“There are two things I hate in the world,” said Chelsa.
“Only two?” said Troop.
Chelsa mock glared at him. “Number one: Troop. Number two: Troop.”
“Haha.” That sounds like something Kristi would say, thought Troop. He remembered his first encounter with Kristi; they hadn’t exactly gotten off to a smooth start. In fact, she had acted like being around Troop was the last thing in the world she wanted to do. Of course, they eventually became close friends over time.
“But seriously, I hate hypocrites.”
“Mm-hm.” Troop wiped his hands on his jeans, wishing the air conditioning was turned on.
“And do you want to know the second thing I hate?” said Chelsa. “People who don’t listen to me when I talk.” She pointedly looked at Troop.
“Point taken. My mind’s been wandering.”
Chelsa softened her face. “You still miss her, don’t you?”
“Yeah.” It’s funny how life works, he thought. You would think the pain would be less now that five weeks have passed, but instead it has gotten worse.
Chelsa pursed her lips. “You need to do something.”
“I am. I’m helping you sort the completed cases.”
“Something that will distract you from your thoughts.”
“I’m fine,” said Troop. “Really, I am.” He cracked a smile, trying to assure Chelsa he was all right.
“If you say so.” She didn’t seem the slightest bit convinced.
“Did you call for me?” Troop asked, stepping into Tiffany’s office.
“Yes.” She pushed aside her electro-slate and motioned for him to situate himself in the chair across from her.
Troop sat on the edge of the seat. He hadn’t seen much of his mom lately, so he was confused why she had called him up. “Is something wrong?”
“Yes.”
He was about to ask what was wrong when Tiffany cut him off before he had even spoken a word, “You’re what’s wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“Chelsa told me you need some distraction, a task to take your mind off of things.”
“Oh.” Troop didn’t know whether he should pissed off or grateful Chelsa mentioned his Kristi-missing obsession to his mom.
“I’m assigning you more active duties for the Revealers,” said Tiffany.
This is weird, thought Troop. My mom’s treating me like I’m one of her employees. He didn’t say anything out loud, though.
“You’ll start off with smaller tasks. As you complete and get the hang of these assignments, you’ll start to be appointed bigger and more complicated errands.”
“That works for me.”
“Good, because you have your first task tomorrow. Hopefully it’ll be enough to keep you busy.”
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