A Mind Unequal, Book One of the Casey King Series

By Kelley Griffin

Mind-readers are being hunted, but none are more sought after than her.

 

Betrayed and abandoned at the altar, Casey King's trust doesn't come easily. But fleeing from small town

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kelley Griffin
• Release date: Mar 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781958965108

Kelley Griffin

Kelley Griffin is an author, mom to five sons, wife to a marine and a teacher to tiny humans. She pens Romantic Suspense and YA Suspense stories with rich characters and nonstop action. Look for her current books: Binding Circumstance, Entangling; Book One of the Kirin Lane Series, A Mind Unequal; Book One of the Casey King Series, Unraveling; Book Two of the Kirin Lane Series, and Taken for Granted, a new YA series made up of four serialized novellas.When she's not barricaded in her office writing you can find Kelley playing cards, inhaling campfires and acting goofy.Check out her webpage at www.kelleygriffinauthor.com

Book preview

A Mind

Unequal

Image result for unity in diversity symbol

Book One of the Casey King Series

By Kelley Griffin

High Praise for Binding Circumstance

Kelley Griffin is a Great Storyteller -Donna Taylor (Binding Circumstance)

Full of romance, mystery and excitement "If you like Janet Evanovich or Nora Roberts, you should definitely check this one out!" –Jewelbooks (Binding Circumstance)

Full of romance, mystery and excitement "If you like excitement, mystery, thrillers, romance and strong willed female characters, this book is for you." -Jewelbooks (Binding Circumstance)

Held Hostage by Binding Circumstance "This is a fun, fast read that will have you gripping your tablet page after page. Her characters will delight you and frustrate you and captivate you and enrage you and all those other choice active verbs that make fictional characters so relatable. I hope you give it a chance. You won’t be disappointed." -Robin Wizenread author of Some Assembly Required

Romantic Suspense with Lots of Heart If you love romance with lots of suspense, do yourself a favor and get this book! -Kindle customer (Binding Circumstance)

Could not put it down! If you’re looking for a great story line that keeps you wondering and wanting to read more this is it! -Paula (Binding Circumstance)

Romance, suspense that you won’t be able to put down! 5 ⭐️ This was an amazing romance, suspense book. I read it in 2 days, and then read it again! Hard to put down. The character development & story like keep you intrigued. I can’t wait to read more from Kelley Griffin!!! -Bridgette Mallidis (Binding Circumstance)

Don't start this book when you have to get up early in the morning. I couldn't put the book down! Fans of Lisa Gardner will love this romantic suspense from first time author, Kelley Griffin. —Jessica Atwood

Entangling

Kelley’s Entangling is the first in the series and is a riveting read. November 7, 2019

Toppling a mountain of tomatoes at the grocery store and rescuing a toy batman dropped in the toilet is all part of a normal day in the life of Kirin, a single mom of two little boys. After getting news that her estranged father passed, Kirin’s life becomes increasingly chaotic. A new love in a mysterious stranger who knows more about her that he should. Check. A cryptic book? Check. Bad guys?? Double check. — Amazon Customer

A wonderful book January 14, 2020

This is a book that will keep you wanting to know more! You get so caught up in the story that you just want to keep reading until the end. I have read both her books and highly recommend them —Cheryl Miller

Page-turner and highly recommended. January 12, 2020

This book was well written and a definite page-turner!! I can’t wait for the next book in the series! —Angela Bell

She's the newest big hit January 3, 2020

This was the first book I read from this author. And I was hooked from the very first page. I know from just reading this first book. She is going to be big! Kindle Customer

It's a very captivating book. January 3, 2020

This book was captivating from the first page. I couldn't put the book down. I highly recommend this book to everyone. — Kindle Customer

Loved it!! January 2, 2020

I absolutely loved it!!! I finished it in two days (on Christmas break) because I couldn’t put it down!! —S. Bates

Had me from the start December 31, 2019

I read this book in less than a day. I couldn't put it down! The author does such a good job of unraveling characters at just the right moments. I usually pick up a book and prepare myself to be bored the first couple of chapters until the story really begins to unfold. But Kelley Griffin hooked me from the first paragraph. —Amazon Customer

Great mix of humor, romance, and suspense! November 30, 2019

Griffin did an amazing job with her descriptions and story line. Binding Circumstance is a great mix of humor, romance, and suspense. You’ll fall in love with her characters and feel like you’re part of the story. Wonderful book! —Rachel Goodman

