Chương 10
“Got it.”
Adrian stepped closer.
Nolan opened the document.
“The work order was created yesterday at 3:08 p.m.”
Clara frowned.
“That’s around when I called.”
“Your call came in at 2:41.”
“How do you know?”
“The supervisor pulled their phone log.”
Nolan scrolled.
“The assignment was entered by Marcella Ruiz.”
Clara exhaled.
“Then she exists.”
Nolan did not look relieved.
“She didn’t work yesterday.”
Clara stared.
“What?”
“Scheduled day off.”
“Then someone used her account.”
“Yes.”
“Can they tell who?”
“Not immediately.”
Adrian’s voice went hard.
“Immediately is what they have.”
Nolan glanced at him.
“I told them to preserve everything.”
“IP logs.”
“Already requested.”
“Cameras.”
“Already requested.”
Clara looked between them.
“You both do this too often.”
Neither answered.
That answer disturbed her.
Nolan scrolled farther.
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“The work order wasn’t originally for this property.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
Nolan turned the phone toward him.
“It was changed at 3:16.”
“From where?”
“A commercial office in Yonkers.”
Clara felt a chill move across her arms.
“So someone redirected me.”
“Yes.”
“To here.”
“Yes.”
Adrian’s face had become completely unreadable again.
Clara watched him.
“You think Morrow did it.”
“I think someone with access to your agency account wanted you at my gate this morning.”
“Why?”
“That remains the question.”
Nolan shook his head.
“Could be bait.”
Clara looked at him.
“For what?”
“Reaction.”
“Whose?”
“Adrian’s.”
Adrian gave him a warning look.
Nolan ignored it.
“If Morrow knew the agency supplied staff here, he could send someone in and watch what happened.”
“Why me?”
“You’re clean.”
Clara recoiled slightly.
Nolan saw it.
“On paper.”
“That’s not better.”
“I mean no criminal history, no obvious connection to Adrian, financial pressure, temporary employment.”
Clara’s mouth went dry.
“In other words, disposable.”
“No.”
Adrian’s answer came instantly.
Nolan looked at him.
So did Clara.
Adrian held her gaze.
“Not disposable.”
The words were simple.
Something about how quickly he had said them made her look away first.
Brutus nudged her hand.
She scratched behind his ear.
Nolan continued more carefully.
“You would look ordinary enough that no one here would immediately assume you were planted.”
“But I wasn’t planted.”
“We know.”
“Do you?”
Adrian answered.
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“Since when?”
“The bucket.”
That startled her.
“What?”
“If you were here to get close to me, throwing soap water over Brutus and nearly getting yourself mauled would be an unusually poor strategy.”
Despite everything, Clara laughed.
It escaped before she could stop it.
Adrian looked almost pleased.
Nolan shook his head.
“That is not proof.”
“No.”
Adrian’s eyes remained on Clara.
“But it helped.”
Her laughter died.
“What if the point wasn’t me getting close to you?”
Nolan stopped scrolling.
Clara looked at the photograph again.
“What if whoever sent me here knew about Brutus?”
The men exchanged a look.
Clara saw it.
“What?”
Adrian spoke first.
“Very few people know his history.”
“How few?”
“Staff.”
“Trainers.”
“Veterinarians.”
“Nolan.”
“Yes.”
“And Morrow?”
Silence.
Clara’s stomach tightened.
“He knew.”
Adrian nodded once.
“He arranged transport when Brutus was first brought here.”
“So he knew the dog was dangerous.”
“He knew enough.”
“What if he expected Brutus to attack me?”
The room went cold.
Nolan’s expression changed first.
Adrian’s took longer.
When it did, Clara wished it had not.
She saw rage there now.
Not loud rage.
The controlled kind that frightened people into lowering their voices.
“If that was the plan,” Nolan said, “it depended on too many variables.”
“Did it?”
Clara stood.
“I was assigned to clean the back courtyard.”
Nolan looked at her.
“Who assigned that task?”
“Agnes.”
“After you arrived?”
“Yes.”
“Then Morrow couldn’t know.”
Adrian spoke slowly.
“Unless someone inside told him.”
No one moved.
Clara felt Brutus lean against her.
For the first time since the photograph appeared, she wished he were smaller.
Not because she feared him.
Because she suddenly understood what his size would mean if someone deliberately frightened him near the wrong person.
“You said three maids before me got too close.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Agnes said they no longer work here.”
“Why?”
“One quit.”
“One was dismissed for ignoring instructions.”
“And the third?”
Adrian hesitated.
“She was injured.”
Clara felt the room tilt again.
“How badly?”
“Eight stitches.”
“By Brutus?”
“Yes.”
“And that happened in the courtyard?”
Adrian’s silence answered.
Clara stared at him.
“What was she doing?”
“Cleaning.”
Nolan stepped toward the door.
“I’ll pull the incident report.”
“No.”
Adrian’s voice stopped him.
Nolan turned.
Adrian looked at Clara.
“The bucket.”
Clara’s skin went cold.
“What about it?”
“The previous employee had one too.”
Nolan went still.
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“Metal handle.”
Clara looked toward the hallway as if she could somehow see the blue bucket lying where she had dropped it hours ago.
“That’s not unusual.”
“No.”
“But if somebody knew what triggered him.”
Adrian finished the thought.
“They could make sure the same equipment kept appearing.”
Nolan was already on his phone.
“I’m checking procurement.”
Clara shook her head.
“This is insane.”
“Yes.”
Adrian’s gaze stayed on her.
“That doesn’t make it impossible.”
Nolan spoke into the phone, asked two clipped questions, and waited.
His expression changed.
“When?”
Another pause.
“Who approved it?”
He listened.
Then hung up.
“The blue buckets were delivered three months ago.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“We had gray ones.”
“Someone requested replacements.”
“Who?”
Nolan looked at him.
“The request came through facilities.”
“Name.”
“It was submitted under Victor Hall.”
Adrian stared.
Clara looked between them.
“Who is Victor Hall?”
Nolan’s face had gone hard.
Adrian answered.
“He died six months ago.”
Clara said nothing.
The silence became unbearable.
Brutus suddenly lifted his head.
His ears pointed toward the hallway.
A second later, footsteps approached.
Agnes appeared in the doorway carrying Clara’s original shoes, now dry.
She stopped when she saw their faces.
“What happened?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Agnes, who told you to assign Clara to the courtyard this morning?”
Her expression changed.
“No one.”
“You chose it?”
“Yes.”
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“Why?”
“Because Margaret called in sick and the back steps needed scrubbing.”
