Her eyes were brighter than I’d ever seen them.
She wasn’t scared or looking over her shoulder.She was explaining something she knew.Her hands moved while she talked.She pointed with the pencil and tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear without thinking.
Every time someone asked a question, she smiled.
Tempi walked through carrying fresh coffee, and she caught me looking.Then she bumped Twister with her elbow, and he followed her gaze.
Son of a bitch.
I looked away, and Tempi’s grin got bigger.
Goldie kept working.She spread another blueprint across the table.“This building...”She pointed.“...used to have basement access from the alley.”
Method looked confused.“But it doesn’t now.”
“Exactly.”
“Why?”
She shrugged.“Someone sealed it.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yet.”That last word came from Twister.
Goldie smiled.“Yet.”
The morning slipped by.
One brother after another drifted away.
Twister sent Rev and Plug to pull old historical maps from the library.Method went upstairs to compare addresses.Podge headed for the copier again.Hodge disappeared into the basement with Cord.Gramps wandered outside muttering something about checking the mailbox again.
Eventually, it was just me and Goldie.
Goldie sighed.“My brain hurts.”
I stood.“You stay there.”
She looked up.“Where are you going?”
“Kitchen.”
She nodded and bent back over the permits.Five minutes later, I came back carrying fresh coffee.
She hadn’t moved, not an inch.
I set the mug beside her, and she kept staring at the paperwork for another few seconds before finally reaching for it.
Her hand stopped, and she looked at me.“I was into looking at that paper.”
“I noticed.”
She smiled.“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
