by a b
Legacy found the new arrangement much less distracting, and strangely he’d found the back of her neck fascinating. In the week that he’d had to examine the movement, structure and extension of her skin compared to her mood, Legacy found an expressive new entity. He could tell from the pressure of her fingers as they slid along the base of her hair, how much tension was in Wagner, whether the phone call she was on was going well. A slight blush of the skin came with a new thought and foretold the announcement of something pleasant. The recess seemed to deepen ever so slightly when she needed something. Legacy found that he could often prompt a desired reaction by asking for her feedback on something in one of the cases they now shared. The expression she had on her face when she turned to answer was always some shade of official sternness chosen at random from the cadet catalog of proper office behavior, but there were always the undercurrents of excitement and involvement that were like a breath of fresh air into the room. The stale old cases found a little life each time Wagner brought her mind to bear on the details and reminded Legacy of the reasons that they’d gone unsolved in the first place; they hadn’t been working on them.
Legacy could see that Wagner was fully engrossed in one of the reports on an old blackmail case and he took his opportunity to exit the room unnoticed.
“You’re standing, why are you standing? It’s not time for you to stand.” Wagner grumbled, but she didn’t turn.
Legacy grabbed a bouquet of flowers from his briefcase and the crackle of the paper brought a pink flush to the skin on Wagner’s neck. “Man this place is boring.”
Legacy still said nothing, allowing the anticipation to bubble into a tempest in Wagner’s mind. He took long strides for the door. “Who are the flowers for?” she blurted out, still keeping her nose down in the report.
“I have an errand, and it’s none of your business.”
Wagner’s hand went up to her hair and she tugged a ring from the configuration that was swept up high at the back of her head. She twisted the hair around her finger in a repetitive motion and it almost calmed her into silence. “I should have followed Agent Brent when he was promoted to the Washington office.”
Legacy squinted, like he was trying to squeeze the truth out of the image of Wagner’s neck. “I happen to know for a fact that the promotion was offered to you first, before Brent and that you opted to stay here.”
“Hah.” Wagner managed, in a forced tone. Then to cover she began to rant. “You never change, you think the world is all about you - “
Chapter 69 Another Mystery Solved
Legacy slipped out of the room. He judged that with a full head of steam, that she’d continue talking as if he were there for another five to ten minutes. She’d probably save up the indignation of the moment of realization until later in the week when she was having dinner at his house, then unleash the entire argument again without the benefit of having a willing audience. Chess enjoying the blind-siding satisfaction of the moment would double the effect.
Legacy quickly clicked onto the business at hand. Literally, he carried a stunning assortment of flowers, so grand that it would be almost embarrassing displaying them on anything smaller than a conference table. Legacy hadn’t thought of that when he’d purchased them, he was still getting used to adequate, or even socially accepted displays of almost anything.
He crested the third floor stairs and walked into a labyrinth of cubicle offices.
Heads turned as he walked past. The secretary pool seemed very interested. He didn’t understand why, as he was seeing most of these people for the first time in his life. Yet they somehow seemed to know him. He kept his nose to the air, and realized only later that he must have looked quite arrogant.
Legacy had no idea who the flowers belonged to, and had only one sense to go on – smell. He stored the distinct citrus perfume smell in his memory.
The problem was the scent of the flowers was working against him. They made it hard for him to set any course based on smell, because the strongest impulse along those lines followed him at arms length at his side.
After several minutes of wandering the halls he was no closer to finding his target and he’d covered nearly every nook and cranny in the building.
A hand tapped low on his shoulder and he turned to see a woman of medium build, slender, handsome in all aspects staring up at him in wonder. Legacy recognized her immediately, or at least the scent of the citrus hand cream, it wasn’t perfume after all, “Can I help you, agent?”
“You’re the one who brings my coffee, everyday, why do you do that?” The sharpness of the question was unfortunate, but the woman shrugged it off.
“Who cares? Are those for me?”
Legacy handed her the flowers and they seemed to almost tip her over. He put his hand on her shoulder to counterbalance, and felt a shiver go through her. A smile flashed across her face accompanied by a blush the color of the deep red roses the filled the center of the arrangement.
“Thank you –” Legacy said.
She could tell that he was waiting for something, and somehow she knew what it was.
“Doris.”
“Thank you Doris.”
Legacy felt the ripple of secretaries leaving their desks to congregate around Doris even as he walked out into the hallway. He imagined that the story of the crazy agent in the cellar would have a new crease to it. They’d all have their theories as to why Legacy had chosen that day to deliver his appreciation – and as far as Legacy was concerned any of them could be right, because he didn’t know why he needed to reach out or even if he had really needed to do so. All he knew was that for three years he hadn’t even known whom he should be thanking, and now she was Doris. He knew he could have simply waited for her to arrive on that day, but he knew that the effect would be much greater if he climbed the stairs to visit her for once.
Legacy thought about going by Bailey’s office on the way back to his own, just to see the shock on his face, but he decided that the distastefulness of being in a room with him wasn’t worth the mischief of seeing him deal with the completely unexpected entrance of his star agent.
He reached the end of the hallway and made a turn down into the stairwell. Legacy paused, thinking of what was waiting for him at the bottom. He felt the stir of something quite foreign – it was pressing him into motion. It could have been anticipation, but Legacy marked the odd feeling down to simple boring curiosity. Maybe Wagner was still talking to no one. That would be something worth seeing. He quickened his pace.
*******
Loyal Reader
Thank you for reading the first Agent Legacy mystery. I hope you enjoyed Agent Legacy, Agent Wagner, and the delightful Chess. Another Agent Legacy is being penned as your read, so keep your eyes out for the next mystery.
