“Then he can wait one more day,” I said.
“Where are you? I only have a billion documents for you to sign, and the billing on the Peterman account is messed up.”
“Ask an intern. They know the software better than the accountants.”
“Nigh,” she sighed.“Where are you?”
“Checking on an old friend,” I said. “I have to go, Beth. Oh, and…don’t ask Sasha for help. It will give her the mistaken impression that she’s needed.”
“The friend wouldn’t be Kim, would it?”
“No. Why?”
“She’s MIA, too. Again,” Beth grumbled.
“You can wing it until I get back. I have faith in you,” I said, hanging up the phone.
“What?” Jared asked.
“Beth said Kim hasn’t been around. She doesn’t know where she is. Kim’s been doing that a lot lately,” I said with a frown.
Jared squirmed in his seat, and then looked away.
“Jared?” I asked in an accusatory tone. He didn’t look at me. “Do you know anything about that?”
Jared didn’t meet my eyes for several moments, and then finally turned to face me. After a long puff of air, he took a deep breath, and then intertwined his fingers. His expression was exactly as it as the night he told me the truth.
I looked at him from under my brows. “Is it bad?”
Jared shook his head. “It’s dangerous. I won’t lie to you, so please let it go.”
“We’re talking about Kim, right? Lanky, goofy Kim?”
“Let it go, Nina.”
My knee bounced up and down as I made the decision, but it had already been made. I was only stalling. Jared looked away again with a sigh, knowing what would happen next.
He closed his eyes, and with one last effort he begged. “Don’t….”
My knuckles turned white as I gripped the edge of my seat, preparing myself for what he would say. Jared had told me more unbelievable truths in the last two years than even I could believe, and I had seen most of it with my own eyes. Regardless, Kim had been keeping something from me—something Jared knew, and I didn't—I had to ask.
“Jared?” He stiffened the second I uttered his name. Although knowing the truth had never been comforting before, I couldn’t stop myself. “What do you know about Kim?”
Chapter Six
Witch
“That’s not actually his secret to tell,” Kim said, strolling into the waiting room.
It took me a moment to process that she was really there, and that I hadn’t conjured her from my wild imagination.
Kim paused for a moment to acknowledge Jared. When he nodded in her direction, she took a seat next to me. She was in a white t-shirt and jeans, sporting black and white checkered Vans, and smelled of cigarettes. Her big, brown eyes didn’t falter. She didn’t seem nervous or out of place at all.
“What on earth are you doing here, Kim?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I could ask you the same question.”
“So go ahead. You seem to know all the right questions to ask, anyway,” I said, defiant.
“Kim’s just here to help,” Jared said.
“Help how? How did she know?” I looked at Kim, then. “How did you know to come?”
“How did you know?” she asked. She was purposefully goading me, and I wanted to reach out, lace my fingers around her long neck and shake her with the tightest grip I could muster.
“You’re not funny,” I snapped.
Kim grinned, clearly enjoying the fact that she had me in such a tizzy. “No, but you are.”
I stood up, crossing my arms. If she wouldn’t cooperate, I would corner Jared. I pointed at Kim. “How did she know Ryan was hurt, Jared? How did she get here?”
“Plane,” Kim answered flatly.
“Shut up!” I growled.
The corners of Jared’s mouth turned up slightly, but when he felt my temper rising, he straightened his expression. “Kim is helping us. Finally,” he said, shooting an annoyed glance in her direction.
“Bite me,” Kim said without emotion, chewing her thumb nail.
His jaws flitted under his skin. “She has been keeping an eye on our situation…what?” he said, frowning.
I stared at him. “I’m just waiting for you to make sense.”
Jared returned my expression, and Kim laughed once. “Welcome to my world. He’s one big riddle book, isn’t he? He just does it to make himself feel important. He wants you to drag it out of him.”
Claire walked in, and stopped in her tracks. “What is the witch doing here?” she said with venom in her voice.
Kim smiled slightly, but her eyes were devoid of emotion. “Blessed Be. Heard about what happened. Good job, G.I. Barbie.”
“Move aside, Nina,” Claire said in a frightening, low tone. I was too afraid to move, seeing that she was poised to pounce.
Tension in the room had soared to a new level. The waiting room we occupied was in a wing separate from the main hall, so it would be very easy for Claire to let some of her pent up aggression go in Kim’s general direction. Kim didn’t seem phased in the slightest.
Jared stood. “Enough.”