Promises and Pomegranates by Sav R. Miller

Growing agitated with each passing second, knowing this is keeping me
from relaxing at home, I lean forward, squinting at the plaque. Boyd’s office
number is the second one down, and so I push past the glass partition
separating the office doors from the upstairs lobby, and head right for his slot.
“I don’t appreciate having to wait—”
Cutting off abruptly when I open the door, I freeze in my tracks, more
than a little stunned by the petite blonde sitting behind the large oak desk,
black Converse propped up on the wooden surface.
Surprised, mostly because the last time I saw her, she’d been in a coma,
broken and bloody and struggling to find the subconscious will to wake up.
“Riley,” I breathe, my knees buckling at the girl in front of me.
The sister of Boyd Kelly, head of Ivers International’s security team.
Her honey-colored hair is cropped close around her head, her blue eyes as
deep and disturbed as the uncharted parts of the ocean. A scar slashes across
the corner of her mouth, the mangled skin on her cheek from a thigh graft
healed but still a little more raised and pinker than the rest of her face.
She looks hollow, the dark circles around her eyes more like craters, the
sweater she has on about three sizes too big. I shut the door slowly, and she
grins when I come over to the desk.
“You sure know how to make a girl wait,” she says, gesturing for me to
have a seat.
I do, but only because I’m confused.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, glancing around the office to see if
anyone’s hiding in the corner. “Where’s your brother?”
“Boyd’s having an extended lunch with his girlfriend. I was the one who
asked you to meet.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “What?”
“You wanted to know who your blackmailer was,” she says, leaning
forward and sliding a familiar flash drive across the desk, tapping it as it
reaches me.
I stare at the drive, then look up at her. “You?”
A smile widens on her face, but it looks strained. “Kind of crazy how
much I’ve picked up in such a short time, but I guess that’s the perk of being
around hackers and IT people all the time now. Amazing what you can find
out about a person, just by doing a little digging. Even one as private as you,
Doctor.”
I narrow my eyes. “Is that so?”