She pointed and he carefully drew out her area. Once he’d climbed down, Allison went up the ladder and removed the top left brick. She pulled out the diary and opened it, then shook her head.
“It’s not this one.”
She returned the diary and the brick, then went on to the next. When she pulled out the third diary and opened it to read the first page, she gasped.
“Not a good one,” Ramon called.
People laughed.
“Actually itisa good one,” Allison told him. “But it’s not my diary.”
She found hers on her eighth try.
“Got it!” She climbed down, then moved next to Jax. “Someone in town got implants and is afraid to tell anyone.”
“I didn’t need to know that.”
Allison grinned. “Tell me about it. Now I’m going to be checking out all my friends to figure out if it’s one of them.”
The next person called to find their diary was an older woman with a pinched expression. She glared at Jax.
“You have handled this all very poorly. We trusted you to keep our secrets and now we’re living in a very bad reality TV show. I expected better of you.”
Marcus stepped between them. “What happened wasn’t her fault. One of my guys thought he was helping when he washed the wall. It was an honest mistake. I’m guessing you’ve made at least a couple of mistakes in your life, so I’m sure you understand how that sort of thing happens.”
The woman narrowed her eyes. “And where is your incompetent employee? I’d like to tell him exactly what I think of him.”
“Working on another job. I didn’t want him to have to deal with people like you.”
She sniffed, then pointed to the wall. “My diary is toward the bottom, on the right.” She held out her hand for the chalk, then drew a square around her sixteen bricks. She found her diary on her third try and pressed it to her chest.
“I’ll never trust you with this again,” she told Jax.
“Probably for the best,” Jax said easily as Ramon flew down. When he landed on her outstretched hand, he flapped his wings at the older woman, as if trying to scare her away.
“I am the Lorax.”
“You’re a ridiculous bird.”
With that, she turned and left. Jax stroked Ramon.
“I think you’re very handsome and brave.”
He nuzzled her cheek.
And so it went. By one, everyone who showed up had claimed their diary. Cheryl’s count put the total number taken at one hundred and twenty-two.
“Which leaves a lot of diaries in the wall,” Jax said. “I have no idea what to do with them.”
“We can note where they are by counting bricks, then takethem out,” Cheryl told her. “They have to be moved so the wall can come down.”
“You’re right. I’ll lock them in that cabinet in the storeroom. That way they’ll be safe. When the wall goes back up, we’ll replace them and use a special marking. In case someone shows up, looking for theirs.”
It was an imperfect plan, but the best she had. She retreated to her office where she spent a half hour clearing her email. Marcus showed up as she was finishing.
“It’s quieter out there,” he said.
“I think we’re done with diary claiming. I’m going to make a note of where the remaining ones are so they can be put back, then store them in a locked cabinet while your guys do the repairs.”
