“Without your shoes?”
I couldn’t speak.
“You didn’t go for a walk.”
A nuclear bomb detonated inside me, and I wanted to run out the door.
“You were with him, weren’t you?”
My tongue felt thick. Every drop of saliva vanished, making a protest impossible. My vision blurred, and I didn’t know if it was the lack of oxygen reaching my brain or tears welling in my eyes. I was going to pass out or cry, and I didn’t know which was worse.
Before Olivia could say more or force me to look at her and admit to something I wasn’t ready to admit to, the door to the command center opened, and Vern and Maggie came in.
“You’re up, Gale,” Maggie said. “Hugh is doing the interviews by that stray picnic table where you and Oz ate yesterday. He said to send you along.”
“Great.” I shoved from the computer station so quickly that the chair clattered to the ground. I bolted but felt Olivia’s gaze on my back as I escaped.
“This isn’t over,” she shouted after me. “We will talk.”
I didn’t respond. It was never over, but until I was ready to share, I would dodge the impending conversation for as long as humanly possible.
The dreary, overcast day matched my mood. Heavy clouds hung low over Tulsa, an omen for what was to come that evening. The sky told a story, and I studied its nuances as Hugh organized his notes for the interview.
“Ready?” Hugh asked after a few minutes.
“Sure.” I dashed a glance at the command center, where Olivia stood in the doorway watching me. She was too far away to eavesdrop, but her presence and all she had yet to say made my skin crawl.
“How’s it going, Gale?”
I glanced at the camera—it sat on a tripod—then at Hugh, who had his arms crossed and wore a facetious smile. The buddy-buddy vibe didn’t work on me. In my world, I had enemies and few friends. Trust was earned, not automatically given, especially to people who worked on reality television shows and whose goal was to stir shit up among the players.
“It’s going.”
Olivia’s earlier remarks echoed inside my head, distracting me. She knew.She knew, she knew, she knew, and the next time she got me alone, she would drag the truth from me.
“Want to elaborate?” Hugh asked.
“No.”
“Want to chat about your disappearing act this morning?”
“No.”
He chuckled. “I was warned you’d be a tough one to interview. Gale, the introvert, they said.”
“Who’s they?”
“Becca and Arty. Look, we’re doing a simple recap, bud. A check-in. These will be happening often now. The goal is to see how everyone’s doing. Meshing the teams has caused some hurt feelings, wouldn’t you say? We’d love to know how you feel about it.”
I shrugged, gaze pinned on the command center where my sister now chatted with Maggie. “I’m hardly surprised at Charles’s underhandedness. Not sure why anyone else would be.”
“You’re not a trusting person, huh?”
I didn’t respond, gaze still glued on my sister.
“Tell me about yesterday. It was the first chase that required cooperation. A blending of efforts. Instead of going with the flow, you put your foot down and refused to play the game. Interesting choice for a guy who doesn’t seem to like to ruffle feathers.”
“Who said I don’t like ruffling feathers?”
