“What kind of problems?”
“The kind that made her smash the phone I’d saved up to buy because she thinks the government is tracking us.”
The recruiter’s brows furrowed before his face softened. “Your address changed fourteen times during your high school career. Six times to the same place up in Yorkville. Is that where your mother lives?”
I shook my head. “That’s where I go when she gets admitted to the hospital. The Emersons’ house. They’re my foster parents.”
The recruiter tapped his pen against the desk a few times. It looked like he was mulling over what I’d said. “Do you have any career goals or aspirations?”
“I want to be rich.”
He chuckled. “Don’t we all, kid. Are you interested in anything specific?”
I shrugged. “I like picking stocks and seeing how much money I could’ve made if I had any to buy them.”
“That’s not exactly one of our areas. But I’ll tell you what… I’m going to pencil you in for infantry rifleman. It’s the most highly regarded specialty in the Marines. You’ll learn leadership, discipline, and tactical skills—three things that will help you succeed in whatever business you figure out interests you.” He pointed to me. “But I’m going to keep my eye on you, see how you do in basic training. If you prove you can be tamed, I’ll make it happen. If not, get ready for four years of food service. You’ll be slinging slop in a hot kitchen to the men whocancontrol themselves.” He looked down and started to write, waving me off with his other hand. “Now get out of here.”
I stood and walked to the door. “Thank you, sir.”
CHAPTER 13
Sutton
Knock, knock.
“Hang on a second.” I slipped out of bed, continuing to talk on the phone. “I think someone is at my door.”
“Are you expecting someone?” Miles asked.
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Then it’s probably Mia.”
My steps faltered.Ugh.I loved my mother, but she was the absolute last person I needed to see this morning. It was bad enough that my head was pounding. I didn’t need a lecture about getting drunk at a work event. Lord knows I’d been berating myself all morning for the way I’d acted last night. I held the cell up to my face so Miles could see me again. “God, I hope not. She’ll take one look at my puffy eyes and know I did something stupid.”
“Who else would it be? We’ve been on the phone for fifteen minutes, and the doorman didn’t call up to clear anyone.”
I sighed. He was right, so I stopped at the hallway mirror and attempted to fix myself. But smoothing out mymessy hair wasn’t going to cure my puffy face and the dark circles under my eyes.Crap. This isn’t going to be fun.
To my surprise, when I peeked through the peephole, it wasn’t my mother standing on the other side. It was the building’s doorman.
I opened with a relieved smile. “Hi, Nestor.”
He tipped his hat with a nod. “Morning, Ms. Holland.”
“I told you, it’s Sutton, please.”
He nodded and held out a brown paper bag. “This came for you this morning.”
“What is it?”
“Not sure. A gentleman dropped it by and asked that I see that you got it.”
“A gentleman? You mean a messenger?”
He shrugged. “I was on the phone with the company that services the elevators when he came in, so I missed having him sign in like I usually would. But he didn’t look like the typical delivery guy. If he was, I’m in the wrong line of work because the gentleman had a fancy Maybach waiting out front for him.”
A Maybach.“Thank you.”
