The Meerkat Murders (Kea Wright Mysteries Book 2) by RJ Corgan

Author:RJ Corgan [Corgan, RJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-01-11T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6 – Pour Decisions

Dinner that night was a somber affair.

Kea’s mother had loved phrases like that. At the age of sixteen, Kea totaled the family car, as well as a small chunk of a Taco Bell, and her mother, on hearing the news, admitted to being, ‘A tad disappointed,’ and then calmly dealt with the insurance companies. Emotions, as her sister was always fond of saying, were things that happened in other people’s families.

The reaction of the staff and students to the news of Addi’s death was similarly subdued. Already unnerved by what had happened to Nikita’s colony, word spread quickly among the students. While they were not outright bawling, tension hung in the air as they struggled to handle a new, almost alien, emotion. They still chatted quietly and even occasionally looked up from their phones, but the mood in the main hall was grim. Although the events of the day had no observable effect on their appetites, Kea noticed. She had barely been able to salvage the last brownie from the buffet. The pudding trays were similarly scraped clean.

She managed to find an empty length of table and sat with a cup of coffee, settling down to help get some of Tamaya’s work done, and prevent herself from freaking out. Receipts from the weeks’ purchases that needed to be entered into the accounting system sat on one side of her laptop while and a tray of biscotti occupied the other. She focused on her work while the herd clattered their utensils and murmured restlessly. The other staff had retired to the AV tent to confer on a plan of action. Not having a stake in the decision, nor any research to sacrifice, she had offered to supervise mealtime and play the role of responsible adult, although she would be the first to admit that adulting had never been her strong suit.

When she and the rest of the teams had returned from the field, Tamaya and the others had been waiting for them. Aside from a long, weepy hug, Tamaya offered little more than she had imparted over the phone. The infection, the seizures, the stress, all of it had been too much on Addi’s heart. His body remained at the hospital, while Tamaya returned to camp to collect their things and hand over the running of the expedition. Then she would finish dealing with Addi’s remains before heading back home.

Knowing Tamaya’s desire to at least give the impression of keeping it together in front of the students, Kea had settled for the hug, but before she released her, Kea whispered that she was welcome to crash in her cabin that night.

Right now, however, Tamaya had a lot on her mind. They all did.

Should they stay or should they go?

It was no small decision. In addition to the sheer logistics and costs of moving the equipment and supplies out of camp early, there were also the students to consider. Changing flights, getting picked up by family members, even just transporting them to the airport would be chaotic.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.