For the first time in a long time, Hudson was going to drive through the front gate. He smiled at the security guard, not recognizing his face. Hudson briefly wondered how many other new hires had been made since he’d been the director.
“I’m Hudson Sherwood. I have an appointment with Dr. Abernathy.”
The guard consulted his clipboard. “Yes, Mr. Sherwood. Dr. Abernathy is waiting for you at his home. You go down this road—”
Hudson interrupted. “I know where it is.”
“Yes, sir,” said the guard as he pushed the button to raise the gate.
Driving away, Hudson took it as a good sign that Vernon had agreed to meet with him so quickly when he’d called the doctor yesterday. An even better sign was that Vernon had invited him to have lunch. That signaled that he was allotting at least an hour for them to talk.
Hudson was determined to be pleasant and not show any animosity. Vernon’s decision to have Jillian replace him as Elysium’s director had caused Hudson years of misery, but this wasn’t the time to rehash all that. Vernon had to think that Hudson wanted to let bygones be bygones, even if he didn’t really feel that way at all.
As his car pulled into the Abernathys’ driveway, Hudson’s hands gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white. He stared at the sprawling house on the well-tended grounds. Vernon Abernathy had been living large while Hudson Sherwood had been reduced to clipping coupons out of the newspaper to save a few cents on toilet paper.
He turned off the ignition and glanced in the rearview mirror. Wipe that scowl off your face, you idiot. He’s never going to rehire you if you look like you want to kill somebody.