Page 11 of Broken
“TopCon’s ideas aresensational.” Artemis grinned. “You’ll see.” He tapped the elevator button, the doors opened, his uncle stepped in. “I’ll be back later if you need to get my approval on anything.”
After the doors closed, Prescott growled. “What a useless piece of—”
“Crap,” Francis muttered under her breath.
“There goes my Friday,” Prescott said. “It’s gonna take me all day to get a handle on this.”
“I’ll push your meetings to next week,” Francis replied.
* * *
Jacqueline
Jacqueline hurriedup the walkway of her parents’ Northern Virginia home in Potomac Falls. While she’d talked and video chatted with them over the past eight months, she hadn’t been home to visit. As she stepped onto the porch, the front door swung open and her mom rushed outside.
“Hey, baby,” her mom enveloped her into a warm hug, and Jacqueline melted.
When her mom wouldn’t let go, Jacqueline started laughing. “Okay, Mom, it’s time to separate.”
Her mom broke away and swiped a tear. “How are you? I missed you so much.” Her mom wrapped her fingers around Jacqueline’s long hair. “Wow, California air must really agree with you. Look how long your hair is.”
Arms around each other, mother and daughter went inside. “It’s almost to your bum. So pretty, honey.”
Her dad walked down the stairs and into the foyer. “There’s my baby girl.”
After another never-letting-go hug from her dad, they made their way into the kitchen.
“What time are we teeing off?” Jacqueline asked.
“Not for another hour,” her dad replied. “But we’ll leave in twenty so we can hit the range first.”
Jacqueline loved golfing with her mom and dad, especially when they walked the course. “Are we doing eighteen, and are we walking or riding?”
“Eighteen,” her mom replied, “and I bought a motorized golf caddy, so I can walk or ride.”
“It’s a beautiful morning,” her dad said. “Let’s walk the course.”
“Did you fall in love with Cleo’s puppies or what?” her mom asked.
“That little Loki was a real heart stealer,” she replied.
“Did Keith and Naomi tell you we’re taking one of them?” her dad asked.
“No.” Jacqueline filled a glass with water. “You haven’t had a dog in years.”
“We fell in love with the runt,” her mom explained. “She’s the one with the yellow collar.”
Being with family made Jacqueline happy, but she had several more months with the task force before she could start the process of requesting a transfer back east.
“We’ll take two cars,” her mom said. “We don’t have enough room for usandthe golf bags.”
Jacqueline smiled when she saw her clubs in the garage. While she could have taken them with her to California, golfing with her parents was their thing.
After hoisting the bag into her mom’s SUV, she got in the passenger seat.
On the short ride to the golf course, her mom asked, “How’s Jeff?”
“I broke up with him. He wasn’t for me. Plus, his life is out there, and I’m hoping I can transfer back here, after my banishment has been lifted.” She sighed.
