He hangs up. Doesn’t wait for an answer.
Of course not. He never does.
“Fuck.” I drop my phone in my lap.
“I’m heading downtown.” She pats my thigh before standing and walking inside. “Meet me when you’re out?”
“I hate that you know I’m going in.” I slip into one heel and look around for the other.
Where the hell did I leave that thing?
She calls over her shoulder, “You have goals. I do not.”
“You have goals,” I argue. “They just have nothing to do with your career.”
“You definitely aren’t wrong.” She winks. “I’ll have my location on.”
“Thanks.” I toss the blanket aside as I head back in to find my missing heel. “I’ll find you.”
Alex steps into view close to the front door, holding out my other heel. “Go get ‘em, counselor.”
“Not yet,” I remind her. “One more year.”
“One more year,” she repeats, and pulls me into a hug. “Text me when you’re done. I’ll be at Bob & Barbara’s.”
I grab my bag, check for my keys, and head for the door.
Behind me, Alex calls out, “Hey, Dylan?”
I turn.
She’s standing in the doorway, and something in her expression makes me pause. Not worry, exactly. Something else.
“Be careful in the stacks,” she says. Her voice holds that quality—the one she gets when she’s reading tarot and the cards won’t cooperate. When she pulls the Tower and doesn’t want to say it.
“It’s just old files,” I say. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
Alex doesn’t smile. She should smile—it’s obviously a joke. But she doesn’t.
She’s still standing there when I close the door. Her silhouette framed by the soft hall light.
I should turn around. I should go back in. Tell Dom to fuck off for once.
But I don’t.
I never do.
I head for the stairs.
Two
The Uber dropsme off at the corner of 17th and Walnut.
Draven & Associates sits in a building from the 1880s, all limestone and iron gates that have survived everything Philadelphia could throw at them. Center City is quieter on Friday nights—the lawyers and bankers gone home, only the restaurant crowds still lingering.
I pull my coat tighter against the January cold.
My first interview here felt like entering another century. That old world vibe hits you the moment you step inside. Cigar smoke lingers in these walls despite the paint and the cleaning products.
