Chapter 54

But an hour was all I could stand before I was pacing, stretching, even doing casual splits on the floor behind LeFevre’s desk.

“Aren’t you supposed to be resting, dear?” asked Mrs. Wood.

“If I sit still any longer, I’m going to explode.”

“What kind of poison was it?” asked Mr. Jewks, pushing down his reading glasses to get a better look at what I was doing in the reflection of the window. “Golly, do you even have joints?”

“I’m a dancer, and it was a mixture of a bunch of stuff I forgot the names too.” I grabbed onto my toes and tried to lay flat on my thigh, only for my little baby bump to make itself known, so I lay on my side instead. “And no, not an exotic dancer, thank you.”

“I never assumed such,” Mr. Jewks put his glasses back on. “I was the one who verified your school credentials. Very impressive, by the way. Our university doesn’t just accept anyone, and with a full-ride scholarship for dancing, of all things. I thought they only gave that for sports.”

“What on earth is she doing here?” asked Mrs. Woods.

“Paying the bills,” I grunted as I moved to my other leg. The hard thing about being flexible was being able to get that nice, slightly painful stretched-out feeling—ahhhh, there we go. Just had to sort of pop my hip out of the way.

“What are you doing?”

Staring at me in my corner between LeFevre’s desk and the floor-to-ceiling windows, Mr. Czarn had just stepped out from the doors of his office. He had a familiar black briefcase at his side.

“What does it look like?” I said petulantly. My head was almost underneath my thigh at this point.

“Can I say I’m more impressed that your slacks haven’t torn by now? You have to tell me your brand.” The corner of his mouth was twitching.

I didn’t like where his eyes were looking, so I straightened, snapped my legs together, and got up, straightening my clothes as I did so.

“You’re ten o’clock isn’t for another fifteen, Mr. Czarn. What can I do for you?”

“Call me by my actual name. Reuben.”

I just looked at him. “What can I do for you, Mr. Czarn?”

He sighed heavily. “I can’t get a toe in edgewise with you, can I? I’m actually out here for Mrs. Woods.”

“Already finished it,” she said, waving around a lined pink paper from a legal pad.

He went over and plucked the page from her fingers. Whatever he saw made him smile.

“That’s better than I thought.”

“That’s because I took out the unnecessaries. Here’s the list of them.”

He accepted another pink page with a nod.

“You never cease to amaze me.”

“Wish there were more men like you back in the sixties. Could have solved world hunger and invented the toaster and they would have only asked when dinner would be ready.”

“I apologize for our sex,” said Mr. Czarn. “I seem to be doing that a lot lately.”

“It’s the culture, not our sex,” said Mr. Jewks rather tersely, for someone as soft-spoken and out of the way as he. “And not all men in the sixties were like that either. What about your husband?”

“That’s why he died young,” said Mrs. Wood with a sniff. “Will that be all, Mr. Czarn?”

“Yes. This is perfect.”

By now, I had the tablet and the notes for the meeting gathered, so I casually took my side by Mr. Czarn as he slipped Mrs. Wood’s pink notes into his briefcase. He happened to spot me and, as was becoming the usual, his expression softened.

His phone gave a jarring, obnoxious series of high beeps.

He frowned as he brought it out and tapped it open.

“Haven’t heard that one in ages,” said Mrs. Woods.

“Haven’t heard his phone in ages. Isn’t it usually on vibrate?”

“All except that one.”

“What’s it mean?” I asked.

“It means you’re staying here,” he said, his frown having moved up to his eyebrows.

I blanched. He had no idea how much I’d been looking forward to leaving this room—to walking.

“What could possibly stop your secretary from—hey, wait! Mr. Czarn, at least explain! Am I to take notes over simulcast or—”

“Just stay here and sit tight.” He had already reached the elevator. I couldn’t see his face anymore, but there was a stiffness in his shoulders. “Mrs. Woods, Mr. Jewks?”

“We’ll keep an eye on her,” said Mrs. Woods with a placating smile towards me. “Don’t worry, dear. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

But before I could think of a way to stop Mr. Czarn and make him explain, the elevator doors had closed, and I was left still clutching LeFevre’s tablet and notes as though they could secure me to this plane.

“What in the world…” I muttered.

“It’s probably security,” said Mr. Jewks. One of his pinkies had started tapping madly on his desk. “Though why they would have to notify him…it’s usually their job to handle things without Mr. Czarn being the wiser.”

“Don’t go assuming things. You’re only going to make an ass of yourself.” Mrs. Woods pushed herself up from her desk to waddle towards me. “You were looking forward to getting a nice walk, weren’t you, dear? Here, why don’t we take one around the room? We got enough windows for a nice view for the trip.”

What I really wanted to do was turn James Bond and stalk after Mr. Czarn to satisfy my curiosity, maybe do some mad jumps and climbing feats to get out all this excess energy I had. But Mrs. Woods was the more reasonable option of the two, so I ended up arm in arm with her, like two regency ladies in the countryside, and taking a few laps around the office.

I’d no sooner sat down when LeFevre reappeared, looking even more exhausted than usual and flushed in the face from the heat outside. He looked at me then nodded.

“Good. You’re still here. Keep it that way.” He then looked to Mr. Jewks and jerked a finger over his shoulder. “I got some people we need your opinion on.”

Mr. Jewks gave a very long, heavy sigh before pushing his scarecrow-thin frame up from his desk.

I found myself envying Mr. Jewks’s ability to leave, even if his hands still shook.

“Really, what is going on down there? I know I told Mr. Jewks not to assume anything, but really, even I’m starting to look for ideas.”

You and me both, Mrs. Woods. You and me both.