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had more files, and boxes stacked on the far end. A credenza

with bottles and glasses and tumblers, as if Claire hosted

people in here all the time. This was as private and intimate as

seeing her naked, and Haley was there without permission.

She wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass her by. She

knew she should just leave and go to the kitchen to find Jean

or someone to ask where Claire was. She didn’t. She walked to

the bookcase instead and inspected it, running her fingers

along the spines of books. There were so many, all different

types and genres. If Claire actually read them and didn’t just

have them for show or décor, then she liked a wide variety of

topics.

Finding nothing of interest on the bookshelf, Haley moved

to the desk. Once she started rummaging around in files, she

couldn’t stop. She knew what she was looking for, and when

she found it, she let out a tiny squeak. She knew every location

of her dad’s restaurants and they all had the same variant of

her last name. That’s all she needed. She was staring at

numbers. Spreadsheets.

She didn’t know what to look for. It was financials of some

sort, and it was clear that all of the restaurants were losing

money, but she already knew that. Her dad wouldn’t have

needed a loan otherwise. It wasn’t private information by any

means.

The office door banged open so suddenly that Haley jumped

back, hit herself on the desk chair with the backs of her thighs,

and fell with a scream onto her ass. She missed the chair and

hit the floor. Hard. Her teeth clacked together, the top one just

about going through the bottom, and she let out a hiss of pain.

She stared up, way up, into Claire’s scowling face.