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“Yes, ma’am.”
Nodding, I watched the hotel fade into the background behind us. Watching the buildings around us change, I remembered the poem Noah had recited earlier. This was his home, and I knew hardly anything about it or the people around him.
“Daniel, how did you start working for Noah?”
“Austin found me.”
Of course, Austin the fucking puppet master.
“Yeah, but where? I’m sure you didn’t just fall out of the sky.”
For the first time, I saw him express an emotion aside from his usual serious face. His brown eyes met mine in the mirror.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
That got my interest.
“Try me,” I sat up.
“Pet store.”
What? “I’m sorry, what?”
He nodded. “I was working in a pet store when Austin came in searching for fish food for his German Blue Ram and Flowerhorn Cich
lid. He offered me a job when he saw me train the pit bulls.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out except a quick giggle. I tried to stifle it, but it turned into a full laugh.
“I’m sorry,” I said, laughing even louder. He wasn’t ex-Secret Service, military—hell, he wasn’t even a bouncer. He worked with pets. “It really isn’t that funny, but I can’t stop laughing.”
“It’s alright. I’m used to it. People see my size and get pretty intimidated. Austin got me some training after I got hired, but Noah Sloan is the first person I’ve been a bodyguard for,” he said with a sense of pride, and I realized then that he wasn’t Noah’s bodyguard.
No. He was the decoy. While everyone was worried about him because of his size, they were completely unaware that Noah’s real bodyguard was the thin man dressed in a bow tie right beside him.
“We’re here, ma’am,” Daniel said as he pulled to a stop in front of the hotel, then stepped out to open the doors for me.
He handed the keys to the valet before walking me in through the glass doors. There, waiting for me in the lobby, was Mayko. She wore a red pantsuit with no shirt underneath, while Antigone donned a yellow one-shouldered dress. Beside them both stood a stressed-out woman who ran up to me, causing Daniel to tense up.
“It’s fine,” I said quickly, and he moved away.
“Ms. London!” she gasped out like she was dying, reaching for my hands. “I’m Sara Lucas. Thank you for being here. We’ve been so worried after losing contact with your mother. Is she alright?”
She’s better than alright. She’s dead!
“I’m sure she is. I’m so, so sorry. Whatever you all need, I’ll be happy to help in her honor for the night.”
She reached into her bag and pulled out a photo a group of girls. “Every year, W.E.W.A. sponsors six girls from all over the world to come to America for a chance at furthering their educations. They are between the ages of thirteen and seventeen. We were hoping your mother—well, now you—could give them some words about being successful, or just any advice. Along with your mother’s acceptance speech, of course.”
“I’d be honored to,” I replied, taking the paper from her. The girls they had chosen came from Bolivia, Peru, Montenegro, and Bulgaria, and two were from the Ukraine. Beside all of their faces were short stories about their families and lives in their home countries and what they had accomplished, and I knew right then and there that I was not in any way qualified to give these girls any sort of ‘advice.’
One of them started a kindergarten for all of the women in her village to help mothers who had to work.
I looked up to find Mayko and Antigone giving me the same look. No wonder neither of them wanted to go and speak.
“Ms. London?” The woman looked at me.
“Sorry, please lead the way,” I said. She smiled from ear to ear and led the way. When she turned around, I spun back to Mayko and Antigone, smacking them over the shoulders.
