by Kris Tualla
After a moment, he answered: I’m glad. You deserve nothing but the best.
“Does he include himself in that?” Sveyn wondered aloud.
“Maybe.”
Another text chimed: Weather report for tonight is bad. Major snowstorm expected. Hope I can still fly tomorrow…
Hollis searched for an encouraging, but not overly gushing response.
I’ll be here, working my tail off…
But looking forward to drinks on the Phoenician patio when you do arrive.
Great! he texted back. I’ll let you know about my flight.
See you soon!
Hollis sent a smiley face, but no words.
“The sooner I can talk to him, the sooner I can get this misunderstanding cleared up,” she said to Sveyn. “I hope the flights aren’t cancelled.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Friday
October 23
As it turned out, the Thursday flights out of Denver International were cancelled—by a record-breaking early snowstorm. Everett could not get a rebooked seat until Friday afternoon.
In the meantime, Hollis focused on registering items from the Kensington bequest, and preparing the ones selected for the initial display. Writing up the succinct but informative descriptions wasn’t nearly as easy as might be assumed.
She regretted her lie to Stevie about the rose, because her bubbly friend went on and on about how romantic the whole thing was.
“Someday you can explain this to your grandchildren,” she effused. “They’ll be like, aww, that’s so cute.”
Sveyn chuckled. “I do hope I am still around to see that.
Hollis gave Stevie a closed-mouthed smile, said nothing to her or Sveyn, and continued to wash off a delicate piece of royal china from Queen Victoria’s early collection.
The door to the storage room opened.
“You ladies need any help?”
Hollis turned away from the counter to face Tony. “Like what? Breaking something?”
The other collections manager scoffed. “I guess I deserved that.”
“So what brought this on?” Hollis pressed. “Is Miranda making you do it?”
“Benton.”
“Benton?” Hollis glanced at Stevie who looked as confused as she felt. “Why?”
Tony heaved a sigh, which could have been either resignation or irritation.
Probably both.
“Boss man wants to be sure that everything comes off without a hitch, and he’s afraid that by moving the opening up to December first he might have cut your time too short.”
“Oh, I see.” Hollis stood to face the man eye-to-eye. “So he’s finally figured out that he’s caused a situation, and now he’s making you fix it.”
Tony shrugged. “Something like that.”
“We can use the help, Hollis,” Stevie said softly.
“She is right, Hollis,” Sveyn confirmed. “Even with my assistance, there is much left to do.”
Hollis crossed her arms and considered Tony. “What’s your position on this assignment?”
“Don’t worry, McKenna. You’re the lead.” He sniffed. “I’ll take my orders from you because this—” He waved his hand toward the stacked bins of non-Arizona artifacts. “This is your area of expertise.”
Hollis loosened her arms and stuck out her right hand. “Truce, then?”
Tony shook it, but said nothing.
“Good enough.” Hollis pointed toward the bins with blue lids. “We’re going through those and choosing the initial display pieces. Stevie can show you the schematic for how we are arranging everything.”
“Hollis has the final say and she’s writing the descriptions for the plaques.” Stevie handed the sketched and scribbled-on paper to Tony. “If you have any questions, ask me.”
Sveyn winked and grinned at her. “Now you will not be so tired when you go home at night.”
*****
The afternoon dragged on. While having Tony as a sort of third Musketeer was definitely helping to speed up their work, his masculine presence did dampen the girlish chatter that Hollis enjoyed with Stevie.
At a little before five, Hollis’s phone chimed for an incoming text. She grabbed it from her pocket and swiped the lock page.
Landed in Phoenix.
Finally! Hollis responded to Everett.
I’ll check into the Buttes then pick you up at work.
Hollis looked at her faded skinny jeans and lime green t-shirt, wondering why she didn’t think to dress better today, just in case. “Well that’s just crap-tastic.”
Stevie looked up from her laptop. “What?”
“Everett wants to pick me up from work for drinks on the Phoenician’s patio.”
The blonde’s evaluative gaze swept over her. “It’s starting to get chilly out. Do you have a blazer in your office?”
Hollis gasped and smiled. “I do. I forgot. It’s still hanging in the cabinet from the first press conference.”
“There you go. Throw it over what you have on and you’ll be fine.” Stevie reached behind her neck to unclasp her strand of high-end faux pearls. “And wear these. Pearls always class up an outfit.”
Hollis accepted the necklace. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Not at all.” Stevie grinned. “I’m happy to take one for Team Hollis.”
Hollis fastened the pearls around her neck before going down the hall to her office to retrieve the navy blue blazer. She had splurged on this piece right after coming to Phoenix because it fit her so well and looked great with her hair and eye color.
“Not sure about the green t-shirt, though,” she said when she returned to the storage room.
“It looks good. Real good actually.”
Surprised, both women turned toward Tony.
“What?” he said. “I can’t have an opinion?”
“You can…” Hollis began. “I just didn’t expect you to express a positive one.”
