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I know for a fact that if I don’t do this, Orzo will take matters into his own hands.

And while I am sure, at this point, Romaine knows we are behind the deaths, he doesn’t have solid proof.

Kale’s face materializes in my mind.

We were friends, but it was so long ago… Except…

Another wave of guilt. My attention flicks to the picture that Orzo threw.

Colby follows my gaze, bending over and picking up the now-cracked frame. “It’s time, Reuben. You need to move on. From her. From Kale. The past is only a poison if you allow it to be.” He walks to my desk, dropping it into the trash can next to it.

And then he circles around until he stands next to me.

“Go ahead, pull up the emails. Let’s send one off and be done with it. I’m old and need my beauty sleep.”

I look up at him. In most ways, Colby was more of a father than mine ever was. He stuck by my side through every falter, every struggle.

I don’t fight him on it.

Getting up from my desk, I go back to my favorite part of this room.

The tall window that offers a glimpse at the outside world. It feels both less and more lonely watching the world move below me.

At first, I can pretend to be a part of the masses, but as time passes, the illusion falters.

I have no one.

“Sir, she says you overpaid her,” Colby interjects.

Cinnamon.

My hand goes up, clutching my chest. My heart speeds up.

A reminder that I’m alive.

“Tell her it’ll help cover future jobs.”

I imagine a future with Cinnamon by my side. With her in my bed.

But the vision shifts.

Colby clacks away at the keyboard, and my mind transports me into a personal hell.

I knew Maple was addicted to drugs.

I knew Orzo was struggling. It’s why I gave him that stuffed frog, a semblance of peace in a chaotic home.

I knew my father was hurting my mother.

I knew Kale was making that poison for his family.

And I didn’t stop it.

None of it.

50

The Missing Piece of the Pie