Rome's Chance (Reapers MC #6.6)(35)

“So I hear we’ll be working together soon,” she announced.

“What?”

“I thought you knew already!” she squealed. “You totally nailed your interview with Dr. Andrews. I do some part time stuff for him. Mostly paperwork and billing. He asked me to call your references yesterday afternoon. I assumed he already offered you the job.”

I blinked, totally startled. “No, I hadn’t heard from him. That’s wonderful news, though.”

She grinned. “Okay, so when he calls, you have to pretend I didn’t tell you. We’re all really relieved you applied for the job, by the way. The last hygienist was… Well, she didn’t fit in around here. Grew up in a city, always bitching about how there was nothing to do in Hallies Falls. Having someone local will be a thousand times better.”

“Thanks,” I managed to say, still off balance. The stall door opened, and suddenly it was my turn to go inside. Closing it behind me, I tried to wrap my head around what’d just happened.

I’d been viciously attacked for no reason. Someone I hadn’t even realized was a friend defended me. And now I had a new job.

Oh, and I was a local.

I’d grown up in Hallies Falls, but in a town like this, you weren’t local unless your family had been here for at least three generations. I’d always been that outside girl who didn’t quite fit in, the one who wore thrift store clothes and couldn’t afford to get her hair highlighted. Or at least, I’d felt that way.

But these girls I’d grown up with—they didn’t seem to remember it that way. They were excited for me to move back, and when they told stories about our days back in school, I’d been in those stories.

Maybe I hadn’t been such an outsider after all.

Finishing up in the stall, I stepped out and washed my hands. For a second, I considered asking Peaches about Rome’s brother. Then I decided against it, because for some reason he hadn’t told me when he’d had the opportunity.

I hated it when people gossiped about my family, and I’d be damned if I’d do it to him.

“You ready to go dance some more?” Peaches asked.

“Let’s get a drink first,” I told her, smiling. “I have a new job to celebrate.”




An hour later, I was done.

My feet were covered in blisters, my hair was damp with sweat and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had so much fun. (Okay, my afternoon had been pretty fun, but for an activity that involved wearing clothing, this was right up there.)

“I need a cigarette,” Peaches announced. “Come outside with me.”

She took off down the stairs and I followed her through the lounge on the ground floor. Beyond that was a patio overlooking the river. It was covered with cheap plastic chairs and tables, with maybe ten or fifteen people talking quietly as they shared a drink or a smoke.

“I lost my shoes,” I told Peaches, settling into one of the chairs to put up my feet. “I know I set them under one of the tables, but now I can’t remember which one.”

She waved her hand. “They’ll turn up.”

“Yeah,” I said, leaning my head back to look up at the stars. I reached up to touch my emerald necklace, thinking about my mom. She’d already had three kids by the time she was my age, and she’d been pregnant with a fourth.

I couldn’t even imagine.

“Your phone’s going off,” Peaches said, blowing smoke out of the side of her mouth. I frowned, reaching for my purse.

Lexi.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked.

“You have to come home!” she shouted, her voice cracked and broken. In the background I heard noises—were there people in the apartment? “You have to come home right now! I don’t know what to do and I think she’s dying!”

Next to me, a group of men burst out laughing and I covered my ear, trying to hear better. “Lexi, calm down. You need to tell me what’s happening.”

“It’s Mom,” she said, and I heard a sob. “Kayden, sit here. Sit here, I’m gonna hold you until Randi gets home. She was blue, Randi. I found her on the floor and she was blue!”

My stomach clenched. Oh fuck oh fuck oh FUCK!

“Did you call 911?” I asked, my voice steady, even though my heart felt like it might explode.

“They’re here now.”

“Okay, give me five minutes. I’m on my way.”

“Don’t leave us,” she begged, her voice going soft. “I’m so scared, Randi. We need you. This is really bad and—”

“I won’t leave you,” I promised, grabbing my purse. Then I was running through the lounge, out the door, and into the parking lot. Peaches shouted something behind me, but I ignored her. Lexi started sobbing into the phone. As I ran, her words repeated in my head with every step, over and over and over again.

She’s blue.

She’s blue.

She’s blue.





Chapter Ten



Flashing lights cut through the night as I pulled around the corner. The big fire truck was parked in front of the apartment building at an angle, with an ambulance right in front of it. I don’t know how fast I was driving—fast enough that the car skidded to a stop when I slammed on the brakes. Then I was out the door and running, praying desperately that Lexi had been wrong.