“So I’ll be in Atlanta for a few weeks,” I say, looking down the conference room table at my team. “I’m spending some time with my family between campaigns.”

“Oh, I’m so glad, boss,” Carla says. “We’ve all been worried about you.”

“You’ve all been worried?” I narrow my eyes and stare at them one by one. “Been talking about me behind my back?”

They exchange furtive glances and start stuttering and stammering.

“I’m kidding!” I laugh, leaning back in my chair at the head of the long mahogany table and swiveling back and forth. “God, am I that bad?”

The newest team member, Felita, lifts both brows and casts a look to the side that says weeeeeellll.

“I see you, Felita,” I say, pointing to her with a grin.

She chuckles. “You’ve just seemed tired and a little…” She tips her head back and forth like she isn’t sure of the right word, or rather, isn’t sure she should say it.

“A little bit of a bitch?” I offer, laughing at them and at myself. “Yeah. I know.”

If we weren’t in mixed company, two of my team members being men, I might have told them my ovaries have rebelled and deployed weapons of mass hormones. A trip to the specialist confirmed that I am indeed in perimenopause, but I’ll save that for a girls’ chat. Men practically dissolve into puddles at the mere mention of a tampon, much less menopause. I don’t have the emotional bandwidth or spare nerves for that today.

“This would be a good time for you all to consider a little time off, too, before we swing into high gear for the next round of campaigns.” I nod toward Piers, who’s been with the firm for years, one of our earliest hires. “You’re doing some recon on Mateo Ruiz, right?”

“Yeah, but has he actually hired us yet?” Piers asks, his gray eyes sharp.

“He will.” I keep my expression implacable. “We just had a great conversation. Only a matter of time. Now what’d you find?”

He runs a hand through his thinning brown hair. “So far he’s clean as a whistle.”

“Don’t believe the hype,” I say. “I wanna sniff his dirty laundry before we’re out on the trail or in front of a camera. Everyone has skeletons, but I mean, are we talking Bone Collector shit?”