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When I don’t respond, she comes over behind me and looks over my shoulder at the screen.
“Who’s the devil?”
With a gulp, I tell her, “Fred Lanscombe.”
“And you call him that because…?”
“Because he is.”
“Isn’t he the managing partner? Why would he text you?”
“Good question. Maybe he’s been hacked.”
“Let me get Max.”
“I’ve bothered him enough with my issues.” The protest falls on deaf ears as she briskly runs up to his office. Any excuse for a little kissing.
My face in Dorothy’s fur, I feel a damp tickle on my neck. Thorfinn, his rough pink tongue licking me, wants in on the action. We’re a living depiction of solace in a time of despair.
Silently, a shadow looms over me. Long thin fingers remove the phone from my hand. Footsteps recede. A tea mug is pushed under my nose. I sneeze.
“Shit.” Cress yelps as the mug splashes hot liquid over her hand and onto my lap. “What the fuck was that?”
“It’s your own fault. What were you thinking? I can’t help it if the tea made me sneeze. I react to linden.”
“Just trying to help.”
Dorothy digs in her back claws and my reflexes kick in, dumping her onto the floor, into a spreading pool of hot liquid.
“Yowch. Hiiiiissssss.” She bats at my leg with a wet paw, then flounces out.
Running feet. Cress is back in a flash with towels for me and the floor.
Max pounds down from the second floor. “Jarvis is coming over. This is getting too complicated. Erik will have to take over on the cybersabotage while Jarvis helps me work this out. He’ll try to figure out the text message while I continue the hunt for Sam.”
“Don’t stop important work for me.”
“Threats to you are more important than threats to software.” Cress gives Max a meaningful look.
Briskly, Max adds his two cents. “Erik is very capable, if not the genius Jarvis is. Elizabeth will help him. I just wish I could trust everyone else. I know we have an inside threat, but we haven’t identified the culprit yet.”
Six hours later, Cress and I have gone through a pitcher of lemonade, followed by dirty martinis. A little tipsy, I keep apologizing about inconveniencing everyone. Twice Cress has tottered up the stairs to invade Max’s office, only to come back with a flea in her ear. The second time, she trips on the stairs and hobbles the rest of the way.
My voice slurs. “You okay?”
“My ankle hurts, but it’s not broken. I don’t think.” Then she lets out a mewl that brings the cats back.
“Two growly bears. You wouldn’t think Sam could cause this much mayhem. I never liked him, but I also never thought he was very bright.”
“Cunning. And scary. Two words I never thought I’d use about him.” An involuntary shiver makes me wrap my arms around myself. “Think I’ll get a sweater.”
Cress props her leg on a pillow and goes back to reading and I trudge to the stairs. I’ll hang on to the banister. Not going to fall like Cress. I’m not the clumsy one.
The sound of keyboards clacking in the library entices me to abandon my search for warmth. The library doors are open and Jarvis’ broad back swivels as he switches back and forth between three screens and several keyboards. He mutters and I edge closer to hear him. “How did you get access, you fucker? Who did you pay?”
Bang. He slams his hand against the desktop. “Crap.” He cradles the injured appendage. Footsteps sound, some thumping down the stairs and others in an irregular tap from the living room. Max and Cress arrive at the same moment. He pushes past as if I’m invisible. Cress limps behind him.
“What the bloody hell, Jarvis?” Max rasps.