Loved this book November 24, 2019

Loved the plot and the characters. I honestly couldn’t put the book down once I started reading it. The characters have such depth and charm!! —Jana Lee

Other titles by Kelley Griffin

Binding Circumstance

Entangling, Book One of the Kirin Lane Series

Unraveling, Book Two of the Kirin Lane Series

Redeeming, Book Three of the Kirin Lane Series

A Mind Unequal

Taken for Granted

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Please visit kelleygriffinauthor.com

ISBN Print: 978-1-958965-09-2

ISBN eBook: 978-1-958965-10-8

Cover Art by Amanda Walker PA & Design Services

Edited by Wendy Waxmonsky

Produced in the United States of America

Griffin, Kelley

A Mind Unequal, Book One of the Casey King Series

This is a work of fiction. Characters and events in this book are a product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

April 2020

Copyright © 2022 Kelley Griffin

Dedication

This one, I dedicate to the readers...the BBR’s, and the fans who keep me going. The ones who insist I write faster and impatiently wait for the next installment. You inspire me. Thank you for encouraging me and for being my cheering section.

And to my boys...Seth, Sam, Shane, Sean and Sonny. Thank you for being my world, my inspiration and my heart.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for reading this story. This was the first book that I wrote almost entirely in one month. The story poured out like water. I give all the credit to God. Casey King is a phenomenal character. She’s both unsure of herself and tired of not showing up in her own life. Her insecurities are great, but her spirit and her love of people make her superhuman in more ways than one.

She is lovely and yet fierce. Take care of her. She’s part of me.

Thank you for reading my stories and please connect with me! I’d love to know what you think of this book! Please consider taking a minute to leave a review. It’s one of the best ways to encourage others to read a new author.

XO~

Kelley

Find me on Facebook or Goodreads as:

Kelley Griffin Author

IG as @kelleygriffinauthor

Twitter as AuthorKTGriffin

Chapter One

Casey King’s luck wasn’t just bad. It was plain awful.

She’d settled into her cubicle after a grueling meeting when the quick hand of a delivery guy placed a brown bag at the farthest edge of her L-shaped desk. Her stomach growled on cue, and like a wolf in the henhouse, Casey snatched it, opened it, and peeked inside.

Wait! She grabbed the bag and sprinted as best she could in heels and a pencil skirt.

Sauce seeped through the bottom of the bag, as the stench of warmed meat assaulted her nose. Even with her long, quick strides, the elevator door closed in her face.

Great. He’d delivered a cow sandwich to a vegetarian. Casey spied the name of the intended recipient: Matthew Wilson.

Could this day get any worse?

She glared at the sandwich for a beat then stomped back to her desk. Her mind wandered helplessly, like an unfed orphan, as she counted the minutes until her official lunchbreak. The way she saw it, she had two options: face the notoriously stuck-up head of accounting or starve. Her stomach growled loudly enough to turn her cheeks warm and to glance around to see if anyone had heard.

Okay stomach, point taken.

It wasn’t as if she didn’t like her new risk management job. It paid most of her bills, and with seemingly half of Atlanta turning into mind readers overnight and blaming the pharmaceutical company she worked for, it was non-stop busy. Just busy enough to keep her mind off her empty life.

The real problem was she hadn’t eaten a thing for breakfast. Her tiny new Atlanta apartment took most of her paycheck, leaving zero money for groceries. One of the hordes of problems with moving to a new state after spending her savings on foolishness: her wallet was as empty as her stomach.

Using the last of her money, she’d ordered a veggie sandwich from a trendy shop. A well-deserved Friday treat, she’d told herself.

Stalling, she stared at the flickering headline trailing across her computer monitor. Another Hollywood star coming out and claiming to be a Dream Walker. The fourth A-lister this week to jump on that bandwagon. Unlike the others, this starlet didn’t blame vaccines. Good. One less report to write.

The real question: was she hungry enough to march up to the top floor and face Matt Wilson? He was the golden boy of the company. And if the rumors were true, he was brilliant, moody, and had absolutely no desire to speak to anyone below him, especially a virtual nobody in the company like her.

She’d once overheard one of the HR Barbie Dolls talking about him in the bathroom. She’d called him, ‘A hot numbers genius, who was too focused on work to be bothered with people.’

Apparently, HR Barbie had been rejected.

