“This way,” she said.
I followed her to the door beneath the awning and into an elevator. We didn’t say anything on the short ride.
When the elevator opened, she waved her hand, indicating I should step out into the room.
I did so.
Plushwas the first word that came to mind. Plush furniture, plush blinds framing the windows that looked over the city that rolled out at its feet. Plush greenery and flowers. Plush carpet. Even the fireplace crackling away with real wood was polished marble and gold.
Plush.
Helen strolled past me. She was my height in the heels she wore, her dark straight hair cut in chunky bangs that highlighted the heavy makeup around her eyes. She’d taken off her coat and wore a fitted silver tank top that enhanced her toned arms and the silver stitches down them.
“I hope you aren’t too disappointed with me,” she said without a lick of sincerity. “But orders are orders.”
“Did you take my brother?”
“That’s a question you can ask Reeves. Or I suppose you could have asked Neds years ago.”
“What? What does Neds have to do with this?”
“You didn’t know?” she asked with a cruel twist of a smile. “He’s been working for us all these years. Spying on you, out on that dirty little farm of yours.”
That couldn’t be true. Not Neds.
“You didn’t think he was working that farm for the money, did you?” She raised one eyebrow and gave me the up-and-down. “Or the company? One late-model stitch and her crazy grandmother? I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did.”
She could bad-mouth me all she wanted. She could bad-mouth Neds. I knew him. I had lived with him for years. I’d seen his good days and his bad days. And no judgmental galvanized was going to make me change my mind about his character.
If he told me everything over the past two years had been a lie, that he’d been spying on me for House Silver or whatever, I’d believe it. But only when those words came out of his mouths.
“Is my brother here or not?” I asked calmly.
She glared at me. What had she expected? Hysterics? Yeah, well it took more than a few accusations to ruffle my feathers.
“This way.”
She crossed the carpet, making no sound over the thick fibers. To all appearances, she didn’t care if I followed her or not.
I took note of all the windows, halls, doors, and anything I might be able to use as an escape route if I needed one.
“Here.” Helen stopped outside a sleek silver-plated door. “Reeves is waiting for you.”
She opened the door but did not enter the room.
I pulled back my shoulders and walked right on in. I’d faced down nearly every kind of dangerous beast the scratch could cook up. I could handle one overly entitled man.
“Hello, Matilda. Please have a seat.”
I’d expected the room to be dripping in silver. Not only was it smaller than I’d thought it would be, it also leaned toward dark leather and rich redwood in the desk, wall shelves, and carved ceiling tiles. The carpet was a tight black-and-silver-checked design, and a bank of three door-sized windows to my left looked over a balcony and the city in the distance. Cloth-shaded lamps on the walls made the entire space feel comfortably intimate and warm.
The man, Reeves Silver, stood behind the desk, pouring two tiny cups of coffee. His hair was startlingly white, cut short and clean, no beard. He had the build of a swimmer: wider shoulders and a long, lean torso. He wore a silver sweater and slacks.
Since I hadn’t moved, he glanced over his shoulder at me. “Please. I thought you and I could have a cup of coffee and get to know one another.”
He placed one cup on his side of the large redwood desk and the other nearer me, in front of the two pale wood-and-silver-cushioned chairs tipped invitingly toward the desk.
“I’ve come here to get my brother, Your Excellency,” I said. “I don’t want to take up any more of your time. If you’ll just tell me where he is, I’ll be leaving.”
