AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Black Ford Explorer SUV?”
“Yes.”
“It’s an FBI agent. Dan’s my shadow for the week.”
“Wow. I guess you must have a good story there.”
“I’ll tell it to you sometime.”
He pulled to the curb and unlocked her door. “See you in a bit. Good luck, Ms. Moore.”
“Thanks, Todd.” She pressed a button to extend her collapsible white cane and climbed out of the car. Her drivers were always good about placing her directly across from the buildings’ main entrances and telling her if there were any obstacles she needed to address. She’d barely moved a few feet when she heard the building’s door open and then caught a faint whiff of air-conditioning.
“Olivia Moore?” There were hurried, eager footsteps and an Australian-accented male voice she recognized from the phone a few days before.
She smiled. “Edward Shrum?”
“That’s me. We’re very happy to have you on the show. Right this way.”
He spoke with a pleasant lilt that couldn’t quite mask the undercurrent of nervousness she often heard from those who worked in live television.
“Hold on one moment,” she said. “I believe my agent will be joining us.”
“Your agent?”
She heard another set of hurried footsteps, then another familiar voice. “Sorry, I had to park. Pretend I’m not even here.”
Olivia recognized the voice as belonging to Special Agent Dan Pembrook, who often took the night shift in serving as her shadow. She turned back toward Shrum. “My agent, Dan Pembrook. Edward Shrum. Shall we go inside?”
“Uh, sure.”
They entered the chilly studio. The complex was quiet, as it often was whenever she did evening interviews there. Shrum clearly wasn’t accustomed to dealing with a blind person as he awkwardly tried to lead her down the corridor. “Would you like me to—” He stopped. “I’m not sure what the best way to do this is…”
“Relax,” she said. “You lead, I’ll follow. I’ll hear you, and I have my cane, so I won’t walk into a wall or something.”
“Perfect.” He sounded relieved. “We’ll start in makeup. Connie should be here any second now.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She followed him to the makeup room, where their footsteps clicked more loudly on the tile floor. She heard a slight high-pitched ringing on the right side of the room, which she knew was the sound of lightbulbs over the makeup mirrors. One of the buzzing bulbs was obviously about to burn out. She felt for the long counter beneath the lights and put down her clutch purse.
Shrum patted the back of a makeup chair. “Have a seat. There’s a bottle of water on the counter if you’d like to wet your whistle.” He flipped on a radio. “I’ll be back when Connie gets here.”
He left the room.
Agent Pembrook, who had been waiting in the hallway, stepped inside and spoke quietly. “So, I’m your agent now?”
Olivia smiled. “You are, aren’t you? Just not the kind of agent he thinks.”
“I guess you have a point.” He chuckled. “I’ll go give the place the once-over.”
“Fine.”
He stepped out of the room.
Olivia reached forward to pull the phone from her purse, but she felt only the smooth granite countertop where she knew the purse had been. She ran both hands over the cool surface.
Nothing.
