Page 68 of Forged in Peril

“Hey, yes, sorry,” she said, recovering, as Grace tapped the side of her black riding boot against the doorframe. “I was, uh, making sure I’d locked everything sensitive up before lunch.”

She had long since finished doing so, but she could hardly admit to the real topic that had sent her brain off into outer space.

Grace raised a single eyebrow, staring at the disaster that was Bristol’s desk.

“I’d hate to have seen it before you started putting things away. Anyway, since you’re apparently actually eating lunch today, would you care to join me? It’s been a minute.”

Bristol smiled, unable to avoid feeling a pang of guilt.

She hadn’t spent much time with Grace since she’d gotten back from her trip to Cobalt River Ranch. Despite her general absence in favor of overtime and working lunches, her friend hadn’t given up on trying to include her–even if it meant being forced to stay within the safety of the office instead of exploring the downtown restaurant scene with her bank-of-dad credit card that never seemed to hit its limit.

Today, Bristol decided, it was time to set the work–and her endless anxieties–aside.

“Cafeteria?” she suggested.

Grace shook her head, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I’d prefer the lounge. I’m avoiding Dolly today.”

Dolly was one of the oldest employees at FBS, who also happened to be one of the toughest.

Despite looking like a grandmother, she was the de facto head of the daytime security team, and Bristol was pretty sure that even Gabe was a little bit scared of her.

Bristol shrugged her shoulders and stepped out from behind her desk, grabbing her bag and following Grace out into the hall. As usual, the section of the fourth floor that housed the legal department was deserted.

“What happened?”

Grace examined her fingernails as they waited for the elevator.

“Oh, you know. I accidentally corrupted three days worth of security footage for the upper floors.”

Bristol stifled a laugh, though she supposed it would have been less amusing had the mistake happened a couple of weeks prior.

“Do I want to know?”

“Probably not. Anyway, needless to say, Dolly looks ready to throw me in the oven with her next apple pie.”

“Can’t Ben help you fix the footage?” Bristol asked with exaggerated innocence, blinking her eyelashes in Grace’s direction.

“I’m sure he can, but I’m not sure it’s the best time to ask him,” she said, swatting Bristol with the leopard-print lanyard that held her keycard. “No one has told me much, but it sounds like there’s some big job coming up. Cartel stuff. Most of the guys are working on it, I think.”

Bristol nodded. “That makes sense, considering the reports Cameron just handed me a little while ago. Not that anyone ever tells me what’s going on. I’ve been hiding out in legal land.”

“Exactly why I needed to drag you out of your cave,” Grace said, pulling open the door of the lounge and following Bristol inside.

After a few moments to grab their drinks of choice and some caesar salads from the minifridge, Grace dove straight into gossip mode.

Bristol listened, nodding her head and trying not to think about the mountain of work that awaited her that afternoon.

She’d learned right away that trying to stop her friend from gossiping was a lost cause, and in any case, it was never of the malicious variety. Grace Isabella Hinton didn’t have a mean hair on her head.

“Speaking of El Paso,” Grace said suddenly, though no one had in fact mentioned El Paso for the last twenty minutes. “I wonder if that has anything to do with what’s going on with Reilly.”

Bristol sipped at her tea, refusing to take the bait, but Grace would not be deterred.

“Word at the water cooler is that Reilly asked Gabe if he could start his paternity leave early. Supposedly, he wants to help Lauren get ready for the birth of the twins, but I heard from Asher that he’s been struggling lately. Even though it’s already been over a year, what happened the last time FBS crossed the cartel really has him messed up with guilt.”

Bristol felt a heavy weight settling over her.

She’d heard about that case.

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