good, but it’s made better when it’s a gift, right?”
“You’re absolutely correct.”
“As it turns out, I have off the rest of the day, too. How would you feel about seeing the sights with me? I’ll make sure you’re back in plenty of time, so you won’t have any problems with your boss.”
I considered him, drinking more of my spiked coffee. The grade he’d given me took some time to kick in, although I’d be more pliant immediately after exposure. I picked up my purse, rummaged through it, and checked my medication bottles. “Oh, good. I did bring them all. Seeing the sights sounds good. It’s rare I get any time at all. It’s usually work, work, work. I mean, I enjoy my job, except where I have to go hide out at a coffee shop because I might scare off clients and contacts, but I’m good at what I do, so my boss keeps me around anyway.” I hesitated. “Not to sound ungrateful. I am.”
“Oh, I understand. May I ask what your medications do?”
His curiosity led me to believe he planned on what he needed to do if I ran out of the three bottles. As my job involved acting like the pixie dust had its way with me, I held up the smallest bottle, which contained the blood pressure medication. “This is for my blood pressure. It’s higher than my doctor likes, and she doesn’t want it to cause strain on my heart, so I get two of these a day, once in the morning, and once in the evening.” I set that bottle back into my purse and held up the next one. “My job can be really stressful, and I developed anxiety as a result. This is a biggie, because if I have an anxiety episode, I also start suffering from depression, So, I get this one two times a day, too.” I dumped it into my purse and wrinkled my nose over the third bottle. “This is an iron supplement, and it’s the most annoying thing, but I get pretty sick without it.”
“It never fails to amaze me how the most achieving and hard-working people I know suffer from anxiety and depression. Can you go without those medications? I’ve never met someone so open about them before.”
Sure he hadn’t. I grabbed the blood pressure medication bottle, checked the label, and peeked inside, counting pills. According to the CDC’s label, I had two refills, and I had a twenty day supply left. “I’ll need to go in for a refill in a couple of weeks. My doctor tries to keep all my prescriptions synced so I don’t have to go in as often. I just got them recently, but I tend to forget, so I am always checking the label. I can remember all of my boss’s work just fine, but when it comes to my medications?” I huffed. “I forget. Constantly. Yesterday, my boss even asked me if I had taken them, because he found out the hard way why I take them. He sprung up at me at home on a Saturday without warning, and I had a panic attack. He now makes sure he calls before he shows up unexpectedly with work things.”
“But he won’t mind you going off right now? I’d hate to get you in trouble with your boss.”
What a considerate serial killer. “As long as I answer his texts if he needs me for something, it won’t be a problem. I don’t expect him to text me until tomorrow.”
“That’s good. He sounds like a good employer.”
I bobbed my head, as it was expected of me, and I picked up my old coffee to check to make certain it was empty, downed the dregs, and took a sip of the spiked coffee. “He is. Sometimes overbearing, but he works hard.”
“Would you like me to throw that out for you?”
“Oh. Please. That’s very kind of you.”
Loureni took the empty cup, got rid of it, and rejoined me, and I took that as my cue to get up and start the dangerous, exciting, and reckless portion of my week. While I’d done a lot of jobs, I’d never been kidnapped before. All I needed to finish the job was some more intel and an excuse to start with the killing. I’d even be good for once in my life and apologize for worrying Sebastian, despite it being part of the job.
I disliked when my lion worried, and I expected the CDC would need to