Day's End by Colleen Vanderlinden Read Free Book Online

is pretty much ‘psycho killer with zero control and a major attitude problem.’”
    “Wow… thanks, Justin.”
    “Anytime.” He leaned forward. “Look. I’m here. You brought me into this. And I’ll do what I can to help StrikeForce because it’s the right thing to do and it’s the best thing for this city. But I owe you. I raked you across the goddamn coals and helped everyone hate you. That’s on me, just as much as it’s on Eve and Killjoy and Alpha and anyone else who had their own game they were playing along the way.”
    “I don’t need to be protected. Or saved.”
    “Yeah no shit. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about undoing some of the wrong I’ve done. I owe you that.”
    I noticed Jenson and Amy exchanging a look, Amy trying and failing to hold back a giggle.
    “She has a boyfriend,” Amy said.
    “And it’s super serious,” Jenson said, ending on a gale of laughter as she and Amy lost it.
    I shook my head. “Did you … did you two seriously just quote
The Lego Movie
at him?”
    Jenson shrugged.
    “Dorks,” I muttered. I glanced at Justin to see him looking at Jenson and Amy in confusion. “Sorry. We watched it on TV last night.”
    “I don’t want to be… what the hell are we even talking about now?” Justin asked, and Amy and Jenson started laughing harder.
    “Good lord we are all losing our minds here,” Portia muttered, standing up. “This is what it looks like when people start breaking under the pressure.” That only made Amy and Jenson laugh even harder, Amy wiping tears away from her eyes. Justin looked like he wanted to run and take his chances on me chasing him down and finding him again. Portia gulped back more coffee and put her cup in the kitchen sink.
    “Okay. I think we’re good here. I guess I’ll get you back on the schedule. Limited, though,” she said to me. I gave her a salute, and she rolled her eyes and let herself out, grabbing her stack of folders and notebooks as she went. Amy and Justin followed shortly after, and I heard him saying “I do not want to be her boyfriend,” as the door closed behind them. Jenson turned to me and laughed.
    “I’m sorry. We couldn’t help it,” she said.
    “It’s fine. He was already sure we were all nuts anyway.”
    “And, you do have a boyfriend and Justin looks at you sometimes like he’s undressing you with his eyes.”
    “You mean the same way David looks at you?” I shot back as I carried my cup to the kitchen. Jenson didn’t answer, and I glanced back to see her looking uncomfortable. “Hey, I’m sorry,” I said.
    “There’s nothing to be sorry about. Things are just… they’re just weird between us right now. I guess I’m a little oversensitive.”
    I studied Jenson. She was the one person on the team who mostly managed to keep her personal feelings out of her work. But she worked super closely with David developing all of the tech for the team, plus the additional stuff they made for me.
    “I hadn’t noticed any weirdness,” I said. “Was I being obtuse again?”
    She smiled and shook her head. “No. I mean, we’re good. I think all of the weirdness is on my end.” I stayed quiet, waiting to see if she wanted to say more. “I want the man, okay? Goddamn it, I want him so badly it’s making me crazy. But it’s not the time and I don’t know if it ever will be. And then, you know, what if we start something up and then it all falls apart and then we hate each other and I’ve lost my best friend other than you? I’m not the most gregarious person. I keep to myself and if I actually become friends with someone, that’s a big deal. You’re the same way,” she added.
    “I am.”
    “Okay. So you get it.”
    “Or it could end up that, you know, the guy who’s one of your best friends also ends up being the love of your life or something sappy like that,” I said with a shrug.
    “Not everybody is you and Caine,” Jenson said. She turned the kitchen faucet on and