He was sitting back, a phone to his ear. He held up two fingers, which Holden took to mean he’d be off in two minutes. Instead of sitting, Holden headed to the window and peered out at the view of the employee parking lot. Usually he drove in, parked in his reserved spot, and didn’t give the rest of the lot another thought. But here he could glance out and see the two empty rows in the back that used to be filled. In the view from his office, he could see the building that used to hum with workers and noise ten years ago. But he couldn’t actually see the emptiness. He couldn’t actually hear the silence in it. It helped him ignore the problem. But today he couldn’t ignore anything. He felt like the prince and the pea, and the pea was the size of a parking lot and damned uncomfortable, gnawing at his belly. “What’s up?” Ryan asked. Holden turned. “I saw your text about the Houston account.” “They’re downsizing. Judy has a couple new leads.” He headed to Ryan’s desk.
