Aha. So, Kevin doesn’t want me to know that he’s here.Interesting. He’s been extra shifty lately—ever since Grandpa mentioned changing his will.
I glance down at Magnolia, who’s still standing beside me. She has an amused look on her face as she surveys the surrounding chaos. The mayhem doesn’t seem to affect her mood, and I wish I could be more like that. If it weren’t for her, I’d be a lot grumpier right now.
People are going to come to me for answers, and I don’t have them.
I’d rather stand here and keep talking with her. She’s witty, and this is the first time I’ve felt like flirting with a beautiful woman in a long time.
But I have more pressing matters than my own fun.
I hold out my hand to her. “Thanks for a flying good time.”
“Thanks for the attempted murder,” she says with a grin as she shakes my hand, her grip strong.
“My mom always told me I had a hard time finishing a task.”
Her hand is still in my grasp, and I notice her pink nails match her shoes. I’m way too easily distracted where this woman is concerned.
“I’m glad. My mom would have been upset to have a pancake for a daughter.”
I’d love nothing more than to keep talking with Magnolia, but Anson Titus, the head of security, is calling my name. “I’m going to go see what needs to happen.”
“Oh, right, probably important since you work in infrastructure. Good luck keeping the building standing.”
“I’ll call you if I need an extra hand propping up a wall.”
She smiles back. “Please don’t. I’m not very strong.”
She raises her hand in a little wave, then spins on her heel and walks away toward the parking lot across the street. Her stride is smooth as though she’s perfectly used to walking in shoes that high.
Anson stops next to me, and I’m forced to give my attention to the full-bearded man who’s somewhere in his early fifties. Nothing against Anson, but Magnolia is a lot nicer to look at.
“There’s camera footage of someone pulling the fire alarm on the first floor,” Anson says abruptly. He’s not one to mess around with small talk.
“Could you see who it was?”
Anson messes with his phone. “I didn’t recognize him.”
“That seems a little odd. You don’t suppose they saw steam coming from the kitchens and thought it was a fire?” There’s a café on the first floor, and that would be the most logical explanation.
“It’s a possibility, but not too likely. They have a good venting system. I can’t imagine the steam coming out into the hallway.”
I pull my phone from my pocket and try to access the security feed, but I have my login password saved on my laptop…which is not with me right now.
Anson holds his extra-large smartphone out to me. At least one of us is prepared. The video feed is paused on a grainy image of a man. “It’s not too clear, but you might be able to see if you recognize him.”
I sigh, switching the folder of papers to my other arm. Tucking them inside my jacket didn’t work like I thought it would. I’m pretty sure I have a papercut on my rib cage. I hold his phone closer.
Aha, Kevin.
“Does it look like that man is wearing a sweater vest?”
Anson looks at me in surprise. “It sure looks like it. I didn’t know those were still a thing. My grandma used to knit me one every Christmas.”
Because Kevin was wearing a sweater vest when he slunk away a couple of minutes ago. I’ve been worried he would do something outrageous, but I didn’t think he’d go this far.
Uncle Kevin thinks I have a version of Grandpa’s will in my office. One of my younger cousins, Jackie, cracked a joke about me having a copy, and Kevin believed her. I never bothered to correct him.
My aunts, uncles, and cousins view me as a threat to their inheritance. If Grandpa hadn’t patched things up with my dad and me, then I wouldn’t be in the will, or that’s what the rest of the family thinks.