Casey’s only run-in with him was when the old CEO had retired last month. They’d all been invited to the exclusive top-floor for a reception. It was only her second day and she was super nervous. Everyone milled about making polite conversation, when she and Matt Wilson both grabbed the very last piece of cake. When he noticed her fingers, his gaze snapped up and his deep green eyes had locked on to hers.

After a beat, he had released his hand and took a step back like a gentleman. Wanting to offer it to him instead, she had thrusted the plate toward him, but when she did, the huge piece of cake toppled straight down the front of his expensive suit and onto the carpet with a thud. As the wait staff rushed over to help clean it up, he shook his head and walked away without a word.

She’d been mortified. People had stopped talking and stared. Her face had flushed hot. And in an instant she was transported back home, standing alone in a long white gown, in a little country church with a room full of gossipers.

Thinking back now, Matt Wilson’s face had twisted too, like dealing with people was painful. Clumsy people like her, she was sure. Either way, facing Mr. Personality again wasn’t something she ever wanted to do.

Casey snatched up the bag and stomped to the elevator, then turned and glanced back at her cube. If she hadn’t spent every dime of savings on her stupid almost-wedding, then abruptly moved—putting a jaw-dropping deposit down on her Atlanta apartment—she’d toss the damn sandwich. Simple math told her she couldn’t.

Her stomach told her it would revolt if she even thought about it.

Casey turned back toward the elevator, swiped her security card and straightened her shoulders. With one hand, she tugged at the bottom of her grey sweater, resituating it back over the top of her navy skirt, and sighed.

This was gonna end badly. When her hangry stomach took charge of her critical thinking, it was like rolling a twenty-pound bowling ball full speed inside a glass shop.

Inside the elevator, Casey pressed the top floor button then stared at her free hand. Her once-polished fingers hadn’t seen a manicure since Kentucky. Well, in truth, since her wedding day. The day her world was forever changed.

Riding the elevator, she concocted a plan. She’d waltz into his office, grab her sandwich, and be on her way. Easy.

When the doors opened on the top floor, the first guard-dog receptionist looked her up and down. Eyebrows up, the woman searched for her security badge. Casey lifted it from around her neck and flashed her picture. The woman’s frown said, why are you bothering the important people?

Casey marched past the woman without even a nod. She aimed for the glass offices and pressed a button. After a beat, the door clicked and opened. A cool breeze hit her, and shivers ran up both legs. The bought air was at least ten degrees cooler inside the plush executive offices. Symphony music hummed in the background, showering the creamy, luxurious couches in the empty waiting room.

With the company’s Autism Vaccine under fire every day in the news, the executives and attorneys fought with the press and special interest groups constantly. Their high-stress jobs were equal to their outrageous salaries.

She scanned the nameplates on the doors. Executive Secretary, Bonnie was a short, dark-headed woman, who’d been with the company longer than most. She knew every soul in the building by name. She smiled brightly and rose when she spotted Casey.

Good morning, Miss King. Can I help you, dear? A sweet, southern twang added flavor to her professionalism.

Yes, ma’am. I’m looking for Matthew Wilson’s office?

Casey didn’t miss Bonnie’s slight eyebrow twitch.

Is Mr. Wilson expecting you?

No, ma’am, but I believe the sub shop switched our orders. I’m here to return his and retrieve mine.

It’s kind of you to right their wrong.

Casey nodded then followed Bonnie around two short hallways and past the CEO’s double door office. Matt Wilson’s nameplate hung on the wall beside a closed mahogany door. The secretary excused herself, leaving Casey alone at his door. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and knocked.

Come in, the gruff voice on the other side answered.

Casey turned the knob and pushed the door with her free hand. She waited for the stubble-faced man behind the computer screen to look up, but he didn’t. Nor did he say anything. Awkward. She glanced around. Should she just stroll up to his desk? After the cake incident, she wouldn’t have guessed he’d have no manners.

Shaking her head, she took a few more cautious steps into the bright, corner office, letting the door close with a click behind her.

His office would have been bright and cheery if he weren’t occupying the dark cloud in the middle. The twelve-foot ceiling was held up on two sides by walls of windows. She couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the glorious view of Atlanta’s skyline and bustling streets below. Warm sun glinted off the shiny buildings with a backdrop of bright blue sky. It looked like a postcard. She envisioned placing her easel right in the middle. Paint colors ran through her mind. Painting could temporarily make her forget about her aching stomach. It took away other types of pain too.

