“Of course. He’s busy working.” Translation:Don’t bother him.Raina walked off.
Semele tried to brush off the exchange, but whenever she talked to Raina it put her in a foul mood. She dumped her bags in her office and looked around to see if anything seemed out of place. A stack of glossy catalogs sat dead center on her desk, along with a mountain of mail. Still Raina’s excuse for being there was flimsy.
One handwritten envelope stood out from the pile—she would recognize that handwriting anywhere.
Tomorrow. She would deal with her mother’s card tomorrow.
***
Semele took the stairs down to the restoration labs on the eleventh floor. Cabe’s ten-speed was propped against the wall.
Cabe stood hunched over the humidification chamber. His gloved hands were unfolding several brittle-looking letters. He was dressed in shorts despite the weather and had exchanged his biking shoes for flip-flops.
“Looks serious.” Semele nodded toward the chamber, taking a peek.
He looked up and grinned. “Oh, cheerio, you,” he said with a fake English accent. “Welcome back. Got me here so’more spy letters to Georgie-Porgie.”
Georgie-Porgie was their nickname for George Washington. They had countless others for historical figures and artifacts: Linny was Lincoln, Mo was Mozart, and Elvis was the Declaration of Independence.
“I had to completely revamp the sodium carbonate elixir to treat the invisible ink. Epic fail. This batch is taking me forever.” He continued working the papers apart like a neurosurgeon.
“Don’t worry. You’ll get it done.”
When it came to salvaging the unsalvageable, Cabe was a rock star. He had a graduate degree in both chemistry and forensic biology and oversaw every Kairos lab. He was also the only person Semele trusted when she had a palimpsest—parchment on which the original text was written over. Cabe always unearthed the writing without fail.
“How was Switzer-vonderland?” he asked, attempting a vague German accent.
“I saw our client half-naked and an intruder broke into my hotel room,” she deadpanned.
“Is that why you didn’t call me back?”
“I already gave you my advice on Raina. Run away.”
He gave her a sheepish look. “Kind of can’t do that.”
Semele could only stare at him, at a complete loss. “You’re kidding me. While I was gone?”
He laughed at the look on her face. “Believe me, it’s blowing my mind.”
Semele could only gape in horror. Russian Barbie was dating one of her closest friends? Semele didn’t know what to say. Even worse, Cabe looked happy. But right now she was too tired to find out how bad the damage actually was. “We’ll do dinner soon,” she promised. “I just stopped by to let you know I’ve got a special piece coming in with the Bossard Collection I need you to look at.”
“Sure. Bring it.” He saw the look on her face. “What?”
Semele hesitated. His news about Raina had completely derailed her. “Just see what you can find out.”
“You got it. Oh, hey, I need to test your DNA.”
The abrupt request made her laugh. Only Cabe. “God, no.”
“Come on. I’m doing everyone at the company.” He moved to his workstation.
“Do I want to know why?” She watched him load a program.
“Mark needed a favor.”
“Mark? Our Mark?”
“He’s now head programmer for one of the largest ancestral DNA companies in the country.”
