Page 5 of Second Chance Savior

I rounded on him, making a face. “What? No. My work is impeccable.”

Trace chuckled and shook his head. “So sorry I doubted the great and powerful Rubicon. It’s just not often I get a reminder that you could be human like the rest of us.”

“I try to keep that to myself.”

“No kidding. I still don’t see what’s bothering you though.”

I rolled my tongue against my teeth. “I guess I could use your advice. I can’t prove one hundred percent that Charlie isn’t working for Stillwater, but all my instincts say she’s clean. The corrupt Hartley official is someone else. But do I get in touch with her again? Or do I leave the past where it is? In the past.”

“Depends on what you want the future to look like.”

I wanted to make a joke. Turn what he’d said around and act like it didn’t affect me. But I couldn’t.

“I’ll think about it,” I said. “For now, I need to keep my focus on Stillwater.” Trace was right. I’d already let Charlie distract me for the last several days. I had to push past it. “Thanks for talking it through with me.”

“Not sure I did much. But yeah, anytime.” He shoved a wire brush at me. “Now help me clean off the grill.”

We worked for an hour on party prep. Then my phone made a noise. “Notification from Cerberus. He has news. Wants me to call. You good here?”

“Go handle it. Any minute the kids will be home, and I’ll put them to work. See you at six-thirty?”

“Yep.” I clapped him on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t miss Aiden’s big moment in the spotlight. Maybe I should stop by Last Refuge to give him a pep talk.”

“Sure, if you want him to take off your head.”

Trace knew I was kidding. I didn’t have that kind of death wish. I mean, I could handle Aiden no problem. But Jessi would do me in if I put a scratch on her grumpy man.

After jogging home, I stopped at the saloon to place an order. My apartment was conveniently located upstairs. Marco promised to send up my chicken sandwich when it was ready.

At home, I fired up my computer and placed an encrypted call to Cerberus. Audio only. We didn’t do cameras.

“Talk to me,” I said.

“You asked me a few days ago to watch for the name Charlotte McKinley. The lieutenant governor.”

I tensed. “Yeah?”

“Her name came up. Big time.”

“In connection to Stillwater?” My heart was in my throat.

“Yeah, but not what you’re thinking. We’ve been waiting for Stillwater’s next move, and I know what it is.”

By the time we ended the call, adrenaline had me shaking.

I’d spent a decade and a half answering to superiors.Taking orders. That wasn’t my life anymore. Yet I’d never felt so out of control as I did in this moment.

I wasn’t going to make it to Jessi’s party tonight.

CHAPTER TWO

Charlotte

I stumbled into my condo,tossing my work bag in one direction and kicking off my shoes in another. The couch cushions bounced as I landed on them, facedown.

For several minutes, I soaked in the quiet and the darkness.Bliss.

Until a weight landed beside me and an insistent meow became impossible to ignore. I turned my head to see a puffy cloud of gray fur two inches away from my face.

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