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“How did people hear about the security tampering? That word got out really fast.”
“I heard it from Rod. I’m not sure where he heard about it. I think he knew Owen was getting Sam to look into things.”
That narrowed it down to someone in R&D, it would appear. I got out of the overstuffed chair that I would have loved to lounge in all afternoon. “Do you think you could call down to R and D and tell someone I’m coming so they’ll let me in?”
“Honey, I’m sure Owen knew you were coming before you decided to go there.”
From the way Owen had described his occasional bursts of precognition, I didn’t think he was quite that on the ball, and I was sure he had better things to do than keep an eye on my whereabouts.
It turned out that I didn’t have anything to worry about. Owen himself was at the front door to the department, working with Sam on the security panel. I paused to admire the sight before making my presence felt. While Owen was a vision dressed up for work in a nice suit, there was something about the way he looked with his sleeves rolled up, his dark hair mussed and falling across his forehead, and his tie loosened that I found particularly appealing. Maybe it made him look a little less perfect, a little more attainable.
“Hey, dollface,” Sam greeted me.
Owen jumped slightly, as if startled, then jumped again when he apparently hit something he shouldn’t have. He sucked his index finger, then shook his hand vigorously, all while turning several intriguing shades of red.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” I said.
“Sam startled me.”
“Can I help it if you’re so high-strung?” the gargoyle said.
“I’m high-strung because I’m working with both magic and electricity to try to fix the device that’s supposed to keep this department secured,” Owen snapped back. I’d never seen him this testy before. I’d seen him angry, but that was more of an icy-calm state that was scarier than any snarling. This was just normal human frustration. Then he sighed. “Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to snap.” He looked up at me. “Is there something you need, Katie?”
“I need to talk to you when you have a moment. And not here. Somewhere private.”
He glanced at Sam, who said, “I’d probably get more work done with you out of my way.”
Owen stood and absently brushed his hair off his face. “I’d feel better talking somewhere other than in this building, if you don’t mind. Let me get a coat out of my office, then we can go outside. I could use some fresh air. We can get lunch while we’re at it.”
I followed him back to his office, which was a cozy den full of old books. He gestured for me to enter first, then paused like he was watching to see what would happen as I crossed the threshold. Nothing did happen. He frowned and came through the doorway.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“I’m testing something. I still don’t have it right. I can block anyone magical, but an immune can get past the wards. It may take a physical barrier to deal with that.”
“You suspect an immune?”
“Right now, I suspect almost anyone.”
While he took his suit coat off the back of his chair, something up near the ceiling in a corner of the office caught my eye. “What is that?” I asked.
He followed my gaze, then shook his head. “What’s what?”
“Did you have a verifier go over your office while you were doing your security sweep?”
He turned red. “I didn’t think of it.”
I kicked off my shoes and climbed up onto the armchair in that corner of the office. “It looks like one of those webcam things.”
“Interesting.” He climbed up beside me and waved one hand in the general direction of the camera. “Ah, there it is.” The camera flew into his hand. He waved his other hand over it, then blinked. “Oh, I see what you mean.” I assumed he’d magically removed whatever veil had kept it hidden from him. He raised an eyebrow and smirked. “It looks like someone’s spying on me.”
I tried to be as cool about it as he was even though my theory about the suspect being in R&D had been shot to hell. “Huh. Imagine that. Who’d have guessed it?”
He waved his hand over the device again, then it floated back up to its position. “Now it’ll tell them what I want it to tell them. I’ll track down where it goes later. First, lunch and talk.”
Just then, Jake came rushing toward the office. “Hey, boss, glad I caught you before you went to lunch,” he said, then cried out as he tried to cross the threshold. “Hey! What was that about?”
Owen’s ears turned pink as he waved a hand and Jake took a tentative step through the doorway. “Sorry about that. I’ve been tinkering with the wards.”
