Chaz stormed off and I sat back down at my desk.
“Jeesh, what’s his problem?” Perry asked. I noticed he was shaking. Probably scared to death Chaz would deck him for intervening.
“Who gives a shit?” I muttered.
“What’s that?” Perry pointed to the envelope I had all but forgotten about in the showdown with Chaz.
“Not sure.” I picked it up with some hesitation. It had been scanned before making it up to the floor, so I was pretty confident it wasn’t laced with anthrax. But you could never be too sure.
My name and the field office’s address were typed on a solid white label. No way to trace handwriting. It had been mailed from within Richmond, according to the postmark.
“What if it’s poisoned or something? It’s too small to be a bomb.” Perry sounded panicked.
“You’ve watched too many movies. I’m sure it’s nothing. Probably an invitation to the annual Bureau softball game or something.” Carefully I unsealed the envelope. I pulled out a small, perfectly folded piece of white computer paper.
I opened it. Two sentences.
*Trust is a liar’s plaything. Those closest to us are the biggest deceivers.*
“What does that mean? Who’s it from?” Perry asked, reading over my shoulder.
I balled up the paper and threw it in the wastebasket.
“Does it matter? I don’t have time for cryptic bullshit. It’s probably some wacko. Nothing important.” I opened my email. “I got a list of new ISPs to trace. We should get started on those.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll get on it too.” Perry scampered back to his desk.
Trust is a liar’s plaything.
Those closest to us are the biggest deceivers.
It felt like a warning.
About whom?
It was nothing. Empty words meant to rattle me. Probably from some nut job who had pulled my name out of the papers.
Even as I tried to put it out of my mind, it loomed. Words go deep. Infiltrating thoughts without realizing it.
The biggest deceivers…
Trust…
What did it mean?
—
“God, you look gorgeous,” I breathed when Hannah opened the door. My mouth went dry and my palms itched to pull the neck of her dress aside and kiss the soft skin.
“Thanks. You clean up nicely yourself.” Hannah grinned, grabbing a coat and stepping outside.
I had busted my ass to get to Hannah’s house on time. My days tended to get away from me. But today I wouldn’t be late. Not for anything.
Hannah was dressed in a tight-fitting dark red dress that fell to her knees. The neckline showed me just enough to know I really wanted to see what was underneath. Her legs looked amazing in a pair of red high heels, and I thought about her wearing them. And only them.
Her dark hair was swept up in a loose bun, wisps falling on either side of her face.
Hannah was always lovely, but I had never seen her quite so beautiful.
