“No, right now will have to do,” I said. “Where’s Mr. Kline?”
“He’s busy.” She stuffed a tomato into her mouth. “Come back later, or make an appointment if you want to—” She finally looked up, and her eyes met mine.
Jumping from her chair, she slammed her hand on a golden button.
Within seconds, a salt-and-pepper-haired man emerged from the back office.
“Oh my god, it’s Mr. Dante Hudson—in the flesh!” He forced a smile. “It’s an absolute honor managing one of your properties, sir.”
It doesn’t look like it.“Good to hear that.”
“I uh—” He ran a hand through his hair. “I wasn’t expecting you to drop by.”
“I’m sure,” I said. “I need you to let me into a few of the units.”
“I’ll happily show you any of our showrooms.” He waved a hand. “We just finished cleaning them.”
“No, I’d rather see the ones people are actually living in.”
“Oh. Well, we can’t barge in without notice while the tenants are here. You know, laws and stuff.”
“I don’t think they’ll mind.”
“I do.” He swallowed. “If you give me a chance to call a few of the best ones and see if it’s okay, we can go from there.”
“Okay.” I walked right past him and to the elevators.
Chloe followed, and Mr. Kline rushed ahead of us.
“Please give me a few minutes,” he said. “It’s not really the best day for an impromptu showing.”
I hit the up button, and the doors glided open.
I tugged Chloe inside with me, and Mr. Kline looked torn between joining us and staying behind.
He reluctantly stepped aboard as I chose the top floor.
“I could’ve sworn my engineer told you to get glass panels placed on these elevator doors years ago.” I looked at Mr. Kline. “And it smells like piss in here… Why?”
“I can’t control when people want to behave like animals, sir,” he said. “But you know—some people have pets, so maybe that’s it?”
“I sent every property a memo about installing a pet-friendly elevator… Is the one we’re on for pets?”
Mr. Kline said nothing.
“Mr. Kline?” I pressed him again.
He still said nothing.
The elevator doors opened, and the unmistakable smell of mildew smacked me in the face.
I let out a sigh and walked over to the hallway window. There were cracks in the edge of the glass, trapping moisture, and God knows how much bacteria and mold were under here.
Not saying a word, I knocked on Unit 7B.
No answer.
I walked over to 7C, but the door to 7B slowly opened.
