gone. Another good thing about Edgar. He didn’t linger, unlike some of my coworkers. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the fallen papers and grabbed them.
I was irrationally angry at a stack of paper that had done nothing more than fall victim to me, but I still wanted to tear them up and stomp on them. Maybe scream at the top of my lungs while I did it.
Which was… a lot.
I felt uncomfy in my own skin, like the room was too small, and wanted to curl up and do absolutely nothing. Instead, I turned back to the drawer and tried to pull it fully out.
Nothing.
I tried again, and it still didn’t budge, but it didn’t feel like it was stuck so it couldn’t move. It felt like it was… blocked.
Planting my feet against the base of the cabinet, I pulled with everything I had. Sudden rage flew up underneath my skin and I screamed, unleashing all that anger into trying to pull this fucking drawer open.
My fingers slipped off the handle and I fell backward, heaving breath. I kicked the cabinet once, and then again cause it felt fucking good.
What was wrong with me? I didn’t understand why I was so out of sorts. I didn’t feel normal. Earlier I’d noticed the feeling, but it had only gotten worse as the day wore on. Heaviness that clung to me like a cloud.
I’d eaten, so I wasn’t hangry. I’d slept like a fucking cat in a sunbeam after last night. My sugars were fine. I’d checked them earlier. So why—
Logan’s soft, warm voice rose out of my memory.
When you use up so many of the good brain chemicals, you can run out. And in the time it takes for your body to build them back up, it can feel shitty. Not always, but it can. When it does, we call it drop.
I wasn’t sure if this was what it felt like, but it made the most sense. At least I could wrap my head around why.
Funny how having the words to explain something immediately made it more manageable. I still felt crappy, but I knew why, and that took away the sting of feeling so unsettled.
Instead of kicking the cabinet again, I started taking the files out of the drawer. I’d never cleared it out because they were old notes from Tracy on completed stories. I’d had to hit the ground running so quickly that I’d only focused on her open stories. Nothing else.
And… there.
At the back of the drawer there was a thick folder that was wedged at an odd angle and preventing the drawer from being pulled out completely. It was still a bit stuck, but it came free after I wrestled with it.
I pulled the handle, watching it roll all the way open with a smoothness that taunted me. “Bitch.”
Now it worked perfectly, even with all the folders back inside. Go fucking figure.
What the hell had been causing the problem all these months?
The title on the folder didn’t jog my memory. Reef Cars. Was it from before I worked here?
I opened the folder and started reading. My eyebrows rose higher and higher.
Good thing I was mostly done with my email to Amber. This folder was coming with me to the pool. Because this looked interesting.
The sun felt good on my skin. I’d been so busy the last few months that I was probably suffering from a chronic vitamin D deficiency.
Well… two types of vitamin D deficiency.
And after last night, I was very aware of the second kind.
At least the reading was interesting. Because the folder I found wasn’t a finished piece.
It was notes for something Tracy had been working on when she died, and I was focused on her notes like they were my new lifeline.
Tracy was a decent boss, but she was an even better reporter. I wasn’t really sure what she was doing at a magazine like ours. The notes in front of me read more like a piece that would run in a national paper and be covered by every other media outlet the next day.
Environmental corruption. Shit being dumped in the ocean that should never be there. Lies on lies on lies by the companies doing it, including some that had testified under oath that their practices were above board and complied with all environmental laws.
I reached for the sunscreen and flipped a page. I’d been out here long enough to reapply, and I was focusing so hard on these notes that I would forget if I didn’t do it now. Despite my being a crabby bitch sometimes, I wasn’t meant to be a lobster. Turning red wasn’t on the agenda today.
Holy shit.
Tracy had at least one source willing to blow the whistle.
No wonder she had this file down at the back of the cabinet.
She probably deleted the emails just in case.
You didn’t fuck with sources like this. The emails were printed, two distinctly different sources, and based on these, she’d never gotten the chance to speak to them.
But I could.
Even more than the piece about Element, which was what I enjoyed, combining my interview skills with human interest, this was something else entirely.
I’d never been a journalist who wanted to delve into topics this deep.
Until actual reporting had been taken out of my hands.
Now I was desperate for anything that would keep my brain busy and allow me to have a break from editing everyone else’s articles.
I wasn’t sure I was meant to be a manager. Sure, it was flattering, but I was exhausted. Part of me felt like it would be a failure to admit I didn’t love the new title and responsibility. Everyone wanted to be a managing editor, right? Like that was the dream.
Until it wasn’t.
Closing the folder, I set it on the chaise next to mine and leaned back, letting my mind wander.
I was definitely emailing those contacts on Monday to see if they were still willing to talk.
Because if a story like this was happening, it could be a big deal.
