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“So why not keep all this o the books?” Charlotte asked as they headed for the door. “Why pay taxes on all this money when you don’t have to?”

Alex chuckled. Rookie mistake . “Because failing to pay Uncle Sam his due is where everyone goes wrong. When the government can’t get you for anything else, they get you for tax evasion.”

Charlotte muttered her agreement before listing a few well known underworld figures that were only charged with skipping their tax bill despite being major crime figures, Al Capone being the most famous.

“I have to say, your lack of surprise is a little. . .

surprising,” Alex decided as they started for the elevator.

Charlotte hesitated before laughing. “Should I be scandalized? What consenting adults do of their own free will shouldn’t be illegal.”

“How very libertarian of you," she decided. “Did you suspect?" Alex couldn’t wrap her head around the level of Charlotte’s nonchalance.

“Did I guess that you were running a secret brothel out of your high-end wellness resort?" Charlotte chuckled. “No, I can’t say I would’ve ever guessed.”

When the elevator door slid open, Charlotte stepped out first. Looking back at Alex, she smiled. “Are we still on for dinner later?”

“Of course.”

Charlotte walked away as if Alex hadn’t shared the major secret with her. Was she really so unfazed? Or was she just pretending for Alex’s sake? The question was a sour pit in her stomach.

DRIVING HOME, Charlotte gripped the steering wheel like a life preserver and debated her options. She should call Jayson.

Despite knowing that, she didn’t reach for her phone.

We didn’t exactly set up a procedure for how I would contact him when I got a break , she thought rationally. All the preparation had always assumed Charlotte would contact the detectives when she had something definitive. A smoking gun.

What I have is by no means a smoking gun , she reasoned as she turned o the highway. What I have is the fact that I played a hot role-playing game. With my boss. At work.

Her stomach churned at the memory, the evidence of their rather passionate dalliance lingering in the form of the resort’s vanilla soap still on her skin.

She swallowed hard, pushing the reflexive tightness in her chest away. If I called now, I’d be blowing my cover. It would be my word against hers. She could say it was part of the game and the extensive sex toy collection was for personal use. There was nothing illegal there.

Wishing she could just call Jayson and talk to him like a normal person again, Charlotte relaxed into her headrest and waited her turn behind a long line of cars stopped at a red light, all of them trapped like little rats trying to get home after a long day of work.

She thought about all the other people sitting in their cars around her. She made a bet with herself that none of them found themselves in her quandary, a complication of her own making.

By the time she arrived home, she was a tangle of conflicted emotions. A run, she decided, would help her shed

the unease making it hard to take a deep breath.

The sun had set while C

harlotte drove home, but she hadn’t expected the night to become so chilly so quickly. It was dark and cold. Fitting .

Halfway up the stairs leading to her apartment, the tale tell scent of mentholated smoke wafted down to her. Damn it

. She didn’t want to see Frania tonight. She didn’t want to answer any questions.

“Crawled out from under your girlfriend, huh? I was starting to forget what you looked like. I was gonna call Jayson and put out a missing person’s report.” A white mass billowed out of her mouth as she exhaled.

Charlotte blinked repeatedly to clear the sting from the smoke irritating her eyes. “Don’t exaggerate.”

Frania leaned back against the railing and stood downwind as she laughed. Head tipped and mouth gaping wide, it was an exaggerated thing.

Rolling her eyes, Charlotte replied, “Okay, get it out of your system.”

Frania’s laugh was more sincere the second time. “I never knew you were such a snowflake.” She took a drag from her cigarette. “You gonna stand there and tell me you haven’t been MIA? I’m surprised you haven’t moved out.”