ANMELDENI felt the blood drain from my face. I’d pretty much accepted that I’d never have a real family. At least, I knew I’d need to create my real family. Emma was my family. Ethan. Even Derek. Now this woman was telling me she was my long-lost relative. Blood of my blood. Someone who could give me a solid base to stand on. Tell me about my history. I almost didn’t want to believe it. It would hurt too much to find out it wasn’t true.Lady Althea had been watching me closely. I had the feeling that she could read every thought that crossed my mind.“We received a letter,” she said. “An actual letter! I was delighted.” She reached into her purse and took out an envelope. She slid it across to me.High-quality paper, lightly textured. Bänziger Law Group, Basel, Switzerland. “I know these people,” I said. I opened the letter and skimmed its contents. “Your daughter Charlotte…” “taken in by the Brooks family…” “now living in…” I put it down on my desk with numb fingers.“They sent us a lock o
I looked around the office, frowning in confusion. It was quiet—too quiet. We didn’t have many visitors at this time in the morning, but there should be the background hum of the staff working away. I knew for a fact that Cody often came in early to go over old cases. And where was Madison? Our front desk person was usually the first to enter and the last to leave, even though I’d told her many times she didn’t have to. She should at least take a long lunch to make up for the extra hours, but she wouldn’t do that either. I slipped to the side so my back was to the wall and I had a good field of vision taking in the whole office. Wrapping my purse’s strap tightly around my hand, I wondered about its usefulness as a flail. It was heavy enough to deal out a serious blow. If I survived this, maybe I could ask Isabella for some pointers. There was a clattering noise from Madison’s desk.I balanced my weight on the balls of my feet and got ready to sell my life dearly. “SURPRISE!” Madi
“So, give,” I said. “Tell me how you did it.” I tilted my head and gave Derek my most winning smile. He leaned back in his chair, still favoring his lower back. For a moment it seemed like he’d stand on his dignity and wouldn’t answer me, but he gave up with a sigh.“Right,” he said quietly. “Well, it turned out that getting those reservations was more difficult than I anticipated.” He looked off to the side, his expression haunted.I followed his gaze, but it was just a guy dressed as Pikachu. Nothing to look so traumatized about. In the background the children were eating fried rice served in the shape of a star and entering a state of food-induced bliss. The chaos had settled into a low hum of contented chewing. He leaned in closer, his voice dropping. “Yesterday, Kimura told me the only way he’d give me a reservation for nine people…” He looked down, covering his eyes with his hand. “Was if I filled in for his sick busboy.”I stared at him. Derek—the man who wore silk shirts be
The children had made some changes to their orca poster. They’d added a few sharks. And a sinking yacht… with little figures of people flailing around in the water. “I hope your father never sees that,” I said to Emma. “He’s always wanted a yacht.” “They’re bad for the fish,” she told me seriously. “Now what do you think of this one?” She held up a pretty green dress with flowers embroidered on the bodice. “It’s lovely,” I said. “Now go change. We don’t want to be late.” She scampered off, and I turned to Ethan. He showed me a pair of black jeans, then rummaged around in his dresser. He found a shark t-shirt and held it up with a sly smile. “Now, now,” I said. “Derek’s coming with us, you know.”Ethan went very still. “He’s the one who got us the reservations,” I explained. “If it wasn’t for him, we might have to go to Burger King or something.”Ethan relaxed slightly.“There’s that anime convention this weekend,” I continued, “and Samurai Sizzle is absolutely slammed. It’s a ki
“First, you must prepare,” Kimura said. He led me to a small space just behind the kitchen. It was relatively quiet here, but I could still feel the frantic pace as people in chef’s hats chopped and diced. Heat radiated off the burners in waves and I started to sweat.“Is this like Walmart?” I asked. “Because, all due respect to Sam Walton, who made a shit ton of money, I don’t want—”“Silence!” Kimura roared. None of the chefs flinched. They kept their heads down, focused and intense.“Before work, mind must be still, like quiet pond. Sit.” He pointed to a small, wooden stool.I sat. The seat was hard and my knees started to hurt right away.“Close your eyes. Meditate. If your mind wanders, I will help you.”I closed my eyes. This is ridiculous, I thought. I’m losing $40,000 an hour in billable potential to sit on a stool wearing orange polyester. I started thinking about the next quarter’s earning projections. Then I started thinking about the cat girl from earlier. I shifted my w
Bernard was not helpful. “Duude, you want a reservation at Samurai Sizzle? Tomorrow? You do know Baka Breakdown is on Saturday?”“No,” I replied, my voice rising in frustration. “I don’t even know what a Baka Breakdown is!”A group of people waiting outside the restaurant stared at me. One of them laughed. I turned away from them. Lowering my voice, I said, “C’mon Bernard, you’ve always come through for me in the past. You’re the man. Surely there must be something you can do?”“Don’t call me Shirley,” he replied automatically. “But maybe there is something I can do… Hang on a minute.”I hung on, watching as people in brightly-colored Asian-style costumes walked in and out of the restaurant. Maybe I should just give up and admit defeat. Just call Claire and tell her that what she wanted was impossible. And then she’d call Whittaker, who’d probably pull the reservations out of his back pocket. Where he kept stuff like that to impress much, much younger associates, so he could corrupt
Emma waved a squishy bunny toy. “Look, Mom!” she said. “Nicholas gave it to me!” She yawned delicately, covering her face with her hand.I smiled at the paramedic and thanked him. He finished packing up and waved goodbye. Ethan showed me and Adrian his squishy fish. The children looked rumpled and
Ryan snatched the photo back from me, but it was too late.“Where did you get that?” I asked.Micro-expressions flickered across his face. Hope. Joy. Fear.I schooled myself to show friendly teasing, with a hint of female indignation. “I hope you’re not cheating on Laura,” I said. “International su
My daughter sat quietly on the couch, watching TV with the sound turned off. Her hands were folded neatly in her lap, and someone who didn’t know her might think she looked peaceful. But I knew better. Her posture was rigid with disappointment she was trying very hard to hide. When Claire was here
I tugged at my arm, but my harasser had a good strong grip.“Be patient, babe,” he muttered. “Got a nice truck. Crew cab. Plenty of room in the back seat.” He leered at me.I whimpered. For some reason, I couldn’t get it together to scream. Fight back. Anything. I was too groggy and weak. It was al