Not only for me and the magazine, but because there was clearly a lot of shady shit going on.
From beyond the bushes and taller trees that blocked the pool from the house, I heard my father’s booming laugh. I smiled. He’d been out when I arrived, so it was nice to have him home. And, if he was here, I wouldn’t have to sneak out in order to avoid his other pack members.
He’d been home so much thanks to Liz. But I didn’t move yet. If he was coming to the pool, he’d be here soon.
A breeze blew in off the ocean, raising chills on my skin. It was later in the summer, but still too early for the fall weather to come in. I glared at the sky. “Don’t even fucking think about it. You’re going to stay warm until the last possible second, you understand me?”
“Talking to yourself again, Rin?”
I looked over at my father opening the gate to the pool. “Always and forever, you know that.”
He laughed. “I do.”
Liz was right behind him, and I waved. “Hi, Liz.”
“Hi, honey.”
“Keeping him out of trouble?”
She rolled her eyes. “As if that’s even possible.”
When Dad came home from his latest adventure and announced he was getting married, I admit I didn’t have the best reaction. It was exactly the kind of off the wall thing my father was known for. He went where he wanted, did what he wanted, and left me behind with the rest of his pack.
He’d never been romantically involved with the others, and I was the result of a whirlwind tryst on one of his adventures. And then my tiny ass was left on the front step, and the rest was history.
But Liz was great for him, and though I didn’t know her well, she’d grown on me. Dad seemed far more grounded when he was around her, and I’d never seen him like that before.
“Don’t tell me you’re working,” he said. “It’s the weekend.”
“Not anymore. But you know how it is. Work never stops.” He opened his mouth, and I pointed at him. “You are the least qualified person to tell me that’s not true. Just saying.”
Hands raised in surrender, he laughed. “Fair enough.”
They had towels with them. “You swimming?”
“Maybe. I think everyone’s going to come out. Thought we might have some food.”
My stomach dropped, and I did my best not to let it show on my face. “I’m not sure how long I’m able to stay, but that sounds nice.”
“Hopefully you’ll stay long enough to meet my son and his pack,” Liz said, settling into a chair beneath the umbrella at the corner of the pool. “I invited them over to meet Cecil and everyone else. I hope that’s all right.”
“I didn’t know you had a son,” I said honestly.
She smiled. “I do. He’s not here as much as I’d like because he travels for work, but he’s a lot more stationary than Cecil. Or how Cecil used to be.”
She grinned at my father, and he clutched a hand over his heart like she’d thrown a spear. “You wound me. If I wasn’t a chronic traveler, we never would have met.”
“That’s true. But now that I’m here and intend to stay, hopefully you’ll stay put too.”
“Only until it’s time for the next adventure, then I’m dragging you with me.” He tossed his towel and shirt onto a chaise and dove straight into the deep end.
Liz glanced at me and winked. “Don’t worry. I’ll do my best to keep him around.”
“I appreciate that, even if it might be a lost cause.” My father would never be one to stay in the same place for long. I’d accepted that a long time ago, no matter how painful it was.
“My son is a competitive surfer, so he’s about as far from me as you can get. But that’s the reason he travels.”
“Makes sense that this is home, then.” There were competitions up and down the entire western coast in the summer.
She smiled and picked up her book. “Most of the time. Anyway, they’ll be here soon.”
Dad sloshed out of the pool and grabbed his towel. “Feels amazing. I’ll go check with Val and see where they’re at with the food.”
“Sure.”
Liz looked at me like she saw the truth on my face, and I looked away.
Any questions about that weren’t going to be answered right now.
Pulling off the thin coverup I had on, I slathered the rest of my skin with sunscreen before going into the water.
Down the steps, because I wasn’t planning on getting my hair wet.
I didn’t actually care about it being wet, but I’d learned the hard way to look my best when I was here. And with the drop I still felt, I didn’t have enough self-control not to snap if Val made a comment about it. I felt better than earlier, but I was still off.
Dad’s voice echoed again. “Yeah, it’s just out here. Make yourself comfortable. The food will be out in a little while. You bring your suits?”
“We did,” a rich voice laughed. “Though I’m sure that doesn’t surprise anyone, since Theo and I practically live in the water.”
Something about that voice…
Footsteps approached the gate, and Liz looked over, calling, “It was the water birth, wasn’t it? I cursed myself with a baby that’s half fish.”
“I mean, maybe, but I’d have to argue that I’m not a baby anymore.”
The gate clicked open, and I turned at the same as a wave of cinnamon and sugar reached me.
No.
I looked up at the four men who’d just entered the pool area. Even without their masks, I was pretty sure I would recognize them anywhere.
The Breaker Pack was here, and all we could do was stare at each other.