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Stina held open the door. “Have you seen him since lunch the other day?”
“No. He’s been busy with the case, and with all this training prep we’ve been doing, I’ve been collapsing when I get home.”
“Don’t remind me. I need another week to get ready for this class. You know they increased the class size, right?”
“Great. No, I didn’t.” She reached into the little tech locker, grabbed her phone, and pressed the power button on the side. The notification chirps from Antony would roll in by the time she’d get to her car. He’d send her pictures from around post, little jokes, and random details about his day-to-day business. These texts had quickly become her favorite part of the day.
Lesley waved back to the guards and pushed open the door. Stina got two steps out and froze, patting her pockets. “Shit. Forgot my keys. I’ll see you later.”
As Lesley approached her car, only one chirp sounded on her phone. Curious. By now, she’d have half a dozen.
The Sphinx. Send me a selfie when you arrive.
What? She started her car and pulled out of the lot. Five minutes later, she sat off the side of the road, tapping out a message.
Antony was half asleep when his phone dinged. He jolted up on the couch and smiled as he read the response. So worth it.
Lesley stood in front of the golden sphinx, a symbol of the Intelligence corps, holding her hand under one of its breasts. She had her tongue stuck out and her eyes wide.
He laughed and began typing.
An hour later, and Lesley finally reached her destination. First that stupid sphinx, then the little aircraft display near the trainee barracks. She wound her way around the installation, sending him pics at every turn. Finally, she turned the corner and pulled into a parking lot and got out of the car. There wasn’t much out that way except roads leading to training areas and a recreation park. The sun set low on the horizon, and the sky showed its oranges and reds. From that distance, Sierra Vista was just a haze. It was a striking scene, and she stood for a moment, admiring it. Finally, she started looking around.
There was a small outbuilding tucked back in the tree line. She approached and caught a flash of light out of the corner of her eye. It flashed again, and she stepped around the edge of the building. On the ground, near a large rock and a shrub a small silver balloon bobbed in the breeze. It was barely bigger than her hand and tied to a larger silver box. Her name was in neat block print on the attached tag.
She tugged the ribbon and slowly opened the box. Inside was a tangle of delicate silver chains and what looked like marbles. She was afraid to take it out of the box out on the side of the road, so she went back to the car.
Her fingers trembled as she found and lifted the hook up out of the box. Using her other hand, she adjusted the chains as she lifted, untangling the glittering glass spheres and lifting them out of the way.
The solar system hung, shining in the low sun. It was beautifully made. She touched Saturn. The rings were paper thin and held in place with gossamer strands of silver wire. The entire mobile swayed gracefully in the air conditioning. She knew exactly where to hang it.
She texted him: It’s perfect. Thank you.
I knew it was yours when I saw it. I’m glad you like it.
She tucked it safely away where it wouldn’t get jostled around and headed toward the house. She hadn’t spent a lot of time touring around Sierra Vista and had seen no art galleries or glass foundries. It didn’t matter. He remembered her tattoos when he was out doing whatever he did outside of work, and it made her feel warm. And a little nervous, but she tamped that feeling down.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Lesley had had about enough of the day. From the time she badged into the facility, she’d been putting out one fire after the other. Things were always hectic the week before students showed up, but it was over the top madness between broken printers, lost clearance paperwork, and lesson plans that hadn’t been printed, giving way to finding out that the printers had been taken offline by IT. She’d been to four different buildings before noon trying to get everything fixed. And then there were the afternoon prep meetings with the other instructors and the drills. The only thing that kept her from snapping was seeing Antony and going on their date. Otherwise, she’d go home, have a drink, and pass out.
Finally. The alarm on her monitor flashed, and she had never shut a computer down so fast. Stina stuck her head around the corner as Lesley stood up.
“Tonight’s the big night!” She grinned.
“I need to get over my nerves,” Lesley admitted. “What if it all flops?”
“With that chemistry? Woman, you’ll be fine.” Stina looked at her watch. “I gotta get. Not done yet. I expect a full report tomorrow. Unless you’re not done.” She waggled her eyebrows up and down.
“You need to quit,” she said, laughing. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Only one text chimed on the phone, a reminder from Antony that he’d be by at six pm. He’d made reservations somewhere in Bisbee, but didn’t give her any clues about the place, only that she should dress casually and bring a jacket.
Before she showered, she rummaged around in her closet. Casual meant jeans, so she tugged a comfortable pair off the hanger and tossed them on the bed. The weather had been chilly in the evening, so she pulled a lighter weight, cream-colored cable-knit sweater off the shelf. It was soft and long, hanging to the tops of her thighs. Her favorite brown leather boots sat near the front door, a staple of her fall and winter wardrobe. They’d go well with her brown leather jacket.
That done, she showered quickly and took her time with drying her hair and tied it back with an old leather barrette she’d gotten from some kitschy shop off the plaza back in Santa Fe. She quickly put on her makeup—her routine was sparse, and it took about 10 minutes. A dab of amber oil on her neck and wrists, and she was done.
She turned to the clock. Ten minutes until six. Damn, she took longer than she thought. As she went out to the living room to put on her boots, the doorbell rang. He must have parked in front of Oliver’s house and walked around. She couldn’t remember if she told him she had her own drive. At least she’d given Oli a heads up that Antony was coming by. That might have been awkward.
