Didn’t mean it wasn’t a risk though.
“You seen Jules?” Brad said. “She didn’t come home from work.”
Anna went so pale she turned white. “She called in sick today.”
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Jackson interrupted the OSI agent. “Got another name for you.”
He looked at Anna.
Her eyes went shiny.
“What the fuck’s he doing here?” Brad said slowly. “Aw,shit. That wasyou?”
Jackson hit the mute button on his phone. “Need her name, Anna. Title too.”
“What. The fuck,” Brad said.
Jackson unmuted his phone. “Thinking you need to hurry, ma’am. About to get ugly over here.” He handed Anna the phone. “Tell her.”
Anna went about her business telling the OSI officer that Jules had falsely cleared contaminated fuel for use, while Brad stood by gaping in denial. Jackson stood between the two of them, Radish at his feet, and waited for the rest of the fallout.
But after Anna’s boss, Jackson’s boss, the OSI agents, and half the base security forces arrived, after they’d all been separated and interviewed and talked past exhaustion, after they’d been cleared to go home for what was left of the night—with instructions to speak to no one, including each other, about this until further notice—Jackson still felt as if he were hanging.
This was worse than when Daddy died. Because when Daddy died, it was the end. Over. He’d gone through all the stages of grief, repeating denial a couple of times before he came to terms with facing the rest of his life without the best man he’d ever known. But tonight, when Anna was gone before he and Radish were cleared to leave, he knew as long as she was out there, making the most of her life without him, there wouldn’t be any closure for his heart.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
And they made beautiful biscuits together.
—The Temptress of Pecan Lane, by Mae Daniels
Anna spent the rest of the week on administrative leave. Kaci popped in daily. Anna’s mother, bless her heart, flew in midweek.
OSI had told her not to leave town until their investigation was complete. She had no idea how long that would be.
Shirley had been furious, but she’d swung by as well. “We should’ve been the ones to report this,” she said Thursday afternoon at Anna’s little dining area table.
She might as well have impaled Anna’s heart with that damn angel pin she was wearing again.
“You shouldn’t have put her in this situation in the first place,” Anna’s mother said. She was in the kitchen, whipping up a batch of maple bacon chocolate chip cookies while she supervised Shirley’s visit. “What kind of screening do you do on your employees anyway?”
Anna shot her a shushing look, but Mom was impervious.
A case of the blushes and knee-shakes interrupted Shirley’s usual implacable calm. “Todd did some digging on EFA, Inc. Looks like it was a front to sell off rejected 20/80biofuel.” Shirley paused. “Jules found them for us.”
Anna hadn’t thought she had any chunks of heart left in her chest, but another piece crumbled off and bounced down her left lung to shatter against her liver.
“She was getting better,” Anna said.
“She was getting filthy rich.” Shirley’s knee stilled. The floor stopped shaking. “That much money would make anyone better. They found her last night trying to cross into Canada.”
“Does Brad know?”
“No idea.”
There was a banging at the door. Kaci flung herself in. “Hey, sugar. Y’all having a party without me?” She gave Shirley an appraising glance, flicked a friendly finger-wave at Anna’s mom, then plopped down in the nearest empty seat. “You treat her good, you hear me?” she said to Shirley. “Only thing Anna’s ever done wrong is work too hard to take care of herself.”
“You betcha,” Mom said.
