Page 8 of Bobby

Marco nods, and we’re off.

I barely have time to enjoy the luxury car, focused on talking more on the details of what we were discussing.

“From your analyses, what do you think this means?”

I rub my hands over my skirt and desperately wish I hadn’t worn heels, as the pinch in my toes keeps mocking me as the day keeps going.

“Honestly, sir?” I take a moment to look him in the eyes as I tell him what I suspect he’s already figured out. “I think someone’s stealing from you.”

He nods. “So do I. Did Mr. Folly ask you to look at any other files or just this one after you went to him about the first?” He’s pointing to the Myers file, tapping it as it sits on his lap, and I absently note how strong and thick his fingers look. An odd thing to focus on right now, but it’s stuck in my brain, and my eyes continue to focus on them as I shake my head.

“He made it seem like there were others he wanted me to look at, but he didn’t name any specific files. Just said I’ll have another one each week for a while. He pulled me off the other tasks I was working on to focus on these for the foreseeable future.”

His fingers stop tapping and smooth out flat on the paper, and I blink out of my trance to look up at him. He’s looking at me, but there’s nothing in his face that gives me a clue about what he’s thinking.

“Anyone else know about these?”

I shrug. “Maybe. I didn’t keep what I was doing a secret, and Spencer—I mean, Mr. Folly would ask about them in front of others all the time. Wondering when I would get done so I could start on the next. He made it seem like you were needing them all done by a certain deadline.”

“We’re here,” Marco announces a second before the car stops. I blink and look out the window. Time passes so fast that any embarrassment I might have had about a fancy town car going through my poor neighborhood is moot.

I quickly grab my things and exit before Marco has the chance to open my door. “Thank you, sir, for the ride. I appreciate it.”

I shut the door and wince as I turn my back to it. I probably should have done a better job of ending a conversation with my boss’s boss, but I panicked the second we stopped. Too late now to do anything that wouldn’t make me look crazier than he probably thinks I am.

I take several steps away and make my way up the stairs to the apartment building Mrs. Carlton lives in, then ring her buzzer. As I wait for my girls to come down, I ignore the fact that I know the car is still behind me. That it hasn’t driven away at all.

The door opens in front of me, and any worry I have is gone the second Lily smiles at me.

“Mommy!” She launches herself at me, and I stumble a bit but keep us from falling down the stairs.

“Hey, baby girl. Did you have fun?” I say as I set her down.

“Yes. Mrs. Carlton had new coloring books, and I got to paint these.” She opens her backpack and shows me what appears to be an entire roll of printer paper in her bag, with colorful “art” on all of them. Not many with colors inside the lines, but I get the gist of it and smile with glee.

“We’ll have to pick our favorites and put them up on the fridge.”

“Help, please.” Ivy’s muffled request is hidden behind a cardboard box that’s almost bigger than she is.

“Oh my goodness, what is this?” I move Lily a little to the side and take the box.

“It’s my project. I picked the jerboa to do a report on. I have to bring a diorama with facts about them and their habitat. Mrs. Carlton and I were working on the background all afternoon.”

We take the steps down, and both girls stop when I see that Mr. Leone and Marco have exited the car and are standing in front of us.

“Can we give you a ride?” Mr. Leone asks and gestures to the car behind him.

“Wow. A real giant,” Lily whispers as she stares up at Marco with all the wonder a child can have.

I cough to keep from laughing at the surprise that hits Marco’s face instead of the scowl I expected. “That’s not necessary. We just live across the street.”

“Then let us help.” Mr. Leone takes the project from me easily, as I’m too in shock at his offer to protest. He moves to one side of us and Marco the other as we start to walk across the street. Instinctively, I grab the girls’ hands.

“Who are they, Mommy?” Lily asks, and not at all in a whisper.

“This is Mr. Leone, Lily. My boss. Please be nice. Mr. Leone, these are my girls, Lily and Ivy.” I raise each girl’s hand to show which one is which.

“I mean the giant,” she says as her eyes go back to Marco.