Chương 11
Nolan looked at Clara.
Random.
Maybe.
Agnes frowned.
“What is this about?”
Adrian did not answer.
Instead he asked, “Who knew Margaret was going to be out?”
Agnes considered.
“She texted me at six fourteen.”
“Anyone else?”
“I put it in the staff group.”
Nolan immediately looked at his phone.
Clara watched the pieces shift again.
“What time did I reach the gate?”
“Six fifty-one,” Adrian said.
“And the person waiting for me was there before that.”
“Yes.”
“So Margaret calling in sick didn’t cause this.”
“No.”
Adrian’s eyes moved to Brutus.
“It just gave them an opportunity they may not have expected.”
Agnes looked from one face to another.
“Will someone tell me what happened?”
Nolan showed her the photograph.
Agnes read the text message afterward.
Her hand tightened around Clara’s shoes.
“Oh.”
It was the smallest reaction Clara had seen from her all day.
That frightened her.
Agnes looked at Adrian.
“She is not leaving alone.”
“I know.”
Clara sighed.
“Apparently I no longer get a vote.”
Agnes handed her the shoes.
“You get a vote.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re voting from inside the house.”
Clara stared at her.
Agnes lifted one shoulder.
“I didn’t say it was a good vote.”
Even Adrian smiled at that.
Clara sat down to put on her shoes.
The left sole peeled slightly at the toe.
Agnes noticed.
Clara tried to hide it with her foot.
Too late.
Adrian noticed Agnes noticing.
Clara caught that too.
“Don’t.”
Adrian looked innocent.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to buy shoes.”
“I was not.”
“You have the face.”
“What face?”
“The money face.”
Nolan turned away.
Agnes muttered, “God help us.”
Brutus pushed his nose under Clara’s elbow.
She steadied herself against him.
For one ordinary second, everyone in the room seemed almost normal.
Then Nolan’s phone rang again.
He answered.
Listened.
His eyes moved to Adrian.
“We found Morrow.”
Clara stood.
“Where?”
Nolan’s expression remained fixed.
“Not where.”
He lowered the phone.
“How.”
Adrian’s face changed.
Nolan continued.
“Davis found him in the rental car’s trunk.”
Clara stared at Nolan, waiting for the rest of the sentence to turn into something less terrible.
It did not.
“Alive?”
Nolan’s eyes lowered.
“Yes.”
The answer came quickly enough that Clara realized he had already asked.
Adrian’s shoulders loosened by a fraction.
“How bad?”
“Unconscious when they found him.”
“Ambulance?”
“On the way.”
“Police?”
“Davis called them.”
Adrian nodded.
Clara looked at him.
“You sound relieved.”
His gaze shifted to her.
“I am.”
“That surprises me.”
“It shouldn’t.”
“You said he stole information from you.”
“That doesn’t mean I want him dead.”
Nolan slipped his phone into his pocket.
“We need to assume whoever put him there is still moving.”
Adrian’s attention returned to him.
“Seal the house.”
Clara’s expression tightened.
Adrian saw it immediately.
“Outer perimeter only.”
“That sounds better when you add the word outer.”
“No one locks interior doors.”
Nolan gave a short nod.
“I’ll notify the staff.”
Agnes remained near Clara with the shoes still tucked under one arm.
“What about the police?”
Adrian looked at Nolan.
“If Morrow talks, they’ll come here.”
“They may come anyway.”
“Then they come.”
Clara studied Adrian.
“You’re not worried about that?”
He gave her a level look.
“I’m worried about why someone used your work assignment to get you onto this property.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No.”
He looked toward the hallway.
“But it’s the one I’m answering.”
Agnes set Clara’s shoes on the floor.
“You’re staying for dinner.”
Clara blinked.
“I’m what?”
“Dinner.”
“I heard the noun.”
Agnes pointed at her.
“You have eaten half a sandwich since dawn.”
“Three quarters.”
“Magnificent.”
Brutus pushed his nose against Agnes’s wrist.
She looked down at him.
“That is not support.”
His tail moved.
Agnes sighed.
“I’m surrounded by mutiny.”
For a moment, the normality of the exchange made Clara’s fear recede.
Then Nolan’s radio crackled from the hallway.
A guard’s voice said something too low for her to catch.
Nolan answered and stepped away.
Adrian remained near the window.
Clara looked at Brutus.
He had settled again, but his attention kept moving toward the door every time footsteps passed.
“Does this happen often?”
She asked.
Adrian looked over.
“What?”
“Lockdowns.”
“No.”
“That was too quick.”
“It was accurate.”
“Which means maybe twice instead of every week.”
“Once.”
“Why?”
His expression closed.
“Different problem.”
Clara waited.
He did not elaborate.
She let it go.
That surprised him.
“You’re not going to ask?”
“You clearly don’t want to answer.”
“Most people ask anyway.”
“Most people are nosy.”
“You’re observant enough to be worse.”
“That is not the same thing.”
Adrian almost smiled.
Brutus stood and wandered toward the tray.
Clara intercepted him with one finger pointed at his nose.
“No.”
He ignored the finger.
She moved the plate higher.
“Absolutely not.”
Adrian watched.
“You know he can reach that table.”
“I know.”
“He also knows.”
“I know.”
Brutus placed his chin on the edge.
Clara narrowed her eyes.
“This is coercion.”
Adrian sat in the armchair.
“You accused me of that twenty minutes ago.”
“You had less drool.”
“That is the nicest thing anyone has said to me today.”
Agnes left before either of them could see whether she smiled.
Clara finally sat.
The adrenaline had begun draining out of her limbs, leaving them heavy.
Her hip hurt from the fall now that she was no longer frightened enough to ignore it.
She shifted.
Adrian noticed.
“You’re injured.”
“I’m bruised.”
“You hit stone.”
“I noticed.”
“Have someone look at it.”
“I’m not having one of your people inspect my hip.”
His expression changed.
“I meant a doctor.”
“That is somehow worse.”
“Why?”
“Because then I’ll owe you money.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“That’s the problem.”
Adrian leaned back.
“You have a very complicated relationship with help.”
Clara looked at him.
“You have a very uncomplicated relationship with buying solutions.”
“That again.”
“That again.”
Brutus lowered himself between them.
May you like
His enormous head rested on the carpet.
Neither spoke for a while.
