”Miss Montgomery? You can move now.”

Everything was cleaned up and I missed that too. Jesus, I needed to see a therapist or something. My brain wasn’t being very nice to me and the dissociation was getting a little too much to handle after days of constant beating and trauma.

“Do you think that’s connected?” I pointed to the screen where they were still talking about Shane’s death and taking interviews from the two people who discovered him.

He seated me at the table and tended to the skillet, making me the breakfast I planned on making for myself. “You’ll find connections everywhere you look. What you need to do is focus on what’s within your control.”

What a level headed response. James looked older and his demeanor never changed. He was calm, cool, collected, and ready to do anything I needed from him. Within the company, he must have seen a lot of things over the course of his tenure and I had no want to know about it. Maybe later.

“Then we should continue tutoring?”

Kelly stretched and yawned as she made her way out of the hallway and into the kitchen. “James! You’re making breakfast? What an angel.”

“Long night?” I clicked the TV off so she didn’t see what was playing.

“Very.”

My heart rate shot up and I tried to keep cool. “What did you get into?”

“A few parties and some drinks. Nothing crazy.” She sat down at the table and crossed her legs in the chair. “Are you and Brent official yet?”

James coughed from the cooking station.

“Not talking about it. How’s Shane?”

She fidgeted, maintaining a somewhat calm composure. “I, uh, didn’t see him much last night. He went off with his buddies and I stayed to drink and party.”

Yeah. I was starting to become suspicious of my best friend.

“She was off quick after breakfast,” I mused into my notebook as James continued on with company paperwork.

He turned the TV back on knowing I wasn’t listening to him anyway. A lawyer was on there speaking to the public about the recent events and how there would be crackdowns on the college parties happening.

“I will be giving my full legal aid to the city so we can find the people drugging and poisoning our children. There will be change that happens!” He shook his fist in the air before leaving the podium.

The crowd was murmuring and asking for questions.

“Mr. Fitzgerald! Are you concerned with your own son’s safety given recent events?”

“My son, Alexander Fitzgerald, is a stand up young man and will be keeping his ears to the ground so we can punish the criminals who are responsible for the rise in crime in Willow Bay. No further questions.”