Page 1 of Saving Serena

CHAPTER 1

Serena

At the light,I turned right onto the feeder road, noticing the big, black SUV in my mirror—it made the same turn.

Today had been my first trip into the field since my promotion was announced last week, and it had been eye-opening. My blood boiled, recalling the meeting I’d just had with the people at Knife Creek Chemical. How could they be so flippant about their inability to show me their latest outflow-monitoring results? The meeting had been scheduled in advance. They should have been prepared.

On top of that, their COO, Aiden Pons, had propositioned me for dinner on the way out. “I think you’d enjoy the view from my hilltop mansion.” Back in the car, the first thing I did was pull out my wet wipes to clean off the slime from his handshake.

Maybe since Knife Creek had hired the likes of Pons, I shouldn’t have been surprised that they weren’t prepared with their data. I pitied the executive assistant who had to work with him.

In contrast, the company I’d visited before them, Excalibur Plating, had been as pleasant and professional as I could have expected. Larry Pollock had uploaded their data to our server without complaint.

When I’d gotten this promotion, my boss, Edward Powell, hadn’t been happy. He’d wanted his pet, Remy Laurent, to get the promotion instead. But Katelyn and Nick, coworkers from my office, as well as Remy and I, had all applied. And the merit review board had chosen me. So tough shit, Remy. Office politics were the worst.

And things were no picnic in the field either. If very many of the companies in this area were like Knife Creek, I’d have to grow a thicker skin.

The SUV again followed when I made a left onto the main road heading back to the city. Maybe it was just the color and the tinted windows that made it look ominous. The fact that we were both turning toward town shouldn’t have alarmed me.

My real problem was that I was on the road back to the office with nothing to show for my visit to Knife Creek. “Have the data ready for me at our next meeting,” I’d told them, which hadn’t been what they wanted to hear. Well, tough fucking shit. I represented the Environmental Protection Agency, and the EPA didn’t have to take shit from Knife Creek or anybody.

Katelyn, the closest approximation to a friend I had in our department, would probably laugh at me when I came back empty-handed. She’d been an external auditor for a year now and would have been the one at that meeting this morning if I’d agreed to the swap she wanted because the territory I got was closer to her home.

Maybe I should have invited her along. She probably knew what to say to get them to comply, and we’d have the data now instead of nada, zilch, zero.

I could have said, “Hand over the data, or else.”

But then “Or else what?” might have been the response.

That’s where my bravado ran out of answers. I was in auditing, not enforcement. I wasn’t Dirty Harriet. The most dangerous thing I carried was a ballpoint pen. Yeah, when I got back, I’d ask Katelyn how she would have approached it.

But then again, maybe I should wait a while to ask for her help.

The sound of an incoming call came through the speakers of my government-issued car. At least they’d included Bluetooth in the fleet for safety purposes. My friend Grace Brennan’s name showed on the screen.

“Hey, girlfriend,” I answered. “What’s up?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not getting back into town until the end of the week. Can we put off cooking until next Wednesday?”

“Got you down.” Every few Wednesdays we got together for joint cooking sessions where we tried out new recipes. Ever since we met in group therapy, it had been our thing, a way to relax. Having shared our trauma stories gave us a special bond.

“Good,” she said. “Your place this time.”

I nodded. “You bet.”

She sighed. “See ya then.”

When we ended the call, I checked behind me and didn’t see the ominous black SUV. I breathed easier.

Not a minute later, the phone rang again. This time, it was my brother Zach.

“Joey’s Pizza. Today’s special is a family-size pepperoni with three colors of bell peppers,” I answered.

A laugh and then, “Serena, since when does a pizza joint have road noise in the background?”

“It was worth a try. What’s up?”

“Mom wants to know if you’re joining us for her barbecue.”

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