After another minute, when he still hadn’t acknowledged her, she turned toward his desk and cleared her throat. Nothing.

Mr. Wilson, I— Her voice wasn’t nearly as steady as she’d hoped.

Sit down, he commanded without even a glance her way.

Casey froze. Then glared. His command ran all over her. She wanted to make him say please. She’d made a promise to herself; nobody would make her feel worthless again. But this was business and his domain. With her jaw set in her best fake smile, she played his game. She sat gingerly in a chair opposite his large desk. She glared, willing him to look up.

His office was too quiet, no music, no noise, and empty except a desk strewn with papers in no apparent order. She observed him over the top of his laptop. Barely older than she, his brown hair was cut close on the sides and shaggy on the top. It had hints of red among the waves of brown. Strands hung dangerously close to his eyes, as if he was too busy to be bothered with cutting it. From this angle, she had a clear view of his eyes. They were just as she remembered, a warm shade of green, deep like the bristles of a pine tree.

He’d be easy on the eyes, if he wasn’t so...abrupt.

Moments ticked by uncomfortably as he typed furiously on his keyboard, never looking up or acknowledging her. The bag holding her veggie sandwich sat behind him on his credenza. She had half a mind to march over, switch the bags, and walk out.

Rude.

Finally, she’d had enough. Casey stood, straightened her skirt and marched over next to his chair. She towered over him. Mr. Wilson.

His gaze snapped up, eyes glaring. What? He emphasized the ‘t.’ Casey pointed toward the bag behind him.

The sandwich guy delivered your nasty meatball sandwich to me. Which means you have my vegetarian special. I need it back...please. She’d meant for her voice to sound loud and powerful. It came off nervous and a little too high-pitched.

Matt Wilson rose quick. The force of standing caused his rolling chair to shoot backward. Her adrenaline had caused her to misjudge the space, so when he stood, their faces were inches apart. Even though it was awkward, she stood her ground. Neither one seemed willing to yield and step back.

Casey raised her chin and looked him dead in the eye. He was taller than her, but she’d worn two-inch heels. He’d have to be over six feet to be taller than her in heels. Minty breath tickled her nose. His skin smelled like soap and pine. For a brief second, his scent clouded all judgement. His gaze shifted from her eyes to her mouth. And she found herself doing the same.

Just when they both seemed caught in a tractor beam toward each other, he broke free. Stepping back, he shook his head, snatched up the sandwich bag behind him and looked inside.

Vegetarian? His voice cracked at the end. He said it as if it were a curse word.

Yes, she snapped out of her trance. I prefer not to eat diseased animals who’ve been dragged half-dead to slaughter. Any other questions? She hadn’t meant to sound so damn snarky. But she needed the upper hand. Nothing made her angrier than someone trying to make her feel small.

He froze, then raised his head toward her like a slow-moving crane. Their eyes met again. His were narrowed. Great. She’d overstepped.

What’s your name? his voice was silky and deceptively soft. Angry pine-tree eyes bored into her blues.

She took a small step forward and softened her voice, holding out her hand. Can I just have my sandwich, please?

Matt turned the bag over in his hands and stilled when her name came into view. Casey King, HR he read, stretching out her name and smiling. He’d probably find pleasure in getting her fired.

She needed this job, but there was no way she’d let anyone make her feel inadequate. She’d had enough of that in her past. Casey's stomach catapulted her forward. She took one athletic step toward him, snatched the sandwich bag out of his hands, and in the same fluid motion, dropped his bag on top of his desk.

The look on his face was priceless: a mixture of disbelief and respect. His lips curved upward as if they had a mind of their own. They were in direct opposition to his angry eyes.

Casey turned and sped toward the door, swung it open and without looking back said, "Thank you, Mr. Wilson, nice doing business with you."

As she strode down the hallway toward the glass doors, heart pounding, she heard him chuckle. Odd, but the jerk had a decent laugh.

~*~

When Casey got back to her cubicle, she half expected he’d chase her down and tell her off, but he didn’t. It took several minutes for her hands to stop shaking. She’d used most of her lunch time chasing down her sandwich, so she inhaled it at her desk.

Laughter and gasps rippled on the air like fog from the other side of the expansive space filled with HR cubicles. She wiped the corners of her mouth after annihilating a few bites and raised up, easily peering over the grid of never-ending cubes. An enormous bouquet of red roses bobbed up and down toward a blonde whose name Casey couldn’t remember. The roses were placed on a shelf atop of the girl’s cube. The blonde squealed as a suited man, clutching a little black box appeared then dropped out of Casey’s view. The cheers from the gathered crowd indicated she’d said yes.

