Novels by Amara Hart

Cole Tower had forty floors, and the boardroom was on the last one. I had never been inside it. In my first life I'd only seen it in photographs, long and glossy, with a table that could seat twenty.Eleven people sat around it that Monday. Raymond was at the head, in a charcoal suit, with a cup of tea in front of him that he hadn't touched. He looked up when we came in and smiled at me, easy and warm."Adrian. Miss Brooks. Mrs. Lim." His eyes stopped on her, just for a moment. "I don't recall inviting you.""No," she said, and put the brown envelope on the table.I sat where Adrian pointed, at the foot, where I could see everyone's face. My hands were cold. I put them under the table and kept them there."We're here for a vote," Raymond said. "Let's not waste the board's time. The motion is to remove Adrian Cole as chief executive, on grounds of conduct unbecoming and repeated lapses of judgment. Adrian, you may speak first, if you like.""I will." Adrian didn't stand. He took a smal

I didn't remember standing up. One minute I was in that metal chair, and the next I was in the corridor with the door shut behind me and my back against it.Adrian looked up from the bench. He took one look at me and got to his feet."What did she say?""Raymond called Vivian at one o'clock on the day of the dinner." I had to push the words out. "He told her I'd skip it. That I'd stay home and say I'd changed my mind about you.""At one o'clock.""I hadn't told anyone. Not you. Not Mrs. Lim. I was sitting on the couch in a sweatshirt."He didn't say anything. He stood with his arms at his sides, and I could see him going over it. The dinner. The folder, ready before I walked in. The car on my first day. The call from a judge's office that had him out before sunrise."The folder was made for you before you ever applied," he said slowly. "He knew you would.""The car, too.""And the soup." His jaw worked. "He wasn't surprised by any of it. He was never afraid of us."A man walked past w

The house emptied slowly. First the officers, then Dr. Hale with his bag, then the maid, who stood in the hall twisting her apron. By the time Adrian and I came out onto the drive, the lanterns had burned down and the sky over the hill was turning gray.Mrs. Lim sat on the stone steps with the brown envelope in her lap. Her shoulders were bent, and her cardigan was buttoned wrong."Is it over?" I asked."No." Detective Osei came up behind us, buttoning his raincoat. "I'm sorry, Miss Brooks. I'd like to say yes.""They took him in a police car. I watched.""They did." He glanced at his phone, then put it away. "Mr. Cole was released forty minutes ago. A call came from a judge's office. No charge, pending review. His lawyer was at the station before the car was."Adrian said nothing. His hand had been on my back for the last ten minutes, and it went rigid."The girls?""Your sister and your cousin are staying with us. Dr. Hale too, since he asked for a lawyer and didn't have one." He ru

The maid went to answer it. Nobody at the table said a word until we heard the front door open and a man's voice in the hall, polite and flat."Evening. I'm looking for Mr. Raymond Cole."Raymond set down his napkin and folded it once."Please show them in," he called. "We're only having dinner."Three people came into the dining room. A tall man in a gray raincoat, with a notebook in his breast pocket and the tired eyes of someone who hadn't been home in two days. Behind him, two officers in uniform. Behind them, Mrs. Lim, in her gray cardigan, holding a flat brown envelope against her chest with both hands."Detective Osei," the tall man said, to the room in general. "I'm sorry to interrupt.""Not at all." Raymond got to his feet and spread his hands. "What can I do for you, Detective? Is it something about the company?""It's about a flask, Mr. Cole." Osei didn't smile. "And a jar of soup from Miss Brooks's kitchen. We've had both tested at a licensed lab. This is a copy of the res

Dr. Hale set his bag on the empty chair and took his time with the clasp. "No need to get up," he said. "A quick check, that's all. Raymond tells me you've been fainting." "I haven't fainted." "Dizzy, then. Tired. Chest tightness." He listed them softly, one by one. "It's common in young women under stress. Let me look at you." "No," Adrian said. "I'm a doctor, Adrian." "I don't care what you are." "Adrian." Raymond sounded almost sad. "Don't be rude to a man who's been looking after this family for twenty years." I looked at Dr. Hale's hands. Clean nails, a gold ring, a stethoscope folded over one finger. In my first life those same hands had pressed a cold disc to my back and told me to breathe in. He'd smiled then too. He'd said it was nothing, just stress, and that I should rest. I had thanked him. I remember that. I'd thanked him. "I'll do it," I said. Adrian's head turned. "Elena." "It's fine." I held my wrist out across the cloth, and I kept my voice light. "One che

I smiled at Raymond. It took everything I had."I loved it," I said. "That's the problem. I was so tired the other night that I couldn't finish more than a few spoons. I felt terrible. Nadia, I'm sorry."Nadia's fork stopped halfway to her mouth. "It's okay.""Is it?" Raymond turned his head toward her, slowly. "You told me she promised to finish it.""She did," Nadia said. "I mean, she said she would.""And did you?" He looked at me again. "Finish it?""I tried.""Hm." Raymond lifted his napkin and touched it to his lips. "Tell me, Elena, do you cook?""Badly.""But you know your way around a sink."Vivian looked at her plate. Nadia looked at nothing. Beside me, Adrian shifted his weight, the smallest movement.I kept my voice flat. "I'm not sure what you mean.""Don't mind me. An old man's curiosity." Raymond smiled. "Nadia stopped by your place the next morning, and she mentioned the smell from your drain. She was worried. She said it was sharp, like something had been tipped out i