Chapters (54)
- Cover
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Epilogue
- A Note from the Author
- Discussion Questions
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Acclaim for David Rawlings
- Also by David Rawlings
“Gordon told me if I kept going, I would end up on the street, lonely and alone. Sleeping in back alleys in the cold, leaning against doors. And he told me he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he could see me heading down that path and did nothing about it. Thank goodness I listened.”
Daniel stared into his coffee mug as time slowed.
The photos couldn’t be real. They couldn’t show the truth.
Garth looked around his little kitchen. “I could have lost everything, but he stepped in. To this day I have no idea how he knew.”
But Daniel did. He just couldn’t believe it.
Twenty-Seven
The rhythmic tapping of Kelly’s fingernails on the meeting table drew a raised eyebrow from Jasmine. “You look different. Patch things up with Daniel?”
Kelly held her breath as, from the doorway, Arnold surveyed the seats for their team meeting. He took the one closest to the door, and Kelly breathed again. The unoccupied chair next to her stayed unoccupied. “No, but I am working my way through a few things.”
Arnold clapped for the attention of a team glued to their cell phones. “People, we’re just waiting for the new addition to our team . . . Here she is now.”
A young woman, blond tresses flowing over her salmon-pink suit jacket and crisp white blouse, surveyed the room for a seat. The blonde from the stage who looked like Monique. She excused her way into the room and headed directly for Kelly, who moved her chair over a bit, not to give her newest colleague space, but herself. Even up close, this young woman was impossible perfection, all angles and curves in the right places.
Jasmine elbowed her as she reached a welcoming hand across to their newest team member.
Arnold called back their attention. “Tiffany will join us in a new role of serving the clinics in the west of our city.”
Tiffany flashed a flawless smile around the room, and Kelly aged twenty years in an instant. Then the impact of Arnold’s statement arrived in a rush. The clinics in the west belonged to her.
Arnold thumbed through his iPad. “The CEO has asked all team leaders to read through this memo. It would appear that one of our city’s clinics has called R&D about these scurrilous”—he glared at the team around the table—“and untrue rumors about Mendacium.” He scanned his team, searching for telltale signs.
An icy rush whipped through Kelly as Arnold offered an oily smile to her end of the table. Then relief. The angle was wrong, thankfully. The smile was for Tiffany.
“It also appears they were advised to do this by one of our sales representatives, and while they didn’t mention which one, we are launching an internal investigation to find out.” He again scanned the team, licking his lips with anticipation. Another smile dripped toward her end of the room.