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I stood up and shook his hand. “Thanks, Vinnie, you’ve been very helpful,” I said. “I’ll try to get Owen to come back and see you.”
“His name’s Owen?” he asked with a grin. “Yeah, he looked like an Owen. Tell him he can come by anytime and have lunch or dinner with us. He’s an honorary member of the company.”
“I’ll do that,” I assured him.
*
I could barely wait to get to Owen’s place and tell him what I’d found. Whatever was in that envelope had to be important—unless it was just some “I hope one day you can understand why I had to do this” note and his mother’s ID bracelet. In case there were still protesters at Owen’s place, I swung by my apartment to get my delivery disguise, then hoped no one noticed that I was carrying Chinese takeout instead of food from the tavern.
The crowd had grown since the day before, and this time I had to push past people to get to the front door. I knocked on Owen’s door before unlocking it. I almost didn’t recognize the place when I entered. For a moment, I thought I’d accidentally gone into the lower unit, but then I remembered climbing the stairs.
The apartment was clean. All the books were shelved neatly, and there wasn’t a single loose piece of paper in sight. The living room could have been a photo in a home-décor magazine. Had Owen moved out?
“Owen?” I called.
Loony came charging into the living room, and then I knew he still lived there. He wouldn’t have left Loony behind. “Hey there, sweetheart,” I said, kneeling to pat her head. “I bet this doesn’t even feel like home for you anymore.”
“Katie, is that you?” Owen’s voice called from back in the kitchen.
“Yes, it’s me,” I said, heading in the direction of his voice. I found him standing at the stove, stirring something.
“Have you eaten yet?” he asked.
“I brought Chinese.”
“That sounds better than canned soup. I’ll save this for later.” He turned off the stove and put the pan aside. He sounded frighteningly normal—so normal it was absolutely abnormal for someone in his situation.
“I noticed you’ve tidied the place up.”
“Yeah, I got a little bored, and spending that much time at home made me notice how bad the clutter was.”
“It looks great.” I unloaded the takeout bag while he got plates out of the cabinet.
I watched him closely as he scooped food onto a plate and started eating, trying to judge his mood before I sprang the news on him. “I’m not about to disintegrate,” he said dryly.
“What?” I wasn’t sure how innocent I managed to look, but I gave it a shot.
“You’re looking at me like you think I’m about to snap or fall apart, or something.”
“You mean, I’m acting like I’m worried about you because I care about you and I know you’re going through something horrible that’s turned your life upside down? Gee, I don’t know why I might be doing that.”
“I’m fine.”
“This must be a new definition that hasn’t made it into the dictionary yet. I heard you resigned.”
He shrugged casually. “Well, I haven’t made it to work in a couple of days and I don’t know when I’ll be able to go back, so it’s not fair for me to stay on the payroll.”
“And how many weeks of unused vacation time have you accumulated?”
“I used some of it when I went to Texas.”
“Uh huh, so now you only have a month or two left.”
“Until this is worked out, I’m no good to the company. Let them do some damage control, and then I can come back after everything’s worked out.” He sounded freakishly unruffled about this.
“That’s pretty much what Merlin said,” I admitted.
“See? I’m not crazy or distraught. What I’m doing makes sense.”
