Page 29 of Forged in Peril

“Did Cameron put you up to this? Look, I know you’re trying to help, and I appreciate you distracting Jaclyn so I can get myself together, but I already told him that I don’t know anything about the vandal. I just want to settle into this job without worrying about some stalker that has clearly gotten bored.”

She felt a knot of guilt twisting in her stomach as she remembered the empty alarm app, the absence of numbers that she’d been so certain she’d chosen. However crazy it sounded, she knew she’d set those alarms. She knew it.

“I promise you, I haven’t mentioned a word about anything to Cameron,” Grace said. “Really. Not a word.”

Bristol searched Grace’s pretty face. She could see nothing in it that hinted at deception.

Or maybe she was just as good of a liar as Bristol herself had become lately.

“Honestly,” Grace continued, winding a coil of blonde hair around a finger. “I see the way that you’re always looking over your shoulder and the way you tense up when someone gets too close, especially the guys. Maybe they don’t pick up on it, but I do. I’m more perceptive than I look.”

Bristol bit at her bottom lip.

“You’re scared, Bristol, and you have been since before your car was trashed. I saw it the very first time we talked, and I just want to know why. Maybe I can help.”

The woman stared across the table at her, her blue eyes filled with compassion.

It was one thing for her to omit the truth, but to deny Grace’s words now, she’d have to lie to her face.

Again.

One side of her was screaming, demanding she keep her shield raised, but another part of her just couldn’t do it. The secrets were too heavy for her to hold them inside any longer.

“If I tell you about what happened, I need you to promise me you aren’t going to share it right now. Not with Cameron, not with Gabe, not with Ben, not with anybody,” Bristol said in a voice just above a whisper, glancing around the room to make sure it was still just the two of them.

“Your secret is safe with me. And besides, why would I tell Ben, of all people?” Grace asked, the hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her glossy lips.

“Even the most oblivious guy here knows the answer to that,” Bristol said with a laugh as some of the tension poured out of the room.

She could do this.

Grace waited, her face solemn once more, and Bristol drew a breath and began to tell her all about that night.

At least a half an hour passed before she’d finished with her story, but she no longer cared if Jaclyn was upset with her.

Once she’d started to hand off some of the burden of her secret to someone else, she hadn’t been able to stop. Despite the fresh tears that had sprung to her eyes as she dredged up the painful memories, she felt better than she had in a long time.

She felt free.

Grace had listened calmly, but now that Bristol was done, she had gotten up from her chair and begun to pace. Her heels clicked as she moved back and forth alongside the table, eyes sparking with anger.

“I can’t believe it, Bristol. I just can’t believe it,” she kept saying, shaking her head. “Dorling & Porter has been operating here in San Antonio for at least a hundred years. What else are they hiding, if they were willing to cover this up?”

“I’ve asked myself the same,” Bristol admitted. “But it doesn’t matter. I tried doing things their way. I tried to play the game, and I ended up blacklisted. They made sure that I wouldn’t be hired at any firm from here to Dallas. It’s not like I can really take them to court. Even if I could find a lawyer willing to take on a charity case, and even if I could find a judge that wasn’t in their pocket, it’s still my word against his, ultimately. No one would believe me.”

“I believe you,” Grace said fiercely. “And I’m sorry.”

Bristol leaned into the embrace that she was offered, and though she blinked quickly, she found she wasn’t yet out of tears.

“Thank you.”

“If it’s okay with you, I’m going to look into Dillon Warrington’s background, and see what I can find out. It’s your word against his, true, but sometimes other factors have a way of moving the dial.”

“You think you’ll be able to find anything? I thought you were an office manager.”

“That’s my real job, yes,” Grace said, waving a hand dismissively. “But I’ve picked up a few things while working here. Admittedly, if you want all the tea, Ben’s the one to ask, but I’m not going to go to him until–unless–you’re ready. No pressure.”

Bristol felt the familiar anxiety twisting in her stomach. She couldn’t believe that she’d told someone. Not even her mother knew the real reason she’d left D&P.

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