Chapter 10 #2
“Hospitals,” Nick repeats calmly. “How do you feel about long stays?”
“I—What kind of question is that?”
Nick shrugs. “Just wondering.” Then he goes back to slurping his empty beer bottle.
Tom turns back to me, eyes wide with panic. “Please, just take me back to the bar.”
“In a minute,” I say. “We’re still getting to know each other. Jake, tell Tom about your connections.”
“Oh, right.” Jake leans forward, speaking directly into Tom’s ear. “See, the thing about being a lawyer is... everybody owes me favors. Mechanics, judges, bartenders... If someone were to vanish tonight, no one would ask too many questions.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Threatening?” Jake sounds genuinely hurt. “I’m just making conversation. I’m not saying you’ll get hurt if you ever call Megan again. I’m saying... accidents happen. People slip. Cars break down. Things catch fire.” He pauses, then adds cheerfully, “Funny how that works, right?”
I make another sharp turn, and this time Tom actually whimpers. “Please,” he says weakly. “I get the message. I’ll stay away from Megan.”
“Will you?” I ask, glancing over at him. “Because we really like our sister, Tom. And we don’t like it when people hurt her.”
“I won’t hurt her!”
“You already did,” Nick says quietly from the back. “Question is, what are you going to do about it?”
Tom looks back at him, and I can see his hands shaking. “I’ll... I’ll break up with her. Cleanly. No drama.”
“Good choice,” Jake says approvingly. “And Tom?”
“Yeah?”
“If we hear you’ve been spreading stories about her, or saying anything that might damage her reputation.
..” Jake’s smile turns cold. “Well, let’s just say I have an exceptionally vivid mental canvas when it comes to making people disappear from social media.
And social circles. And society in general. ”
I pull back into the bar’s parking lot and put the car in park. Tom immediately reaches for the door handle, but I hit the locks.
“One more thing,” I say. “If you ever hurt another woman the way you hurt our sister, we’ll find out. And next time, we might not be so friendly.”
I unlock the doors, and Tom practically falls out of the car in his haste to escape. Jake tosses his phone at him, and he barely catches it. He stumbles toward the bar without looking back, and I watch him go with satisfaction.
“Think he got the message?” Jake asks.
“Oh, yeah,” Nick says, finally putting down his beer bottle. “He got it. That beer was terrible.”
“Where’d you dig up the straw from?” I put the car back in drive.
Nick snorts. “I took it from the bar.”
“Megan’s going to kill us, you know,” I sigh.
Jake settles his arms behind his head. “You mean she’s going to kill you. This was your idea. We were just bystanders. Right, Nick?”
“What he said.” Nick nods.
I glance at Nick through the rearview mirror, and he’s grinning. It’s been a very long time since he’s looked so relaxed. I know Megan’s going to lose her shit with me over this, but at least Nick got his mind off his domestic troubles.
That’s something.
“How’s the investigation going?” Jake asks as I stop the car by a local diner.
“Terrible.” I get out of the car, locking it once the others are out. “I don’t know what was taken from the office. Both Eve and Joshua’s desks came up empty.”
“What investigation?” Nick looks between the two of us. As Jake fills him in, I order us burgers.
“I’m thinking it’s a homemade jammer,” I tell Nick as Jake shows him the video.
“It’s close-range,” Nick muses. “See how he steps closer to the cameras? Definitely homemade. You’re looking at someone with very good engineering and IT skills.”
“Ethan’s already checked the resumes of everyone involved. Nobody has an engineering background in the department. He’s checking in the other divisions as well.”
“Why isn’t Natalie checking?” Nick looks between the two of us.
Jake winces. “The doctor has told her to stay away from any form of excitement. Ethan wants her to go on maternity leave. He doesn’t want her involved in any of this. So he’s having her assistant Layla pull the files he wants.”
“Tell Ethan to email me the video in high resolution. I’ll take a screenshot and see if I can figure out what kind of jammer it is.
Normally, close-range jammers are homemade devices, but I recommended Ethan some very high-grade surveillance cameras.
It’s not that easy to use a jammer to mess with them. I’ll check it out.”
I make a note to pass Nick’s message to Ethan as the food arrives. When I came on board to help Ethan, I hadn’t been expecting things like people sneaking into the office late in the night with high-tech equipment.
But for now, I’m more interested in eating.
* * *
There is radio silence from my sister over the next couple of days. The weekend passes by without so much as a phone call. That never bodes well, but I have my own worries.
