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“Of course, how foolish of me.”
“We still have shoes, and jewelry, and of course… the purse.”
Joanna laughed softly. “I’ll have both dresses delivered to Blackwood Hall this evening.”
We thanked her and stepped back onto the street, considerably better prepared for the masquerade than we had been an hour earlier.
Charlotte barely gave me time to revel in the victory of our dresses before directing us toward a boutique a block away filled with beautiful shoes and evening handbags. Just like she promised, the dress was just the beginning.
“I told you,” she said as we walked. “A gala requires proper preparation.”
“I’m beginning to understand the scope of this operation,” I said with a laugh. “Priya would have a great time creating a spreadsheet for this project.”
“Priya is your lab manager?”
“No, she’s our senior research scientist. And she has become family. She’d have the shoes organized by heel height, style, and comfort level. There would be a formula that ranked every pair, and she’d insist we buy whichever came out on top.” I paused. “Unless there was a buy-one-get-one-half-off sale. Then all bets would be off.”
Charlotte laughed. “I like her already.”
“You two might be dangerous together.”
Charlotte picked up a silver clutch and examined it. “And Mateo?”
“Mateo has become family too. He’s brilliant, curious about everything, and incapable of leaving a mystery alone.” I smiled. “He would have finished shopping twenty minutes ago and found something more interesting to investigate. Perhaps a ghost with exceptional bone structure.”
Charlotte considered this. “I’m beginning to think I need to spend more time with the Aurora team.”
“I have a feeling you’d fit right in.”
Charlotte smiled and picked up a pair of light gold heels. “Try these.”
Twenty minutes later, the shoes were mine, along with a pair of earrings and a handbag that complemented them perfectly. Charlotte had been equally successful, and by the time we left, we had everything we needed for the gala.
The drive back to Blackwood passed in a pleasant blur of city traffic. Charlotte and I said goodbye in the lobby, agreeing to meet at the salon in the main building the following morning.
I decided to go check in on the laboratory before returning to my suite. It was late Friday afternoon, and I was almost certain it would be abandoned, but I wanted to say hello to anyone who might still be working.
The walk to the Research Pavilion was peaceful. I used my badge to enter the building and again on the elevator. The directory listed Project Aurora on the sixth floor and the executive offices on the tenth. Every floor had a label except the ninth. I swiped my badge and pressed nine.
The light blinked red.
Strange. I wondered what was on the ninth floor.
If an elevator stops on a floor you didn’t select, stay inside and call Security.
Margaret’s warning returned to me. I had clearly spent too much time listening to Mateo talk about ghosts and hidden passageways. My imagination was beginning to get the better of me. I pressed six instead. The light turned green, and a moment later the elevator began to move.
The lab was empty when I arrived, and I was glad that everyone had been able to take advantage of a Friday afternoon. I walked through the quiet space, confirmed nothing required my attention, and turned around almost as quickly as I had arrived.
* * *
The following morning was gray and cool. After stopping at the café just outside of the library, I picked up two coffees before making my way toward Blackwood Hall’s salon. One was exactly how I liked it. The other had become equally familiar after a day spent wandering the city with Charlotte.
When I stepped inside the salon, Charlotte looked up from a conversation she was having with one of the stylists and smiled. I held out the second cup.
“I thought I’d save you a trip.”
Charlotte accepted it with obvious delight. “Emilia Rossi. You remembered.”