Tony waved a finger up and down. “You got contrast with the faded jeans and dark blazer. A pop of color with the green shirt. And the pearls dress it up.”
Hollis’s jaw fell open. “You watch Wear This, Not That.”
He shrugged. “My wife does. I hear things.”
Stevie burst into delighted laughter.
“He is right, Hollis,” Sveyn added. “You do look lovely.”
Hollis blushed. “Thank you all.”
*****
“You look very nice tonight,” Everett said when Hollis exited the back door of the museum. “Did you go home and change?”
“No. This is what I wore today,” she said in a casual tone and only slightly offended. “But thank you.”
The alarm whooped behind the door.
Everett shot her an apologetic look. “Are you the last to leave?”
“The museum closed half an hour ago. And it is Friday, after all. The admin staff doesn’t work weekends.” Hollis shrugged one shoulder and gave Everett half-a-smile. “I didn’t mind waiting for you.”
Everett offered his arm. “Come milady. My chariot awaits.”
Everett’s rented Escalade waited in the closest parking spot. He opened her door and she stepped in. Sveyn waited to be pulled by his tether, and his consideration touched her.
She knew how hard this whole situation was for him. And he reminded her often.
Lest I forget.
Hollis decided not to ask Everett about his position at Calico until they were settled for drinks. For now she let him ramble on about the donor he met with, that man’s specific take on the idea of extending human longevity, and how at the end of the day the guy committed a large six-figure sum for continued research.
Luckily, it was a short drive to the Phoenician, and open seating on the outdoor patio.
“Let’s get a bottle of red wine,” Everett suggested once they were seated and he looked over the wine list. “What’s your favorite?”
Hollis tucked one leg under her. The couches were oversized
and it was a stretch to reach the large, low table. “Zinfandel. Or Pinot Noir, if it’s a good one.”
“Both good choices. And it looks like we could eat dinner out here, if you want.”
Hollis looked out at the sprawling view of Phoenix below the mountain, all lit up and sparkling. “It’s beautiful here. I would be happy to stay for dinner.”
When the waitress returned, Everett ordered an old vine Zin. Hollis made small talk while the waitress uncorked the bottle and poured two glasses.
Everett offered a toast, “To the prettiest and smartest woman I know.”
“Really?” Hollis shook her head. “I highly doubt that.”
Everett laughed. “It’s too soon in our relationship for you to call me a liar.”
Ah. The time had come.
“About that…” Hollis’s pulse was so loud in her ears that she had to concentrate on keeping her voice low. “I have something to ask you about.”
Everett tilted his head. “Go on.”
Hollis took a big sip of the wine. “This is delicious.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
She leaned way forward to set the glass on the low table before her hands shook so much she spilled it. “I loved the roses.”
Everett flashed a crooked smile. “And I’m glad you liked them.”
“And I wanted to respond in a fun and creative way.”
“Okay…”
“So.” Hollis cleared her throat, before the words spilled out in an ever more urgent avalanche. “I called a florist in Denver, and asked them to deliver a single red rose to you, with a note that said, Everett, will you accept this rose, because I knew you would understand the reference, and find it amusing, only you don’t work at Calico Labs.”
Sveyn stepped out of the lobby onto the edge of the patio, watching Everett like a predator on the hunt.
Of course the Viking was there.
And he can hear my half of the conversation.
Everett didn’t move at first. Then he set his glass down as well. And then he looked into Hollis’s eyes.
“Any more.”
“Yes. But that’s not what you said.”
Everett made a conciliatory gesture. “I left because I wanted to pursue options which the powers that be were unwilling to consider.”
Hollis decided at that moment to go all in. If this relationship was to continue, she didn’t want to be second guessing him at every turn. “Everett, you were fired.”
“A matter of semantics.”
No, not really. “Are you saying you chose to leave?”
“I am saying that it was mutual.” He picked up his glass again. “I had already decided to leave because of their strictures, but when I met with them, they spoke first. So it’s a firing in their eyes. Not in mine.”
Hollis gave a little nod. “I can understand that.”
“Good.” He smiled. “Is there anything else?”
“Only the obvious,” Hollis declared. “Why do you still say you work for them?”
Everett looked embarrassed. “The name opens doors.”
Hollis frowned. “What sort of doors?”
“Doors like the gentleman I met with in Denver.” He sipped his wine again before explaining. “There are a lot of older and very rich men who are looking for ways to extend their lives. More than you might imagine.”
“And they’ll pay for research, no matter how unlikely the process is?”
“How else are we going to judge these things, Hollis?” he challenged. “As an historian you know that every story, every myth, every legend, was sparked by a nugget of truth. It’s just irresponsible to ignore all of these possibilities.”
“You are calling Calico Labs irresponsible because they focus on biology and chemistry only?” Hollis clarified.
“Well… yes. I am. But you can see my point, can’t you?”
Maybe. “It must have been disappointing for you when the Blessing didn’t spark any readings on your monitors, then.”