Casey flopped back in her chair and took another huge, un-lady-like bite. That kind of thing would never happen to her, well, not anymore. She rolled her eyes. If she could give the young woman one piece of advice, it’d be: save your money honey, it’s not worth it.

With a full stomach, seven phone calls returned, two wrongful-mind-reading claims logged, and a conference call down, Casey stretched and smiled. Almost time to go. She’d forgotten the sandwich episode until her desk phone rang. Janice. Her stomach fell. Janice was her direct supervisor. An image of Matt Wilson drifted across her mind.

This is Casey, she answered sheepishly.

Hello, Miss King. Can you come in here for a second, please?

Sure.

Quickly she tidied her desk, stashed papers and pens and pulled out all personal items; gum, lip gloss, sketchbook, a picture of Pops and placed them all in her purse.

The hostile terminations she’d seen in the two months she’d worked there had been swift and without empathy. Most were fired for admitting the company’s Autism Vaccine was in any way tied to Dream Walking. If the person was found guilty, upper management didn’t even give the offender time to sign off their laptops before being escorted down to the first floor and chucked out onto Peachtree Street.

But her crime hadn’t been her beliefs about the vaccine, nor had she told anyone their abilities were caused by it. No, she’d dropped a piece of cake on a big shot in upper management and he’d never forgotten.

This was it. Bastard. Matt Wilson was a jackass. She hoped she saw him on the street one day. She’d trip his smug ass. Should have thrown his damn sandwich in the garbage and eaten crackers. She trudged toward the corner office, shaking, but managed to square her shoulders as a few other HR cronies watched from their cubes.

She rapped lightly on Janice’s door. After a second, she heard a clipped, Come in.

Everyone knew Janice was close to retirement even though she seemed younger than her sixty-five years. From her spiky, salt-and-peppered hair to her fashionable clothes and thin frame, she could pass for someone in their forties. She was kind, sometimes, but with a Jekyll-and-Hyde-type personality. She could switch from being the caring boss and friend to blessing someone out in a nanosecond. Then switch back before you could say the word crazy. The week before, all of HR watched in horror as Janice paralyzed a newbie with her evil side. So far, Casey had only seen the nice side.

That, she feared, was about to change.

Opening the door, Casey quick-gauged which personality she was about to meet—but stopped mid-stride. Sitting in one of the brown leather chairs in front of Janice’s pristine desk, was none other than sandwich-jerk himself, Matt Wilson. When she entered, he grinned. A shit-eating, you’re-about-to-get-fired grin at that. He rose like something bit him in the chair and stretched out his hand. Maybe he’d listened to a podcast on manners.

Casey shut the door, mostly so the gossips wouldn’t hear the torture of her being fired, but also to make it easier to ignore Matt’s outstretched hand. She cut her eyes at him then smiled at Janice as she sat. Janice hadn’t seemed to notice the hand snub because her goofy smile never faltered. She spoke formally.

Miss King it seems you’ve made an impression on Mr. Wilson today.

Janice had zero emotion on her face. The woman was maddening. The one time she needed either Jekyll or Hyde to rear her ugly head, and she had neither.

Casey scooted to the edge of her chair and turned her back on Matt Wilson. She addressed only Janice, speaking low, trying to win her over.

Janice, it wasn’t my fault. I was only trying to get my lunch back.

Even to her own ears, she sounded whiny. Like a first grader explaining to the teacher why she’d kicked someone on the playground.

She wanted to tell Janice that Matt Wilson was a jerk, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed he watched her, thoughtfully. And a kind smile played on his lips.

Janice seemed oblivious. Well, it appears fate is in your favor today.

Confused, Casey glanced from Matt to Janice and back.

Mr. Wilson scooted toward the edge of his chair and turned his body toward Casey. Their knees touched briefly. Janice nodded and he began.

M-Miss King, he stammered, sounding nervous. Green eyes locked on hers. We’re considering you for a department change. I need someone in accounting who can take charge. I’ve spoken with Mrs. Richards, and she indicates in your short time working with this company you’ve impressed her as a hard worker and quite dependable. With the ... he cleared his throat, "gumption, I saw today, I’d say you’re perfect