My hair shedding situation has begun to drive me insane, and it always seems to happen when Eve is around to mock me about it. I never considered myself to be vain, but now the idea of possibly losing my hair is terrifying.
At home over the weekend, when I don’t notice any of the shedding that has been my constant companion over this past week, I attribute it to work stress and begin to relax.
A little too soon.
Monday morning starts like any other day until my email pings twice in rapid succession. I glance at my inbox and freeze.
‘Don’t Let Hair Loss Control Your Life - Premium Transplant Solutions!’
‘Regain Your Confidence with Our Revolutionary Follicle Treatment!’
“What the hell?” I mutter, clicking on the first email. It’s from some hair restoration clinic I’ve never heard of, complete with before-and-after photos and testimonials from ‘satisfied customers.’
“Oh, good.” Eve’s voice comes from directly over my shoulder, making me jump. “I’m glad you’re finally addressing the problem.”
I spin around to find her leaning over my chair, reading my screen with obvious interest. She’s wearing silver hoops today that catch the light.
“I didn’t subscribe to these,” I say, immediately clicking unsubscribe.
“Of course you didn’t.” She straightens up, giving me a patronizing smile. “Hair loss can accelerate quickly once it starts.” Eve places her hand over her heart like she’s genuinely concerned. “That’s why early intervention is so important. Don’t worry, though. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.
She saunters back to her desk with an extra spring in her step, and I’m left glaring at my screen as more hair restoration emails flood my inbox.
The next day is worse. Much worse.
My email is completely flooded with newsletters from hair transplant clinics, baldness support groups, and companies selling everything from special shampoos to something called ‘follicle-stimulating laser therapy.’
“This is insane,” I mutter, frantically hitting unsubscribe on what feels like the hundredth email. “How did I get signed up for all of this?”
“Maybe your computer got hacked,” Joshua suggests from his desk. “I heard that happens sometimes.”
“Or maybe the universe is trying to tell you something,” Eve adds helpfully, not looking up from her work. “Sometimes fate has a way of forcing us to confront uncomfortable truths.”
I study her, suspicion starting to creep in. The hair strands keep appearing, but only at work. Never at home. Never in my car. Only here, and only when she’s around.
“You know what’s weird?” I say, testing the waters. “I never find any of this mystery hair at my apartment.”
Eve finally looks up, tilting her head with mock thoughtfulness.
“Stress-related shedding often happens in high-pressure environments. Like the office. Or maybe your apartment has better lighting, so you just don’t notice it as much.
” She shrugs. “Either way, denial won’t make your hairline grow back, Reynolds. ”
“Right. Stress.”
But I’m starting to notice things. Like how she always seems to be nearby when I discover new strands. Like how she’s been unusually cheerful all week. Like how she keeps making comments about my supposed hair loss with barely concealed glee.
“You know,” Eve continues conversationally, “some men go through this exact thing. Complete denial right up until reality hits them like a freight train.”
“This is not about denial.”
“No, of course not. It’s about accepting your follicular destiny.” She gives me a pitying look.
I spend my lunch break researching male pattern baldness, trying to figure out if this is normal. Everything I read says gradual hair loss, not suddenly explosive shedding. And definitely not the kind that only happens at work.
Something’s not adding up.
After lunch, I’m ready for another wave of spam emails, but what I’m not ready for is the delivery guy stepping off the elevator with a package.
“Caleb Reynolds?” he calls out loudly, his voice carrying across the entire marketing floor.
“Yeah?” I raise my hand, already getting a bad feeling about this.
The guy grins and announces at full volume, “I have a discreet package for hair restoration products! Advanced Hair Growth Shampoo and Follicle Stimulating Serum!”
The entire office goes dead silent.
Every single person turns to stare at me, their expressions ranging from surprise to barely contained laughter. Flora’s hand flies to her mouth. Steven’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. Joshua snickers.
And Eve? Eve is sitting at her desk, typing away like nothing happened, but I can see the slight curve of her lips which she’s trying to hide.
“I didn’t order that,” I say, my voice strangely strangled.
“Says here it’s for Caleb Reynolds, Marketing Department,” the delivery guy insists, checking his clipboard. “Pre-paid rush delivery.”
“Just... Just give it to me.” I snatch the package from his hands, my face burning with embarrassment.
“Have a great day!” the guy calls out cheerfully as he heads back to the elevator. “Hope the products work out for you!”
The moment the elevator doors close, Joshua breaks the silence.