Page 109 of Change
Chapter Nineteen
Bianca
Echo
It was the following day—Friday—during the early afternoon when my phone chimed during my daily library coffee shop lurking.
Unknown Number:Please come to my office when you have a moment.
I stared down at my phone, unsure, and wondered if maybe Uncle Gregory had a new line that I didn’t have on my phone yet. He’d been sending me messages on and off, demanding that I see him, or just that I not work with Gloria at all, so it wouldn’t surprise me.
I thought about ignoring it, but then… what if it wasn’t?
Me:Who is this?
Unknown Number:Gloria.
I leapt to my feet. I’d been summoned,finally. Quick as I could, I dismantled my little café-camp and scurried out of the building. I had to hurry. This was the moment I’d been waiting for.
“Bianca,” she greeted as I entered her office and shut the door. “Glad to see that you were able to get away without raising suspicion.”
“Get away?” I asked, hanging up my coat alongside hers. What was she talking about? Since my liberation from Finn, I’d been under the assumption that I was no longer under surveillance.
“Gregory.” She didn’t look up from her knitting—another new project. “Did you know that the man had theaudacityto approach me outside of the science building this morning?”
What was this fascination that stalkers had with the science building?
“I honestly believe that he’s lost his damn mind. I haven’t seen him this worked up since the time Michael crashed his precious Camaro through the precinct’s holding gate,” Gloria continued, mouth curling slightly at the memory. She flushed slightly. “And do you want to know what he was saying?”
I shifted my weight to my other foot. While I didn’tknowwhat he might have told Gloria, I could venture a guess. “That you’re not able to protect me?”
“He was blathering on about how the time was finally right for us to—” Gloria had begun speaking the same time as me, and, once my words registered, she froze, golden eyes shooting to mine. “He’sstillgoing on about that?”
“Oh.” I bit my lip. Well, this was awkward. “What happened to his Camaro?” The old man never struck me as the muscle car type.
“Did you hear that?” Gloria asked, glancing past me. My heart jumped into my throat. I hadn’t even noticed that we weren’t alone. “And he thinks I should give him another chance. Hah!”
Ada had been standing behind the door, watching me. “I really don’t care what you do,” she replied, brushing off her crimson pantsuit as she slipped past me to the chairs.
“I’m sure I misunderstood.” I absolutely didn’t, but Gloria didn’t need to know that. Time to change the subject. “You wanted to see me?” I held my notebook in front of me—ready for orders.
“Yes.” Gloria pursed her lips, suddenly serious as she set her knitting to the side and straightened in her seat. “Ada has made arrangements to meet an informant. He claims to have helpful information related to the leak within Mr. Ducharme’s company. We need your eyes.”
My pulse began to race. I didn’t understand how meeting an informant relied on me in any way. “How…?”
“You’ve agreed to be my protégé, right? So that includes trusting me.” The wolf gestured to the only other open seat in the room, which happened to be directly next to the sulking hyena. The remnants of a fight remained in the air, and it was clear that one of the women in the room was not thrilled by my presence here.
But I’d made a promise. I refused to allow myself to be intimidated anymore. Plus, I didn’t need to impress Ada.
“O-okay.” My voice broke, but I pressed forward, slipping into the seat and tucking my ankles behind the left leg. It seemed that being confident involved a whole lot of faking. I pressed my notebook into my lap. “What’s going on?”
Ada sulked but answered, even though she was clearly unhappy with my presence. “My informant has agreed to meet me—alone—in a graveyard. I need Gloria because I trust her judgement regarding other shifters, and I might miss something.”
A shifter? My skin grew clammy. Well, I’d be useless then.
“So…” I began, glancing between the two women. “Why do you need ‘my eyes’?”
“We don’t,” Ada said instantly, dark eyes blazing.
