Harper sighed. "And stop smiling."
Was I smiling?
Oh, I guess I was.
I wiped the smile from my face and focused on the issue at-hand. If Colewaslying about the references, he'd done it twice – once today and once on the night we'd argued on the sidewalk. For whatever reason, I'd believed him both times.
Or maybe I'd justwantedto believe him.
Either way,someonewas lying.
It was a sobering thought, and I felt my mood sink accordingly. But then I perked up. "Maybe Mitchell was wrong."
"Not hardly," Harper said. "He talked to a bunch of former co-workers. All of them are in the same boat."
I wanted specifics. "Which boat is that?"
"The can't-find-a-good-job boat." She gave me a pointed look. "Becauseyourmonster's been shredding their reputations. And before you ask, Mitchell knows this for a fact."
I'd worked with Mitchell for three whole years. It was true that we weren't best buddies or anything, but he'd seemed like an honest guy.
I was still trying to make sense of it when Gwen looked to Harper and said, "Are you sure Mitchell wasn't exaggerating, even a little?"
Harper whirled to face her. "How'sthisfor exaggerating? Cole Henster told Bluefield Bank that Lexie was a great employee." Her tone darkened. "Whenshe was sober."
My jaw hit the floor. "What? You never told me that."
"I did, too," Harper said. "Remember? I listed a whole bunch of things he's been saying about former employees."
"Yeah, but you never mentioned me specifically – not about Bluefieldorthe whole sober thing."
She gave a bitter laugh. "What? You thought he was saying nicer things aboutyou?"
Her words hit like a bucket of ice. The truth was, Ihadthought such a thing. After all, I had quit with no notice. This meant that if Cole Henster wanted to give me a bad reference, he wouldn't need to lie. The truth alone would be damning enough.
And yet, Cole had denied giving me any references at all.Was that even possible?
Harper crossed her arms. "Well?"
By now, a tight knot had formed in my stomach. Absently, I mumbled, "I don't know."
"And there's more," Harper said. "He told Lakeside Distributors that you had 'questionable hygiene'."
What?
Eauw.
I shook my head. "Seriously?"
"No joke," she said. "Why do you think I was toilet papering his house? That jerk-wad totally deserved it."
As I considered everything she was saying, the knot in my stomach grew and twisted.Harper wasn't a liar.
And, as far as I knew, neither was Mitchell.
But what about Cole?
I'd known him for how long now?
