Page 181 of The Exit Strategy

He doesn’t sayto fight for you, but that’s what I hear.

“Wait,” I say, standing, then clenching my fists at my sides while my brain catches up. “Can he get into trouble? He did, technically, give her those designs.”

“Under duress,” Fen clarifies. “And Hudson now has the receipts that prove it.”

“Receipts,” I say under my breath.

“Junie.” Fen sets down his marker. “Do you know what this means?”

“Cole chose spite?”

He laughs. “No, I think he chose you. Again.”

I stare at him warily.

“Think about it, Spite-Berry. Cole has just done the public-record version of what you did with the Meridian email. He matched your move and raised you another by going after Tommy too. He isn’t expecting you to do anything with that information—he doesn’t even know I’m telling you. The only reason I am is because if you found out from tomorrow’s press release, you’d be furious we kept it from you.”

He’s right. I know he is. So why do I still feel the mountain of emotion crushing my windpipe?

“Talk to me,” Fen says. Part of the reason he’s so good at his job is that he’s so damn good at reading people.

“There are so many people to be mad at right now, but I can’t figure out my next move because I don’t know whose voice is telling my story. Does that even make any sense? I’ve been Spite-Berry for so long I genuinely don’t know what I want to say when I’m not bracing for impact. I-I still don’tknow who I am. The Junie who arrived in Porchlight Cove is gone. I’m not even sad about that. I’m just— I don’t know who replaced her.”

“I can understand that.”

“And, as much as I love Cole, I don’t think he knows who he is either. Not now, when the rules he’s lived by have just come crashing down. How could he?”

“What are you saying?”

“I-I can’t be here.”

“Junie—”

“At least, not right now. I need time, Fen. I need space.”

Fen looks devastated, but I can tell he understands. “Are you sure about this?”

I nod, even though I’m not. I’m not sure about anything except that I’m confused and hurt, and I need spreadsheets for my spreadsheets to sort through this mess.

With a heavy sigh, Fen tosses his marker onto the counter. “What do you need?”

I stare at the storyboard behind him. I know that’s step one.

He seems to understand because he nods. “What else?”

“After we do this, can—can you just…let me go?”

“Jesus, Junie.” It pains him, but I know he’ll do it. “I can, but I don’t know if they will.” He jerks his thumb in the direction of Cole’s house.

“I just need a little time,” I plead. “To figure out who I am without all the…everything.”

He crosses the room and hugs me so hard I can barely breathe.

“I’ll do what I can. But trust me, a week is possible. Two’s pushing it. Longer than that, and I can’t be held responsible for what any of them do. And you have to promise to check in. Every day.”

“I will.”

“They’re going to kick my ass.”