“Half of the Blessing,” he corrected. “I still have hope.”
“But we don’t know where the other half is.”
“Yet. I know.” He smiled “Call me an optimist.”
Hollis slid to the edge of the couch. “I need to go to the restroom.”
He stood when she did. “We’ll order food when you get back.”
“Great.”
Hollis walked through the hotel’s huge marbled and fountained lobby, and down the hall to one of the nicest public restrooms she had ever seen, all the while pondering Everett’s words.
Obviously humans as a race were opposed to dying in general. And rich people had more to lose because it was literally impossible to take anything from this life into the next, no matter what the person’s beliefs. The Egyptians’ still-on-earth possessions proved that.
Plus it occurred to her that the idea of investing in unorthodox research wasn’t necessarily a waste of money if that person has the money to waste. Most people spent their money on things that made them happy.
“And I imagine looking for a way to live longer would make them happy,” she muttered. “And besides, very few wealthy people got that way by thinking along the same lines as everyone around them.”
When looked at in that context, Everett’s explanation did make sense.
“I’ll ask him to stop lying about still being at Calico, though,” she resolved as she walked back to the patio.
“That would be a very good idea, I believe,” Sveyn said as he walked beside her. “At some point, I would imagine, his deception will be discovered and turn on him.”
“There you are.” Everett stood. “I went ahead and ordered an appetizer.”
“Thanks.” Hollis took her seat. “I thought about what you said and I only have one issue.”
His brow twitched. “And that is?”
“I’d feel so much better if you would stop claiming to still work at Calico. I’m just afraid that it will backfire on you at some point and destroy what you are building now.”
Everett lifted his wine glass, his expression was relaxed and reassured. “Another toast, then. To honesty.”
Hollis lifted her glass, deeply relieved that this conversation had gone as well as it did. She was willing to continue to explore a future with Everett in light of his explanation tonight.
“To honesty.” She touched his glass with hers and then drained it.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Before the appetizers arrived, Hollis decided she’d better slow down on the wine. Her head was fuzzy and her tongue felt thick. The upside was that she didn’t remember feeling this happy in a long, long time.
Everett looked at her strangely. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She flipped a wrist gone limp. “I’m just tired. Long week.”
“Maybe I should take you home.” Everett signaled for the check.
“We dint eat yet,” she slurred. “Less say an eat.”
Everett laid a hundred dollar bill on the table and helped Hollis to her feet. “Can you walk?”
“Pfft. Duh.” She moved through the lobby with one of Everett’s arms around her waist, and the other gripping her arm. When they went out the lobby’s front door she stopped, confused. “Wait, where’re we?”
“The Phoenician.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Hollis sank into the back seat of the Escalade. Her world went black.
*****
Hollis opened her eyes. She was in the museum. In the collections storage area. Sitting on the floor.
Why?
She tried to turn her head, but it was held in place by bands of something sticky wrapped across her forehead. She felt the hard press of a steel support girder against the back of her skull.
Duct tape?
She caught movement to her right out of the corner of her eye.
“Are you awake?” Everett scowled down at her. “That’s too bad. I guess I didn’t use enough.”
Hollis
made words in her mouth, but only moans could move past the thick tape which tore at her lips. Sveyn paced back and forth behind Everett, his fists clenched, and his face a mask of impotent rage.
Everett unwound a length of duct tape and wrapped it around her ankles. “Don’t worry about fighting this. When I finish here, you won’t be able to set off any motion detectors.”
Hollis screamed behind the tape.
Everett laughed. “And no one works in the offices here on weekends, remember? So no one will be able to hear you, either.”
Hollis tried to ask why, but only succeeded in pushing sounds like a drowning bear past the tape.
“After we talked tonight I almost changed my mind about all of this, you know.” Everett spoke as casually as if they were actually enjoying those appetizers at the resort. “You were so reasonable about the direction my work has taken, that I wondered if we could be partners.”
Hollis watched in horror as Everett continued to wind the duct tape up her jeans, until he reached her hips. She tried to kick, but her limbs felt like disembodied logs. Not one part of her body felt connected to another.
“But then, I realized, there is only one Blessing of the Gods.”
He started another layer of tape. Her knees and ankles already hurt from being smashed against each other. As best she could tell, her hands were behind the girder, but she couldn’t flex them. Or move her arms.
“And you were never going to let me take it with me.” He stopped and looked at her as if all of this was her fault. “Were you.”
She screamed against the tape, Go to hell you fucking bastard!
“That’s what I thought.” Everett continued his duct-tape mummification. “So, I brought my half with me.”
Hollis’s eyes rounded in shock.
Sveyn stopped pacing and stared at Everett. He looked terrified. “He has the other half?”
He shifted his gaze to Hollis. “He has the other half?”
“Didn’t expect that, did you?” Everett chuckled. “Yeah, some crusty old Norwegian guy who was living like a hermit in the Colorado Rockies had it. He thought the other half was lost centuries ago. Go figure.”
