Chapter 3

Over the next few days, Georgia Chavez put her people skills to full use, stirring up talk in one department after another.

"Think about it. There's no smoke without fire. Why would the audit team just up and investigate her?"

She was in the break room, holding forth with a few of the others.

"Nothing in the drawer doesn't mean she never took anything."

"That's a hundred grand. Who'd be dumb enough to keep it sitting at the office? She moved it a long time ago, for sure."

"Her brother's waiting on that money to save his life. In her shoes, wouldn't you grab it?"

The coworkers around her chimed in one after another, their eyes on me full of wariness and contempt.

In meetings, the moment I put forward a plan, someone would shoot it down with some snide remark.

The few colleagues who'd been helping me push the project along started begging off with one excuse after another.

The messages I posted in the work group chat sank without a trace.

I'd been completely frozen out.

On the afternoon of the third day, general manager Lewis Chavez called me into his office.

Lewis was Georgia's direct boss, and the two of them had always been close.

"Nova. Sit."

Mr. Chavez gestured at the chair across from him with a smile that never reached his eyes.

I walked over and sat down without a word.

"You've heard the talk going around the company lately, haven't you?"

He picked up his travel mug, took a sip, and sighed.

"It doesn't look good."

"The whole place is a mess right now because of your business."

"Mr. Chavez, I was framed."

I laid out the facts calmly.

"Whether anything turned up in the investigation is one thing. Public opinion is another!"

His voice shot up out of nowhere.

"Nobody's willing to work with you now, and the supplier's filed a complaint saying you're deliberately making things difficult for them."

"You're putting me in a very tough spot here!"

He set the mug down, and his tone left no room for argument.

"I've given it some thought. To calm the talk down, and to cooperate with whatever the audit department does next."

"You're suspended, for now."

"Suspended?"

I looked at him.

"That's right. Go home, rest for a few days."

Lewis had the air of a man just doing his job.

"Hand off everything you're working on to Georgia Chavez."

"Once this is all cleared up, you can come back."

I knew exactly what handing it to Georgia meant. It meant giving away the project with both hands.

And that "come back" was nothing but a blank check with no date on it.

In my last life, this was the exact combination they used to back me into a corner with nowhere to go.

But I didn't get angry, and I didn't argue. I simply nodded, calm.

"All right. I'll handle the handover this afternoon."

Lewis clearly hadn't expected that. He stalled for a second, as if he'd never imagined I'd agree so easily.

But he recovered fast and waved a satisfied hand.

"Good. Off you go."

When I came out of the manager's office, Georgia was waiting by the door.

The moment she saw me, the smug tilt of her mouth was impossible to hide.

"Nova, I hear you've been suspended?"

She said it loudly on purpose, drawing every pair of eyes nearby.

"Oh, you should've just owned up to it earlier. Why drag it all the way to this?"

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of that project of yours."

"Thanks for the trouble, then."

I looked at that petty, triumphant little face and didn't lose my temper.

I just tossed the words out coldly and turned back to my desk.

The coworkers beside me were still whispering, glancing over at me now and then.

I didn't need to hear them to know they were talking about me.

I'd barely clocked out when a text message came through.

Then a location pin followed it.

I opened the Uber app and set the destination to the spot on the pin.