Chapter 32

Now, I smiled at the memory as I trudged up the stairs to the third floor. Once there, I walked across the bridge that spanned the street and connected the two main buildings DEMA occupied. Wes and Max’s office was on the fifth floor of Building #2, so I climbed up the two additional flights.

The entire floor made up the Investigations Unit. It startled me to see someone new at the reception desk. I’d gotten used to Vanessa’s smiling face. This woman had dark hair pulled back into a severe ponytail, and looked decidedly unhappy to be manning the front desk. She looked vaguely familiar, but it took a while to place her. We usually worked out in the company gym at the same time. We’d never spoken, other than when I’d literally bumped into her a couple weeks back when going for the same treadmill.

“Hello,” I said politely, a broad smile on my face. “Is Agent Caldwell back?”