Page 79 of At His Beck & Call

The truth is, I want to spend time with Oliver any chance I get, and I know I shouldn’t feel that way about him. That was the whole reason that I told him yesterday that he shouldn’t get tangled up in me or my life. I’m his paid escort; I need to get it out of my head that I’m anything other than that to him.

“I’m heading out to get coffee. You want anything? I thought I’d go to Wickmore’s.”

I look up at Adelaide, who is in a dark purple ensemble today with large purple earrings that clash with her eyeshadow.

“I’d love a coffee, thank you.”

“How’s Henry doing?” she asks, stepping into the room. She’s been very sweet, checking up on him every morning since the operation.

“He’s doing okay,” I say with a smile. “There have been a few complications with a small infection; he had a high temperature one night this week, so they’re keeping him in over the weekend for observation. But our doctor is hopeful he’ll be able to come home next week.”

“It must be awful being at work. You know you can take as much time off as you need.”

“Thanks, Adelaide. He has people spending time with him while I’m at work. I met this lovely woman who was also in the hospital, and she has spent hours reading to him. Also, my best friend Bethany has stopped in a couple of times. And, of course, his dad has been there too.”

She hesitates, hovering in the doorway, and then comes over to me with something in her hand. She opens her palm, revealing the little, purple, googly-eyed monster that always sits on the front of her desk.

“This was a present from my husband when I first joined this firm a million years ago. He bought it to cheer me up. I had breast cancer at the time, and it made me laugh.”

She leaves it beside my elbow. “I’d love it if you gave it to Henry. It was my lucky charm and always made me feel better. He’s a fighter, I can tell. And if he wants to keep it, he can, or he can give it to another child who needs it.”

I look down at the cheerful little expression on the monster’s face, the one spark of color on Adelaide’s desk, and the only personal thing she has in the office. Fighting back tears, I look at her and nod.

“He’ll love it, thank you.”

She gives me a tight smile and walks out of the room. I place the little monster in front of me, stroking him gently. This thing won’t leave Henry’s side until he’s through the chemo. He needs all the luck he can get.

When Adelaide delivers my coffee a little later, I’m engrossed in some documents that I’ve discovered at the bottom of the files, and as she places it down beside me, I look up at her in confusion.

“Can I ask you something that might be a stupid question?”

“Of course,” she says, leaning forward to look at what I’m reading.

“Is there a reason why there are charges against this apartment in Miami that aren’t declared anywhere else?”

She leans over the paper to read the line I’ve highlighted and frowns, shaking her head.

“Not obviously, but there are often hidden costs with apartment blocks like that. Sometimes people pay for a parkingspace in an underground lot, or maintenance fees separate from the rent. You’re right to highlight it, though. Make sure you mention it to Noah when he gets back.”

“Thanks, I will.”

But as I watch her leave the room, something sparks in the back of my mind.

The Reynold’s have a condo in a beautiful complex right next to the sea. It has multiple floors, and their place is on the sixth level, taking up almost half of one side. But the information I found wasn’t consistent.

Richard Reynolds had declared the condo costs in two separate lines on several pieces of documentation, and a pattern was appearing.

Ocean Ave: HOA $7,700, Unit 670

Ocean Ave: HOA $3,985, Storage Fees

Later in the documents, the storage fees are mentioned again, but it seems odd. What would the Reynolds need to ‘store’ alongside a condo in the same building? They have thirteen houses; surely, they wouldn’t pay storage fees on top of that?

Getting out my phone, I look up the condo where they live and search for the standard HOA fees that are applied to residents, but the website is surprisingly vague.

Then I look at Reddit and find my answer almost immediately.

Several people are complaining about the rising fees for their two-bedroom condos in the same complex. The new amount is exactly $3,985 per month.