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26
When you haveyour head down climbing a mountain, you don’t see the avalanche coming. Compton made me nervous. Its reputation was like sharks. Highly unlikely anything was going to happen to me swimming here, but just knowing what lurked in the dark was enough to set my stomach on a track of loop the loops.
“You have reached your destination…” my satnav made her announcement.
We lowered our heads to have a peek out the window and up at a recreational center with a simple sign labeled “Unity.”
I unbuckled my belt. “Let’s do this. We have to get back ASAP. No time to waste.”
Walking up the concrete path, I wished I’d stopped somewhere to pee. Judging by Nora’s face, she probably could have used a number two because I could see she was absolutely shitting herself. We’d been silent much of the drive over. I wished we would have rehearsed something. Prepared ourselves. But then again, there was no preparation for things like this.
Myles would be in or out no matter what we said. This wasn’t the kind of thing that came down to a persuasive speech.
When we entered the office, a man several years younger than me, with a tattooed neck and enough rings to be the cause for his extremely muscular forearms, lifted his head from behind a desk. “Hi. Can I help you?”
We approached.
Nora asked, “Is Myles Owens available?”
“He is. And you are?”
Nora started to say her name, but I stopped her. “Maeve. Maeve Lewis. I’m coming from a private foundation. We’d like to possibly make a donation…”
“Oh. In that case, you probably need to talk to Phil…” Ring Man started to pick up a phone to call said Phil.
“No. No. I was sent with a directive to talk to Myles. Do you mind if we at least start there? My foundation had questions more specific to…” I racked my brain, trying to remember what LinkedIn said Myles did here, “… to operational delivery and special projects.”
Ring Man didn’t seem to care, nor did he look suspicious. Why should he? At best we had money to impart, at worst we were very sneaky Jehovah Witnesses, and I doubted they, or any other solicitors, really banged on doors around these parts.
Ring Man picked up a phone, pressed a number, and spoke into the handset. “Hey, Mr. Owens, a Maeve Lewis is here… Uh-huh. From a foundation with a donation… Okay.” He hung up and pointed behind him toward a hallway. “Second door on the left.”
As we walked toward Myles’ office door, fear tingled up my spine. My legs were jelly. Nora knocked.
“Come in.”
When we opened the door, Myles finished writing something in a notebook, stood, and glanced up at us. At first, he wore a welcoming smile which drooped visibly as he came to grips with exactly who stood before him. “Nora?”
She nodded but said nothing.
“What…” He glanced at me. “I need better security.”
My stomach dropped. Nora laughed lightly, getting the joke that I hadn’t.
He waved his hands at the seats in front of his desk. “Come in. Go on. Take a seat.”
The fact that he hadn’t greeted us with a “fuck off” calmed my nerves enough to stop my hands from shaking.
“What? I… Why?” Myles spluttered out the first word of every sentence that came to him. He took a deep breath. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
When I’d met Nora, I knew Drake had been raised by her. She was warm, friendly, and nonjudgmental. Myles was definitely responsible for the other fifty percent of Drake’s genes. He was handsome, had Drake’s feline nose and kind eyes that drew you into his confidence.
I spoke first. “Mr. Owens, I’m Maeve Lewis…”
“Ah, okay. So there is an actual Maeve. For a moment I thought this might be a bit of a ruse.”
“Well, it is. As in, there’s no donation per se. Though I’d be happy to make one. And will…” I tripped over myself trying to balance the give and take of the situation. “But really, we’re here about Drake.”
“Funny. I never would have guessed that.” His eyes shifted between me and Nora. He folded his hands and leaned onto his desk. Just like his son, he seemed impossible to rattle. “I’m listening.”
