Chapter 52 Cracks In The Facade

• "Why didn't you answer my call last night?"
• The question came, worded carelessly, but surely there was tension not too hard to attach. I gazed across the table at my private client, the crisp white linen, the shining silverware-it was all starting to feel part of a play I hadn't signed up to be in. He looked back at me with his eyes narrowing that fraction, as though testing just how far this would go.
• "Busy night," I said, holding his gaze with a bit of ease I really wasn't feeling. I took a sip of my drink, hoping the chilled liquid would cool the sudden heat crawling up my neck. "You know how it is."